Mindanao Truth Commission

MINDANAO TRUTH COMMISSION
LINKING ‘THE THIRD FORCE’ TO THE MYSTERY BOMBINGS


In the USA and Europe, Americans and Europeans are wary of Muslims as potential terrorists.
In Mindanao, the Moros are now wary of Americans also as potential terrorists.


During the height of the bomb attacks that terrorised Mindanao between early 2002 and May 2003, every blast was squarely blamed on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) through trials by publicity. However, since the accusers do not have an iota of evidence, the concerned citizens of the country formed the Mindanao Truth Commission (MTC). The ‘Initiatives for Peace’ in Mindanao (INPEACE-Mindanao) - composed of bishops and nuns, imams and ulama, local executives and peace advocates, were not convinced that the 33 mysterious bombings, which took a toll of 95 killed and 490 wounded all civilians, mostly Muslims, could be the handy work of the MILF or ASG. They proved the accusers wrong, but their findings never absolved the suspects and never brought justice to the victims.

Lead by Dr. Robinson Montalba of “Justice, Not War Coalition” in Davao City, other members of the MTC were: Msgr Rego Monsanto, Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro City; Bishop Felixberto Calang of Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Southern Mindanao Diocese); Mayor V. Emano of Cagayan de Oro City and Professor Maulana Alonto of Institute for Bangsamoro Studies in Marawi City.

Beverly Munsi, a lawyer among the fact-finders, said they had weak links to the MILF and ASG for all the bombings that had occurred since early 2002. Instead, Munsi pointed to a “third force,” that had also been already alluded to by President Gloria M. Arroyo earlier, as the culprit.

The Third Force

In declaring the National Athletic Meet that was to be held in Iligan City on June 14, 2002 cancelled, the president cited the “third force” as the main reason for the N.A.M. cancellation, without categorically absolving the ASG and MILF. When asked for the identity of the “Third Force,” the then National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director Norberto Gonzales butted in, saying “it will be known very soon.” Surprisingly, however, even with all the information and leads available, the government decided to stop the probe or freeze the findings! Among those present during the declaration were Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman, Presidential Peace Process (OPAPP) Adviser Teresita Delez and Secretary Renato de Villa, all cabinet members.

Bomb explode on ‘bomber’

On March 4, 2002, the Davao International Airport was bombed, killing 21 civilians and wounding 124 others. This was followed by the blast at Sasa wharf on April 2, killing 16 and wounding 56, also all civilians. Over at General Santos City, a bomb was detonated at Fitmart Mall on April 8 killing another 16 people and wounding 54.

The mother of all bombs exploded at the Evergreen Hotel room in Davao City on May 16, 2003, seriously wounding the lone occupant identified as Michael Terrence Meiring, an American citizen. The Philippine Graphics magazine described Meiring as a “suspected CIA agent with strong connections.” His own bomb mangled his legs, but Meiring did not succumb to the blast and the injury. Interestingly, before the local police authorities could launch its formal investigation into the blast, on the same day, Meiring was surreptitiously whisked out of the Davao Doctor’s Hospital via a private Jet to an unknown destination that no one has dared to find out for the sake of truth and the bombing victims until today! Since then, however, not a single blast has been heard in like manner, and the general belief was that the May 16 blast must have come from the mother of all bombs that seriously hurt the bomber!

There were insinuations that the US Embassy and FBI or CIA agents in Manila facilitated the unceremonial departure of the terror-suspect. However, in the absence of hard evidence and court proceedings or legal pronouncements to the contrary, anyone can only conjecture! Only Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City was overheard to have fumed his displeasure over the incident in a fit of rage for the trampling of national sovereignty by the American (bomber?) bombing victim. But as the national government did not pursue the matter on constitutional violations by the suspected American terrorist and his sponsors, Mayor Duterte also perhaps decided to keep silent.

The unanswered questions

Just who is Michael Terrence Meiring; aside from being an American citizen, a CIA agent, a tourist or a terrorist? Who facilitated his unceremonious departure without going through immigration clearance and formalities? Why was there no hue and cry from the government of the republic of the Philippines and the vociferous Christian majority over the trampling of the national constitution and prerogatives by a US national, etc.?

A few sixty-four-dollar question hovers, unanswered until today: was Michael Terrence Meiring really the “third force” (terrorist) that President Gloria M. Arroyo alluded to earlier? Did he plant all the 32 other bombs that terrorized the southern Philippines, from Zamboanga City to Cotabato and Davao that killed 95 and wounded 490, mostly Moro civilians? Was the government of the Philippine Republic (GRP) aware of the activities of the “terrorist” as the intelligence community and president’s aides had already identified the “Third Force,” thus indirectly absolving the MILF and ASG of the bombing spree but without declaring it? If affirmative, why did the government stop the probe?

Was it because the "terrorist" was working for the interest of the government and the Filipino majority, while most of the victims are Moros, who they want to edge out or systematically decimate?

Was the GRP an indirect collaborator of the “American terrorist” without admitting its direct involvement, or a silent accomplice for not pursuing legal proceedings against the illegal exit of a suspected criminal, on constitutional grounds? Do foreigners have special privileges in the country more than local citizens, the ASG and MILF members most especially, who remained suspects in the series of bombings perpetrated by the American suspect?

Neither the American suspect cum victim of the last bomb was declared the culprit nor the ASG and MILF declared innocent, with a view to pinpointing who really was the perpetrator of such heinous crimes! It is now safe to say that the Philippine government has always been keen to solve crimes whenever Moros are the suspected perpetrators, but never when they are the victims.

Land for the landless, except Muslims

It must be emphasized that there is double standards of justice where Moro Muslims are concerned in the Philippine “democratic” institutions. First, MILF and ASG had already been put on trial by publicity in the national media as the culprit in the bombing spree by whoever it was. With the GRP not having made public any definite findings or decision on the matter, therefore, anybody can still be a suspect. The MTC may already have its own findings as to who the real culprit is, while absolving the MILF and ASG of the heinous crimes. But as far as the GRP is concerned, both the MILF and ASG remained suspects because it had not found any specific individual or group as the criminal perpetrator of the above-mentioned crimes.

Second is on land ownership. To cite another instance of GRP’s double standards, when the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (C.A.R.P.) issued land titles to applicants in Mindanao involving 1,866,246 hectares between 1987 and 2000, only 7,381 hectares or less than 0.4% were intended for applicants in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Of the 7,381 hectares, not all awardees are Muslims. Could it be construed that Muslims will only be given land titles after all the landless non-Muslims shall have been awarded theirs?

In the civil and military service of the government, hardly can one find a Muslim among officials in the top echelon. In military service, Muslims are promoted to colonels only when they have reached retirement age. So, automatically, they can only become a brigadier general by automatic promotion when they reach the mandatory retirement age.

Therefore, if the Bangsamoro people want justice, fairness and a level playing field, for all intent and purposes, they must look for them outside the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines and its national constitutional processes.

MoA-Ancestral Domain

The Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) which was already initialed by the GRP and MILF panel of negotiators, after going through seven over years of hard bargaining and unilaterally cancelled by the GRP, is another case of the double standards of the Philippine justice system. It was scheduled to be signed by the government and MILF leaders on August 5, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to be witnessed by international dignitaries, but halted by the temporary restraining order and later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

The MILF had made it known before hand that it does not recognize the Philippine Constitution and, therefore, the modalities of the negotiations must not be subject to its provision. As the GRP accepted the premise, it must bear the responsibility of making the agreements constitutional in the long run. The MoA-AD just happened to be one of the most viable vehicles for peace in Mindanao. But as the Filipino government and people do not want an honourable peace with the Moro people, and the international community cannot find any acceptable solution to resolve the impasse, then there’s no other way but for war to take its course! The Bangsamoro people cannot always be on the defensive, doling out almost everything without receiving anything in return, not even a guarantee for their own protection and well-being, including their remaining ancestral domain which has been eroding by day.

Lately, observers have noticed that some of the areas included in the ancestral domain claimed by the MILF with Muslim majority, are being ‘sanitized’ by the Christian warlords to reverse the demographic composition of those village districts (barangays) they want to be extricated from the MoA-AD. Several ‘landless’ families from North and Central Philippines are being resettled with sustenance and security provided by the government and warlords in these areas. They are armed with rifles as well as ready-made land titles, and are protected by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), its militia units and private armies of the Christian politicians and warlords to ensure they are not easily uprooted by either the Moro or Lumad traditional landowners. With all instrumentalities of the government used in tandem, geared towards the perpetuation of the land-grab schemes, it is already a foregone conclusion the Muslims and Lumads will never succeed in regaining or protecting much of their ancestral domain without any sacrificial endeavour. Apparently, under the circumstance - patience, perseverance and passive peaceful approach will no longer work in the Muslim’s and Lumad’s favour.

Passivity syndrome

The usual passivity syndrome that Muslims and Lumads used to cling to, subsuming Moro rights to the Filipino Constitution, reminiscent of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) approach, in signing the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) without any international guarantee to their remaining interests, should no longer be adhered to now and in any future negotiations. As a result of the FPA, considered to be the lowest level of Moro capitulation in history, the GRP seemed all the more to have totally lost respect for Moro rights and identity as a sovereign people.

With that in mind, the new bred of Moro leaders should devise ways and means to regain that self-respect their proud forebears had handed them down as a legacy for the coming generations to savour and emulate.


FUTURE GLOBAL NETWORK (FGN)
By Zakaria B. Abdullah
Bangsamoro Research Centre

Source: http://camlun.multiply.com/journal/item/78