This is a statement by Brother Maulana M. Alonto, Member of the MILF Peace Panel at the Roundtable Discussion Re: the Basilan Encounter Initiated by the Civil Society Organizations of Iligan City and Lanao del Norte held on July 18, 2007 at Patio Alejandra, Iligan City

If the current saber-rattling of Philippine political leaders and military officials were to be believed, Mindanao is now on the brink of war. And all because 10 Marines had been killed, beheaded and mutilated in Basilan allegedly by the MILF. What has not been clearly brought before the public – a public that has been whipped into a frenzy of xenophobic rage against the Moros – is the fact that the MILF and the GRP have standing peace agreements, and one of those agreements – the agreement on the cessation of hostilities – has been breached and violated by the Marines who invaded an MILF camp on the flimsy pretext of saving a kidnapped priest.

The Moros now ask the moral question: is the life of Fr. Bossi more sacred than the life of Imam Alkanul, a 60-year old blind man who was hogtied, tortured and then almost beheaded by the Marines?

Or, in case of another all-out war, are the lives of the people of Mindanao, Basilan and Sulu less valuable than the lives of those Marines?

Life is precious; it is a gift from Allah. But it would seem that in this country, the life of a Moro and a Muslim is not worth a Philippine cent let alone equal to that of a foreigner.

In this current crisis, the Moros find themselves alone again. Almost all sectors of Filipino society are calling for the blood of the Moros. The media is no less biased and vengeful, heaping insults upon us reminiscent of the invectives hurled by the Spaniards on our forefathers who resisted and fought against colonialism. Yet, what the Filipinos seem to have forgotten is that it was not long ago that what happened to the 10 decapitated Marines in Basilan pale in comparison to the horrible mutilations of 30,000 innocent Moro men, women and children who were victims of the Ilaga ethno-religious cleansing genocidal war in Mindanao.

The perpetrators of those heinous crimes against our people and against humanity have never been brought to justice. Nor were they called ‘savages’ and ‘barbarians’ by their Filipino compatriots.

The AFP Chief of Staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, among others, has threatened the MILF with another all-out war. The Bangsamoro people and the MILF are no longer strangers to such threats; or, to such wars. Much as we want peace, much as we desire the peace process to continue so that justice can finally put closure to this conflict that has taken a heavy toll on the Bangsamoro and Filipino peoples, any war imposed again on all of us will draw an equal amount of resistance that will not only be confined to mainland Mindanao but would be felt in the islands of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and southern Palawan where the MILF has now established its strong political, organizational and military presence.

The MILF has cautioned the GRP to exercise restraint just as it exercises restraint in the face of vicious provocations. Moreover, the MILF has proposed that an international human rights body investigate not only the beheadings of the Marines but the brutal murder of the Imam who was mutilated in similar fashion.

And until that investigation by an international human rights body is launched; and until the results of such an investigation have come out, let us not talk of war.

Let us, instead, work for peace and justice in the negotiating table. It is only through this means that we can prevent another Basilan from happening again. Other than that, I am afraid that the whole of Mindanao and Sulu will see the replication of the tragedy that happened in Tipo-Tipo.

Thank you.

Wa billahi tawfiq wa’al hidayah.