Muslim rebellion: Understanding the root cause

Muslim rebellion: Understanding the root cause

2015 Marshall McLuhan Fellow Joseph Morong speaks at PPCO Forum      (8 PHOTOS: HG)

2015 MARSHALL MCLUHAN FELLOW JOSEPH MORONG:

By Mila Astorga-Garcia

The root cause of the Bangsamoro struggle must be taken into account and understood in its historical context, if the peace process between the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and the Philippines government is to succeed, says Joseph Morong, 2015 Marshall McLuhan Fellow.

Morong was speaking before the Philippine Press Club of Ontario (PPCO)-sponsored event in Toronto on Wednesday, February 10, 2016.

The problem dates back to colonial times when Mindanao, the Muslim stronghold that the Spanish conquerors failed to colonize, was included in the “sale” of the Philippines to the Americans, says Morong, who has been covering the Mindanao peace process extensively for several years now.

Joseph Morong being interviewed at FV Foods

This was resented by the Muslims, an injustice they believe was exacerbated through the years, as the Commonwealth and succeeding governments drove Christian populations from Luzon and the Visayas to settle in Mindanao, thus usurping their independent state, and making them a minority in their indigenous territory.

Morong elaborated: “During the Commonwealth time, the policy of the government was to send all these people from Luzon to kind of populate and seize the lands of Mindanao. Prior to that, you have the Treaty of Paris… the Moros said we were never subjugated by Spain, we were never defeated by America, but in 1898, when the Philippines was annexed and given to the (United) States, kasama ang Mindanao (Mindanao was included), so that’s the root cause of the Bangsamoro struggle. Hindi kami na-conquer, pero bakit bigla kaming nakasama diyan (We were not conquered, but how come we are all of a sudden included in the ‘annexation’ of the Philippines)? So that’s the perspective,” Morong explained.

Morong thus believes that one of the weaknesses of media in the Philippines was “not providing the context” that would make people understand and appreciate the peace process, and why it was fraught with a lot of challenges.

When media realized this, it was too late. He said that instead of seeing the value of the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law), people in general simply tended to look at it “through the lens of the (Mamasapano) encounter and the supposed betrayal of the MILF,” Morong said.

CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION from PPCO. L-R: Hermie Garcia, Larry Torres, Sheila, Jojo Taduran, Noel Perada, Rose Tijam, Morong, Mila Garcia, Rodel Ramos, Fred Yuson and Bong Molano.

For many years, people in general were not interested in the peace process and only when the peace accord was finally signed between the Philippine government and the MILF in March 2015 did they start to pay attention.

“Then Mamasapano happened, and this turned upside down the peace process,” Morong said, referring to the tragedy where 44 members of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police were killed in Mamasapano during an operation intended to capture Marwan, whom the US government identified as a top terrorist, and who was supposed to be hiding in a territory close to the MILF enclave.

Morong cited a national survey by the Social Weather Station right after the Mamasapano encounter, attesting to the general disinterest in the BBL. Nationally, 34 % people were opposed to the BBL; in Mindanao, 51% were opposed; and the only people in favor of the BBL were those in “areas directly affected” by the continuing violence and instability, he said.

In Congress, the BBL was not passed when it was taken up last month. Following this development, Morong reported on the status of the negotations.

“Right now, the MILF leadership and the government peace panels are back in Kuala Lumpur to discuss ways to move forward. The MILF leadership has said that they will stay the course of peace, but it is difficult because there are disgruntled younger commanders on the ground who say you tried the path of peace, it didn’t work out. So a lot of the credibility depended on the BBL passing, and you know that it didn’t, so in terms of the credibility of the leadership, it’s being tested now…The MILF is saying it is unilateral commitment by the government, meaning, if there was somebody who failed…it was the government – it is the diplomatic way of saying “you screwed us.”

Sen. Tobias Enverga presents certificate of appreciation to Morong.

So there’s a lot of pressure on the leaders involved in the talks, Morong added. They started talking on Feb 9 and will continue up to the 12th.
One of the experts in the peace process, noted Morong, believes that “the crucial time of most processes is when it fails, and that’s when the leaders should be able to kind of give perspective and hold things together – that’s the challenge.”

From Morongs’ perspective, an important step is to “go to the individual communities that have been affected…talk to the people and examine (the BBL) in terms of its impact on their lives.”
Morong, a Senior Reporter of GMA Network, Inc., who has been covering the justice and political beats for the broadcast media, confided why he has remained interested in covering the Mindanao peace process for many years, which he said was neither an easy, “sexy” or popular beat to cover.

“It was the children,” he said. Elaborating, he recounted that in 2001, he was in Mindanao, and looked into how the people defined peace in the areas most affected by the conflict. He found out that when he asked the children, for them it meant “their ability to go to school.” That revelation struck him and inspired him to delve deeper into covering the Mindanao peace process. “From a journalistic and humanistic point of view…there is something definitely wrong” when you look at a situation where children are unable to go to school, and 10 years later when you go back, it is still the same. “There is something definitely wrong,” he emphasized. He believes something must be done. He said peace has a different meaning to different people, and it’s important to look into the nuances of the meaning of peace in terms of how it affects people’s lives.

PPCO President Rose Tijam

As a McLuhan fellow, Morong’s topic in his talks to his audiences in Canada, centers on “Communicating the message of the marginalized: Media’s coverage of the Bangsamoro Peace Process in Southern Philippines.” Morong believes that media need to provide a context to the Mindanao conflict, “and how it could improve the narrative of peace and non-violence in this Philippine region.”

Other topics Morong discussed were the coming elections and the state of media in the Philippines.

• On the elections, Morong said the new feature is the holding of presidential debates. There will be three: first in Mindanao, then the Visayas, then Luzon.

• On the media, he noted that the Philippine is considered the third most dangerous country for journalists, next to first Iraq and second Mexico, based on the most number of media people killed. He added that in the Philippines, it is local media or community media in the provinces rather than in Manila, that are more susceptible to threats. Impunity of the perpetrators of media killings is the problem, he says.

The Marshall McLuhan program is sponsored by the Canadian government. Every year since 1987, a fellow is chosen among Philippine journalists for their exceptional work in investigative journalism, by the Canadian Embassy and the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility. For many years, PPCO has been hosting a forum in a Toronto location with the Marshall McLuhan Fellow and meet with Filipino-Canadian journalists and the Filipino community to discuss pressing issues in the Philippines.

From left: Mathew Oligane, Ridge Ablang, Carlo Figueroa, Morong, Mike Cruz and Andre Cruz