An appeal for genuine peace
and justice in Mindanao
The raging war in Mindanao has turned into a national disaster.
In just a few short weeks of full military actions, hundreds lay dead and wounded – both armed combatants and civilians, including women and children. Some 300,000 citizens have been driven from their homes to makeshift evacuation centers lacking the bare necessities of decent existence.
A spate of bombings has hit the country’s urban areas, creating further havoc and instilling fear on the population.
The economic slow-down in Mindanao indicates an incalculable damage that the nation cannot bear. The starting drain on the government’s coffers and scant resources suggests a kind of hemorrhage that we can ill-afford should the war continue.
Clearly, these developments could further derail the economy and the peace and order situation, not only in Mindanao, but in Luzon and the Visayas as well.
An extended war in Mindanao is the last thing the country needs.
But beyond the economic dimensions will be the incalculable moral and cultural assault should a full-blown religious war arise. Already religious and ethnic conflicts are being fanned and aggravated. Fanatical vigilante and paramilitary groups notorious for their cruelty and brutality are being reactivated and may again go out of control.
After a month of the government’s all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), we are nowhere near the resolution of the armed conflict in Mindanao. The capture of MILF camps and controlled areas cannot guarantee an end to the fighting. Clearly, a more comprehensive solution, not a simplistic military approach, is required.
For in the rush to crush the MILF and bombard it into submission, in the morbid count for body bags and casualties, the aspirations of Muslims, Christians and Lumads for genuine peace and justice in Mindanao have been set aside. The military offensives offer no solution to Mindanao’s problems of poverty, underdevelopment, oppression and exploitation.
Unless the root causes of the armed conflict are addressed, there can be no peace. And any claim of victory shall be hollow, fleeting and at worse a goading for more war.
Sadly, the continued military actions leave little room for peace negotiations as a means to settle issues and forge substantial agreements, a fate similar to the failed peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Clearly, to attain peace, the bloodshed must end. There is only one road that needs retaking in Mindanao, and it is the road to genuine peace based on justice.
We therefore appeal for the following:
***A stop to the all-out war in Mindanao, including a halt to the indiscriminate bombings, formation and reactivation of vigilante and paramilitary groups.
***The immediate resumption of peace negotiations, without preconditions, between the GRP and the MILF, as well as efforts to revive the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.
***The relief and rehabilitation of war victims in Mindanao, including the re-channeling of public funds for that purpose.
***The toning down of the religious conflict and the attainment of a deeper understanding of the Moro people’s and Lumad’s aspirations for a just and lasting solution to the armed conflict.
Towards these ends, we pledge our united effort for genuine peace and justice in Mindanao. ###