...Reflections on the Bangsamoro Decades in the making, the conflict in the southern parts of Mindanao was born of centuries old problems inherited from our Spanish colonizers in their tactic of divide-and-conquer. They say that if the Spanish interregnum did not occur, we would have all been Muslim. That is true, for when the Spaniards arrived, most of the powerful polities in Mindanao, and the rulers in Manila were all Muslim. But unlike the Spaniards who used the power of the cross and the sword, the Islamic conversions were mainly for economic reasons, since most of the merchant partners of the datus were Muslim—and Islam then was a very missional (albeit, progressive) religion. It was here that when the Spaniards saw the strong sultanates of Mindanao and how they stubbornly refused to be subjugated, the Spaniards began calling these people collectively as “Moro,” a term (unbeknownst to most Filipinos today) that hails from the long history of Spanish ethnic cleansing in their Iberian peninsula, when in their Reconquista, they defeated all the Muslim emirates in Spain and tried to erase from their historical memory the enlightened Muslim Moorish heritage that built the beautiful palaces of the kingdoms of Toledo, Cordoba and Granada. It was just logical that the Spanish conquistadors would choose the term “Moro” to refer to all Muslims in Filipinas, who they would call negatively as juramentados. The term Moro with its loaded meaning unfortunately caught up with our history...
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...Overview: The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is the most significant rebel group to have entered into a final peace agreement with the Government of the Repub- lic of the Philippines (GRP). An Islamo-separatist movement, it led the armed resistance in Muslim Mindanao against the martial law regime of President Ferdinand E. Marcos in the early 1970s and was recognized as ‘the sole legiti- mate representative of Muslims in Southern Philippines (“Bangsamoro people”)’ by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).1 Several rounds of on-and- off peace negotiations over three decades were concluded in 1996 under the auspices of the OIC. But the implementation of the 1996 final peace agreement has been contentious. While a significant number of MNLF combatants has been integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), there has been no disarmament or demobilization of the group. Since 2001, there have been occasional armed hostilities between the MNLF and the AFP in the MNLF heartland of Jolo island in the Sulu archipelagic province. Sulu hostilities in 2005 involved some apparent tactical cooperation between the MNLF and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) against the AFP, but in 2006 the MNLF shifted policy by actively cooperating with the AFP against the ASG in Sulu. Fierce fighting between the MNLF and the AFP again erupted in April 2007, and several MNLF camps in Sulu were taken. The MNLF there- fore has one foot inside government...
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...The Bangsamoro Framework Agreement and the Peace Talks in Mindanao These past few decades, the conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Government of the Philippines has been so complicated and so sensitive. Complicated because the tension between the two parties are so intense that bloody wars are happening in the affected areas in Mindanao and very sensitive in a way that any single move of the both parties against each other can worsen the situation. Before I proceed to my discussion, let us discuss first the history of the MILF, what do they want and why they are against the Philippine Government. Based on my researches, the MILF is a Moro and Lumad group (group of Muslim people living in Mindanao) formed in the 1960’s to achieve greater Bangsamoro autonomy in the southern part of the Philippines. Before it was called the MILF, it was first called as Moro National Liberation Front or MNLF. The aim of the Moro National Liberation Front is to have their independence from the Philippine Government. In short, they want to form their own republic and they want to have their own government. This group of Moros was founded by Nur Misuari, a Moro revolutionary, and a politician, in the year of 1969 and was considered as a rebel group of Muslim people. The members of the MNLF were considered as terrorists people here in the Philippines because they are attacking and assasinating many Filipino people just to make our government realize that they are not...
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...Republic of the Philippines HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Quezon City SIXTEENTH CONGRESS Second Regular Session HOUSE BILL NO. 4994 AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE BASIC LAW FOR THE BANGSAMORO AND ABOLISHING THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9054, ENTITLED “AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND THE ORGANIC ACT FOR THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO,” AND REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6734, ENTITLED “AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ORGANIC ACT FOR THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO,” AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: PREAMBLE We, the Bangsamoro people and other inhabitants of the Bangsamoro, imploring the aid of the Almighty, aspiring to establish an enduring peace on the basis of justice in our communities and a justly balanced society, and asserting our right to conserve and develop our patrimony; In consonance with the Constitution and the universally accepted principles of human rights, liberty, justice, democracy, and the norms and standards of international law, reflective of our system of life prescribed by our faith, and in harmony with our customary laws, cultures and traditions; Affirming the distinct historical identity and birthright of the Bangsamoro people to their ancestral homeland and their right to self-determination – beginning with the struggle for freedom of their forefathers in generations past and extending to the present – to chart...
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...kristiyano estudyanteng . Tanong : Sang ayon ka ba na ipatupad ang Bangsamoro Moro Basic Law ? Tanong : Ang Bangsamoro Basic Law ay makatulong ba sa Mindanao ? at sa buong bansa ? Pito ang sumangayon dahilan para saka nila makakatulong ito sa Mindanao at sa buong bansa . at Pito rin ang Hindi sumang ayon dahilan na hindi ito makakatulong sa Mindanao at sa buong bansa . Tanong : Nakakasama ba sa Luzon at Visayas ang pagpapatupad ng Bangsamoro Basic Law sa Mindanao ? Isa lang ang sumang ayon dahilan para saka niya na hindi ito makakasama sa Luzon at Visayas kasi sa kanya na dapat lang ito isagawa sa Mindanao .at labing dalawa naman ang Hindi sumang ayon dahilan na ito makakasama sa ating bansa o sa Luzon at Visayas na ipapatupad ang BBL . Tanong : May mabuti bang maidudulot ang pagpapatupad ng BBL ? walo ang sumang ayon dahilang may mabuting maidudulot sa pagpapatupad ng BBL at may makakabuti rin ito sa Mindanao . Sa Hindi naman ay lima kasi para saka nila wala ito maidududlot na pagpapatupad sa bangsamoro basic law . kaya dahilan na hiyundi ito makakdulot. Tanong : Kailangan mapasa na kaagad ang Bangsamoro BAsic Law sa Kongreso at Pangulo ? Lima naman ang sumang ayon na dapat na maipasa ito sa Kongreso at pangulo dahilan para mapagusapan ang bangsamoro basic law na dapat bang ipapatupad ang bangsamoro basic law sa mindanao . at Siyam naman ang hindi na ipasa ang bangsamoro basic law dahilan na dapat na pagplanohan ito . Tanong : Posible...
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... ‘G‘ Co 3 sultanates of Bangsamoro Royal Houses express support for BBL By: InterAksyon.com April 14, 2015 12:26 PM MANILA - Three sultanates of the Bangsamoro Royal Houses expressed support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law during a one-day solidarity conference held at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao on Monday. These are the Royal Houses of Maguindanao, Buayan, and Kabuntalan, led by its Prime Sultan of Maguindanao Mandanaur Darussalam Sayyid Abdulaziz Salem Kudarat Mastura V, Sultan of Kabuntalan Pinandatu Uko Mluk , Buayan Sultanate Amil Kusain Camsa, and Taviran IV Engr. Datu Noldin S. Oyod. “We decided to hold this assembly of our elder leaders in the royal houses of Bangsamoro to have our voices be heard by our officials in the national government, as well as, by the people in Mindanao,” said Sultan Pinandatu Uko Mluk. “We have suffered many years of struggle and we want peace in our home for both Christians and Muslims,” said Prime Sultan Sayyid for his part. Ghazali Jaafar, Ist vice chairman the MILF Central Committee, said the conference demonstrated the unity of the Muslims whose lives have been “in constant struggle for so many years.” “It is very painful for us – both Christian and Muslim – that after years of hard work to find peace in Mindanao, the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law is being delayed or suspended because of an unfortunate incident last January,” Jaafar said. The MILF official stressed that the Bangsamoro goal is to usher Mindanao to a...
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...Reaction Paper: Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) Bangsamoro came from the words: Bansang Moro. I have watched an interview (The Bottomline with Boy Abunda) of ANAK Mindanao Party List Representative Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman (wife of ARMM Governor) - she said that even before the Spanish and American colonizers came to the Philippines they are a "a nation" on their own. They are even entering "Treaties" with other countries without the knowledge or permission of the Philippine Government. That somehow explains to us why the Moros (Muslim inhabitants of the Philippines) in our country are in a struggle to retain the government of their own. Being a Christian I can not fully understand their culture and beliefs, as well as the the Central Government MAY not- that is why the Aquino government is convinced that we must let them govern their own land and people with respect to that religious beliefs and culture. It is always practical to elect a leader that knows his constituents very well - and most of the times, among them; like in the Muslim territory, a natural born Moro. The Bangsamoro Basic Law will replace and abolish the Autonomous Region Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Organic Act. BBL is an enhanced version of the existing ARMM. The said Law's primary aim is to promote long-term peace and ensure development and progress in theBangsamoro region and to secure their identity being Moros. This road to peace process took us seventeen years(17) to realize. According to former DILG secretary...
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...1 (This paper was presented during the SEACSN Conference 2004: “Issues and Challenges for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Southeast Asia”, at Shangri-La Hotel, Penang, Malaysia on 12-15 January 2004) Muslim Minority in the Philippines By Abhoud Syed M. Lingga Executive Director, Institute of Bangsamoro Studies How the Muslims as a minority situate themselves within the Philippine national community is the subject of discussion in this paper. A look into their views on their relations with the national community is helpful in understanding the conflict in Mindanao for this is the impetus in their assertion for their right to self-determination. Minority Communities We find minority communities within the borders of many countries today. These minority communities can be classified broadly into three major categories (Che Man 1990:1). The minority migrant populations are in the first category. During the colonial period, workers were recruited from other colonies to work in plantations, mining and other industries. In recent years, migration of peoples who are induced by pull factors like economic opportunities and liberal policies of countries of destination and the push factors in their own countries like violent conflicts, lack of economic opportunities and repressive government policies are observable. The migrant populations have no attachment to any portion of the territory of the host country. Their concerns are the acceptability by and equal rights with the dominant majority...
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...economic development’” (Diokno 6-7). The Philippines belongs to these developing countries, and a region in this country, Mindanao, has been on pursuit for lasting peace. This is the kind of peace the people in Mindanao called the Bangsamoro people, has been longing for. The conflict in Mindanao between the Government and the Bangsamoro people is the second longest-running in the world. It started more than four hundred years ago during the Spanish occupation. It was then continued by the Americans when Mindanao was not granted independence (Diokno 4). Even after the entire Philippines was granted independence, there were still problems that generated conflict. It carried on over the years through different administrations, including the present one, and it has not yet been resolved. There are still many which seemed as endless counts of infringement of the Bangsamoro that could be heard over the news along with countless reports of hostilities. It is important to identify the root of the conflict itself to know what solutions to the problem are necessary and which steps are needed to take. One of the problems common heard is the Mindanao’s pursuit for autonomy. Although autonomy has already been established by law and granted to the Bangsamoro (we now call the region Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao), some groups claim that the spirit of autonomy is not yet there...
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... (064)421-3436 FOR: MGEN CAESAR RONNIE F ORDOYO AFP Commanding General, 6th Infantry “Kampilan” Division, PA Camp GH Siongco, Awang, DOS, Maguindanao (Attn: AC of S for Opns, G3) FROM: BGEN GILBERTO JOSE C ROA AFP Chairman, GPH CCCH Subject: movement of biaf-milf DATE: 11 February 2013 1. Reference: SMS from MILF CCCH dated 11 February 2013 with subject same as above. 2. Per reference, this Committee would like to respectfully coordinate the movement of more or less 154 members of the Eastern Mindanao Front (EMC) of the the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces-Moro Islamic Liberation Front (BIAF-MILF) from Darapanan, Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao to Rajahmuda, Pikit, Cotabato today, 11 February 2013 at 1800H. 3. Accordingly, said BIAF forces served as security compliments of the MILF during the Sajahatra Bangsamoro Program at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute at Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on 11 February 2013. 4. They will travel using 26 units of motorcycles, two (2) forward vehicles and five (5) multicab vehicles. The MILF CCCH informed this Committee that they will not wear BIAF uniforms while their firearms are kept discreetly inside their vehicles. 5. In view thereof, we would like to request from your Command to inform concerned AFP/PNP units and LGUs in the areas regarding the said movement. 6. For your information. Cc: PAPP GPNP CSAFP...
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...LOVE FOR JUSTICE OF JOSE RIZAL Jose Rizal lived his life seeking for justice not just for their family but for all the Filipino people. Even before his childhood, Rizal already witnessed the cruelties done by the Spanish authorities to the Filipinos. In his early childhood, Rizal witness the injustice done through the death of GOMBURZA and the imprisonment of his mother. Because of the desire to Filipinize the Philippine parishes, Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora was executed by the Spanish authorities by the order of Governor General Izquierdo. This desire of the 3 fathers was a threat to the Spanish authorities and they considered it as a revolt against them. The martyrdom of GOMBURZA in 1872 really inspired Rizal to pursue justice and to fight the evil of Spanish tyranny to redeem the Filipino people. And later, in honor of the martyrdom of the GOMBURZA, Rizal dedicated this novel, El Filibusterismo, to them. Also, later that year in 1872, Doña Teodora, mother of Rizal, was suddenly arrested on a malicious charge that she and his brother, Jose Alberto, tried to poison his treacherous wife. For 2 years, his mother was arrested and suffered from the erroneous accusations. Rizal was exposed with this injustices that it became his inspiration to pursue his fight for justice for all the Filipino people. The way Rizal showed his desire for justice is through writing. He believed that through this, many Filipinos will considered these ideas and awaken their...
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...Highlights: * The joint session of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives has been called to order at exactly 4pm. * President Aquino started to deliver this 4th SONA at 4:03 pm. * Aquino said it’s his fourth SONA, 2 more remaining. He said he is aware of the challenges facing his leadership. * The President hailed domination of Team PNoy senatorial bets in the 2013 elections. * He cited the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and increase in number of TESDA graduates. * He said the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program will cover families with high school students, not just elementary pupils, starting next year. * Aquino mentioned DepEd secretary Armin Luistro, adding that classroom shortage will be addressed by the education department within the year. * The President said rice self-sufficiency and coconut intercropping, which will boost agricultural growth, are among the administration’s targets. There will be 434 sites for coconut intercropping. * Aquino mentioned Hacienda Luisita, saying determination of lots for beneficiaries started last week. * PhilHealth enrolees, he said, increased from 62% to 81%; benefits were also enhanced. * This year, multi-hazard zone mapping was finished while geohazard mapping of Metro Manila to be completed by next year. * The perennial problem of Metro Manila flooding has been addressed. P6.2 Billion has been allocated for flood control in Metro Manila. * 9,377 housing...
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...Rochellin Adesna BSBA 3 July 29, 2013 FM 19(Public Finance or Elective) STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT BENIGNO S. AQUINO III President Aquino on Monday, July 22, 2013 delivered his fourth state of the nation address (SONA). It was Pnoy’s longest SONA so far but has been applauded less frequently compared to last year. SONA this year were focused on the achievements of the government on his term such as approval of the Sin Tax Reform Law and “ Responsible Parenthood Law”( RH Law), reforms in Education System(K-12), Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program(4Ps), increase in number of TESDA graduates, increase in Phil Health enrollees from 62% to 81% and improved benefits, allocation of P 6.2 Billion for flood control in Metro Manila, completion of 9,377 housing units for typhoon Sendong victims, 63% reduction in number of private armed groups, 21.4 increase in foreign tourists arrivals in 2012 and 7.85 GDP(Gross Domestic Product) growth the first quarter of 2013. However, it also highlights some of the changes to hike SSS contributions and train fares. “We believe that it is time to amend the SSS Pension Scheme. We must establish measures that remedy the outflow of funds. If we add 0.6% to the contribution rate, it will immediately deduct P 141 billion from the unfunded liability, “Aquino said. Pnoy said the need to reform pension Scheme is necessary to avoid depletion of SSS funds in the next 28...
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...MNLF Position on the Status of the 1996 MNLF-GPH Final Peace Agreement By: Rltr. John R. Petalcorin (MNLF) 7 June 2013 THE MNLF-GPH DISPUTE. We, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), disputes the claim of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) that they have already completely and fully implemented the 1996 MNLF-GPH Final Peace Agreement (FPA). The major issue that MNLF will dispute is on Section 20(a) of the 1996 MNLF-GPH FPA that says: "There shall be a special socioeconomic, cultural and educational program to cater to MNLF forces not absorbed into the AFP, PNP and the SRSF to prepare them and their families for productive endeavors, provide for educational, technical skills and livelihood training and give them priority for hiring in development projects." WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S POSITION? The GPH's position is that they believe that they have already completed the implementation of the MNLF-GPH FPA Sec 20(a) through the ordinary GPH projects in what they perceive as "MNLF communities". These ordinary projects include giving direct dole-out Pantawid Pamilya cash allowances, direct dole-out Philhealth cards, direct dole-out housing assistance, and the regular infrastructure projects (say farm-to-market road and fish port) that the community members have free access. WHAT IS MNLF'S ARGUMENT DISPUTING THE GPH POSITION? MNLF believes that GPH giving direct dole-out Pantawid Pamilya cash allowances, dole-out Philhealth cards, dole-out housing assistance...
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...Assessment of Aquino Administration’s policies and achievements The Aquino Administration at the mid of its term: assessment of its policies and achievements in key areas. When Benigno (Noynoy) Aquino was elected in May 2010, it was a huge wave of hope that swept him in a landslide victory into the office of the Philippine President: * hope that he would bring back honesty as guiding principle into the actions and decisions of this office – as it had been the case during the presidency of his revered mother Cory Aquino 1986 – 1992, whose passing away in summer 2009 had plummeted the nation into deep nostalgic mood and initiated the request of the Liberal Party for her son as presidential candidate in the 2010 elections; * hope that the lawlessness, high levels of violence, corruption, human rights violations and impunity would finally find an end; * hope that the hardened poverty of more than 25% of the fast growing population would finally be reduced – following his campaign slogan: “no corruption, no poverty any more”; * hope that he would be able to bring peace to the country which was suffering for more than 40 years from fighting with the Mindanao based Muslim Rebellion and the armed campaign of Maoist in many rural provinces all over the country. Three years later, in the mid of his single six-years term, it is still the hope of the majority of the population which is upholding his high popularity. What has been done, what has been achieved...
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