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'Fighting' for hearts, minds…and independence in Sulu


JOLO, Sulu - “I know the government sometimes forgets us, but Malacanang cannot give up Sulu easily because we are an asset to them," said Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin. The mayor was speaking in late May as the United Tausug Citizens for the Sultanate of Sulu organized a rally through the town demanding a return to the past when the island was part of an independent Muslim state. The marchers carried colorful pro-independence flags as well as banners calling for both the Philippine Army and their US military advisers to leave. “We are asking for total independence for the people of Sulu," said Asari Jurani, a spokesman for the group. “We are tired of waiting for the government to address our problems," he said. The group rejects any association with the Philippines as it suggests forming a Moro movement in the south. “I appreciate their sentiments," the mayor said. “But first we have to know the consequences of this idea before deciding what to do. Most people here in Sulu don’t agree with them. I don’t want to be a traitor to the government. We already have a peace agreement which granted us autonomy –we just have to implement it." The mayor said the group is only 100 strong while the protestors argued they have many more supporters. They marched peacefully through Jolo as soldiers from the Third Marine Brigade watched on quietly from their flatbed trucks. “We have come here to call for our sovereignty and be recognized as Tausug and not Filipino citizens. But we are also here to show we are anti-war and anti-terror," said Jurani. Image of Sulu The town has only just been declared a "peace zone" by the mayor as part of what appears to be a coordinated effort to reverse the island’s fortunes. To most Filipinos – journalists included – the island of Sulu conjures up images of conflict, terrorism and general lawlessness – understandable perhaps given the provincial government itself lists bullet wounds as the leading cause of death. There are an estimated 100,000 guns in circulation in Sulu – or one in every seven men, women and children - according to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Geneva-based monitoring group working on the island. Two local laws have just been passed outlawing the carrying or possession of unlicensed guns. The gun culture of the ethnic Tausug – the people of the sea - who comprise 97 percent of the population dates back generations, but is now being challenged by a range of initiatives aimed at helping to rid the island of its reputation, delivering peace and economic development in its place. The island’s reputation may have been determined in part by its geographical location. Though part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Sulu is as far by boat to Zamboanga City, the most westerly tip of Mindanao, as it is to Malaysia – a fact that might go some way to help explain the local political and military situation. The Armed Forces of the Philippines are here as are the Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group, the terrorist organization linked to both the Jema'ah Islamiyah and the wider al-Qaeda network. So too are an estimated 500 US special advisers who first arrived on the island after September 11, 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom to work alongside local Marines in taking on the Abu Sayyaf whose strength is widely believed to be severely depleted but who remain prime suspects in a spate of recent bombings in Zamboanga –the latest of which killed two and injured 18 outside a military airbase on May 29. Muslim-Christian relations One of the targets in Zamboanga was the Catholic church, yet religious leaders of both the Muslim majority and tiny Christian community here insist relations between the two groups are very good. Father Romeo Villanueva, director of Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation Network and a Sulu resident for almost nine years, believes Muslims and Christians live together "in friendship and harmony." Jakaria Rajik, a 38 year-old Islamic teacher and president of Sulu Educators, agreed, pointing out that the majority of students attending the local Notre Dame school run by a priest are Muslims. Both communities he said are beneficiaries of Church-led projects such as housing, education, social development and health programming. He criticized the tradition of local politicians who champion and fund pet projects which are often abandoned when they fail to get re-elected. The priority he said should be key programs which focus on key livelihood issues around jobs in farming and fishing. Investment in Sulu from overseas focuses mostly on infrastructure and is being led by the United States, which is funding the upgrade of Jolo’s airport to allow bigger planes to land. Costing an estimated $3 million, the work is to be finished later this year. Luzviminda Alih of the Sulu Bureau of Customs said extra effort is being made to attract investment and trade via the sea. “The fact that four foreign ships are now coming here to buy and transport copra is a sign that the economy here is getting better," she said. People’s needs Villanueva believes things are slowly changing. Local government officials he said “are more concerned with the needs and interests of the people.’’ Moreover, he said life in Sulu is “now improving" because of collaboration between the provincial government and civil society. Much attention appears focused on education. The US-based non-governmental organization Asia America Initiative, which flags "Waging Peace" as its motto, has been working alongside the Sulu Department of Education to adopt, help equip and renovate schools on the island for the past four years. The group also provides scholarships to local children and helps to supply Sulu’s provincial hospital. The Philippine Union Bank sends in trainers to help improve the skills of local teachers. Trainer Mards Baro works with teachers in the municipality of Patikul - home to 30 barangays (villages) and thousands of children. “It is the gift of the bank to try and promote peace through education," she said. “We are working in partnership with the Philippine Marines and the Sulu government, hoping we can make some difference to the lives of the children here," she added. The involvement of the military may unnerve and surprise some, but Marine Brigade commander Colonel Natalio Ecarma was unapologetic and spoke strongly in favor of his men’s involvement in local education at a seminar with Patikul teachers and later during a radio interview broadcast. “Our job is not simply focusing on maintaining peace and in running after the lawless elements, but also to help the people of Sulu through community development programming," he said. “The way to achieve peace in Sulu is not through war, but by means of development and facilitating teacher training is a means to deliver quality education so children will focus all their effort on learning and becoming the future of Sulu," he added. On May 20, the Third Marine Brigade delivered more than 2,000 text books under the Asia Foundation’s ‘Books for Asia’ program to the Patikul National High School. Alongside education, the soldiers are also working on housing projects in both Patikul and Luuk municipalities, having set up the local NGO "Gawad Kalinga." Yet many local people remain suspicious and fearful of the army – not least because of what happened on February 4 in the town of Maimbung. The incident, which saw eight residents killed during a nighttime raid by the military, has been described as both a "massacre" by eyewitnesses and as a "legitimate military encounter" by army special forces. Seven civilians including a pregnant woman and a four-year-old girl were among the victims together with an off-duty soldier visiting his family. Despite shouting out his identity, the soldier, Ibnon Wahid, was reportedly tied up and summarily executed by the troops. Other victims were reportedly fleeing the gunfire in a boat when they were killed. Lawyer Jose Manuel Mamauag of the Commission on Human Rights told a Zamboanga roundtable discussion coorganized by the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project in late April that it has filed charges of “murder, looting, damage to property and arbitrary detention" against the soldiers concerned. - Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project/GMANews.TV (The author is a journalist covering Sulu, Zamboanga, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.)
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