Moro group urges Islamic communities to resist military offensives in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines — An underground Moro organization aligned with the National Democratic Front (NDF) has urged Muslim communities in Mindanao to resist military onslaughts in compliance with the teachings of the Qur’an on the conduct of a “just war." Omar Mukhtar, secretary-general of the clandestine Moro Revolutionary and Liberation Organization (MRLO), said in a statement on Friday that the defense of their communities is needed to “protect themselves from tyranny and oppression" but said laws must not be violated “for such transgression is against the Laws of Allah." Mukhtar said in his Ramadan message that the Moro people “must abide by the teachings of Qur’an in their battle for peace and justice, self-determination and to frustrate the attacks waged by the US-Arroyo regime." “Arroyo has finally abandoned peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) by dissolving its own peace panel. She declared the MILF to be irrelevant and the hunt for MILF commanders as ordinary criminals goes on, with government putting a bounty on all of them and filing cases in court against them. Arroyo wants MILF to adhere to her policy of ‘disarm, demobilize and rehabilitate,’ with MILF commanders like Umbra Kato and Kumander Bravo surrendering their arms, as a condition for the resumption of the peace talks," he said. The Moro people are now suffering the same fate that has befallen progressives and revolutionary fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA), he added, since the counterinsurgency plan Oplan Bantay Laya was implemented. “The MILF must stand firm on the issue of ancestral domain. The Bangsamoro people now enjoy their land as a result of several decades of armed struggle. The Moro, Christian and Lumad peoples of Mindanao have been restricted to small areas while vast tracts of land are controlled by big landlords and foreign capitalists," Mukhtar added. “MRLO believes that the basis of the Moro people’s struggle for self-determination should not be restricted to the MOA-AD and the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE). The MOA-AD restricts the historical and current basis for the Bangsamoro people’s right to their ancestral domain," the statement added. “The MOA-AD binds the MILF and the Moro people to a compromise. This MOA-AD is a product of the consensus or concession of the MILF on the peace process. From the compromising structure of ‘earned sovereignty approach,’ there is no guarantee that the GRP would amend the Constitution to follow the needs of the peace process. Even if the MILF compromises the struggle for Bangsamoro independence, the processes and structure of the Constitution would still be the basis for the regime not to sign the MOA-AD last August 5," Mukhtar said. While it seemed that the US-Arroyo regime has yielded control of natural resources in the ancestral domain to the MILF, these can still be taken over by the government based on the conditions set by the MOA-AD like the state of emergency and any instance when the MILF attempts to use the same resources to attack the central government, Mukhtar argued. The MOA-AD also allows foreign corporations to come in through joint missions to be undertaken by BJE. They may also engage in joint ventures to use land covered by the ancestral domain. The US government will use these provisions to exploit the natural wealth of Mindanao, like the oil deposits in the Sulu Sea Basin and Liguasan Marsh, he added. “MRLO urges the MILF to continue with its armed struggle and unite with other revolutionary forces against the continuing attacks of the US-Arroyo regime. Persevere in defending ancestral land and support commanders undertaking tactical offensives against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US troops intruding into their camps and communities," Mukhtar stressed. “The Bangsamoro people’s struggle for self-determination and secession from the semi-colonial US-Arroyo regime is a legitimate right. It will become even more legitimate when they use armed struggle against an oppressive regime that is engaged in plunder and pillage of their natural resources, exploitation their labor power and repression of citizens," he added. The MRLO, stressed Mukhtar, is urging an ever-increasing number of people “to cast away their narrow ethnocentrism and Christian chauvinism and resist attempts by warlords to use Moro-Christian-Lumad misunderstanding to promote their interest." “Only big landlords like Piñol would profit from intensifying chauvinism among Christian," the MRLO leader said, referring to North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol, who is in the forefront to the opposition against the MOA-AD. - GMANews.TV