Land and struggle in Maguindanao


The bloodbath in Mamasapano, Maguindanao once again brought to public attention the armed struggle being waged by various revolutionary, Bangsamoro groups for more than a century now.

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The bloodbath in Mamasapano, Maguindanao once again brought to public attention the armed struggle being waged by various revolutionary, Bangsamoro groups for more than a century now.

Philippine senators, in their own inquiry, and riding on a wave of Islamophobia and anti-Moro sentiment, questioned the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)’s description of itself as a “revolutionary organization”. The senators thus betrayed an ignorance of the long history of Bangsamoro revolutionary struggle to determine their own future amid political and economic impositions from what they call “imperial Manila” and exploitation of their natural resources by foreign and local elite interests.

After the MILF’s signing of a comprehensive agreement with the Philippine government, progressive pundits were alarmed that the Bangsamoro struggle may have been compromised, especially after the United States government–which had expressed its desire to tap into the rich natural gas reserves in Liguasan Marsh–were adamantly supportive of the agreement. The MILF dismissed the warnings, saying that peace had to happen sometime, and that the agreement with the Aquino government, as well as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, was the closest thing to a principled peace that they could achieve.

That was before Mamasapano happened, of course. On January 25, the town of Mamasapano, which was clearly an MILF controlled territory, was subjected to a night-to-dawn police operation by dozens of police commandos ostensibly targetting two “known terrorists”. We all know what happened next.

Even in the bloodbath’s aftermath, the MILF affirmed its commitment to the peace process with the Aquino government. Meanwhile, other groups like the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and factions of the old Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) now call for a continuation of the armed struggle. With what we now know of the Mamasapano operation, it is clear that the Manila-based government, and its patron US government, did not have the Bangasamoro people’s interests at heart.

The people of Maguindanao, as well as all of Moro Mindanao, will have to brace themselves of an even longer struggle for self-determination and peace.