COCOY’S PUBLIC STATEMENT

*“Sige ka, magiging Cocoy ka.”*

This line has become part of the equation to scare Human Rights workers and the people in Sulu away from the very thing that is inherent to human -- their rights. The Tausugs are being turned into a bunch of walking zombies apathetic to state abuses and pass them off as another foul meal gone into their stomachs. By making a case out of me, the Sulu local government has so far been relatively successful in their tactics to shut people’s voices from speaking out and having a take on what is right and wrong in their own community. But so long as there are Tausugs who know believe in the sanctity of Life, the government can never debauch the very purpose of its existence -- to protect its people. There’s always one out of ten souls who dare and resist to be gagged and mummed and they serve as that sliver of light all throughout our struggle. With that, i cannot say that the Voldemorts of Sulu local government are wholly successful in their attempt to silence us.

Around at the same time today last year, my wife received my arrest warrant at our home in Jolo, Sulu. I was charged of Multiply Frustrated Murder with Use of Explosive under RA 9615 for, the warrant claims, bombing Governor Abdusakur Tan near the local provincial office in Sulu. I never had the chance to read and see it myself, i was not at home during that time. My wife called me up and told me about it in an unperturbed manner. Since then, i never got the chance to go back home and see my kids running and lounging around the house or in their schoolbags and lunchboxes going to and back
from school.

I received a diarrhea of criticisms, for one, “If he is really not guilty, why doesn’t he submit to the law and come out clean?” This is precisely why i chose Human Rights advocacy to be my lifetime endeavor. In the Philippines, let alone in Sulu, the law does not work for the people to whom it is supposed to be serving. The assumption “innocent until proven guilty” has never been the case but otherwise; you are “guilty until proven innocent” and, chances are, you’d be locked away in oblivion. No way. Allowing them to get me would be unwise. I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to participate in the ridiculous and unfounded verdict of the state against me. The state needs me to justify their own lies and shamelessness.

A year after this so-called hiding, I say this is probably both the best and worst time of my life. The life of an HR advocate is no joke. If it’s worse in the rest of Philippine regions, it’s worst to be one in Sulu. One year outside Sulu allowed me to get a good grasp of my community’s social ills. To sow chaos in the hearts and minds of Tausugs whose sole aspiration is the Right to Self-determination, the national government’s divide and rule tactic has worked quite well. Now, as non-Muslims see it, it’s Muslims against Muslims. Puppet leaders are installed to create an illusion of self-governance and oppress any hints of assertion of historical and political rights. The state is the larger enemy. The Philippine state is the womb of all sins committed against the people of Sulu which keep us broken, divided and swamped in all of these wrong intentions.

Sulu is possibly the vaguest or most complicated thing one would ever encounter. HR workers has to battle against the damaging consequences of governance tailored to suit the vested interests of those in power -- autocracy and anarchy combined. The parasitic nature of both is out there ruining the lives of our common people. The leaders and followers are caught in a corrupted “Lord-and-Slave” mindset where the autocratic Lord sanctions the lawlessness of its followers cultivating a medieval attitude of shamelessness known to any man. As a result, everyone becomes a warlord.

This explains the nerve of the state and its armed forces to bomb us while we’re praying during Eidl Fitr, to declare an unnecessary State of Emergency and create the Civilian Emergency Forces (CEF), to perpetrate HR violations through massacres and mass killings, to shrug gang rape off, to ignore the mushrooming of communities of drug-pushers, among others. The are no words to describe the local government of Sulu today but a huge perversion of the idea of an Islamic community. Root of the ill is simple. It is nothing more but ego, pride and politics of human relationship. One wants to rule over the other. And, at the expense of Tausug lives.

Massacre of innocent civilians and families in Sulu hinterlands is already a common phenomenon in Sulu and why it has become so is due to the law that is selective and state that is oppressive. At the risk of being redundant, it is clear how this create terrorists in the minds of the public ,and justify wars and ultimately the bulk of national expenditure allotted to the Philippine military. Have you ever heard of massacre victims to whom justice has been served?

During the 2009 State of Emergency, wives, mothers and daughters of victims of warrantless and random arrests came to my house and sought any form of help. I tried to negotiate with Governor Tan only to get a wild and heartless reply, “There is nothing we can do if they are poor and cannot afford lawyers.” Have you ever heard if justice has been served to these victims?

I am not sure how many of you -- Filipinos, the national government, Philippine media -- knew about the condemnable 2009 gang rape in Sulu where it is not anymore safe for students and young girls to roam around the town even in broad daylight. And the local government has the face to tell us that there should be a news blackout on gang rape because the province is already suffering from bad image. More so, Sulu became a landfill of garbage with such a garbage attitude of local leaders. Have you ever heard of a single gang rape victim who saw her perpetrators being brought to justice?

Answers are NO, NO and NO. The state and the media could not care any less because the victims are Muslims. And therefore no way am i gonna submit to their theatrical exercise of their law. The act of oppressing and silencing me is an act of admission that the government has an unimaginable abuses to hide.

Why am i not in Sulu right now?

First, I need to raise this issue into the national scale where there would be a relative application of the law otherwise i would be completely at the mercy of manipulative hands of local executive and judiciary branch whose services have a corresponding price. I cannot afford their services.

Second, i wouldn’t want this to turn into another family feud or families against families as i have very good friends from the side of the Tans. As reprehensible the culture of family feud as it may be, there can never be any good reason to involve other family members who do not wish to be in the middle of this conflict. Every single Tausug would know the trouble of a family feud in Sulu. It is very clear that this conflict is not a personal one between me and Governor Tan as i have experienced this same kind of harrassment from previous Sulu governors. The real issue at hand is that of Tausugs being made defenseless and helpless against the state abuses.

Third, I am obliged to share that sometime in June and July 2009 when i was invited for questioning, my families and supporters armed themselves to prevent the authorities from getting me. Schools, government offices and institutions, private establishment temporarily closed down due to the panic created by the possibility of armed conflict between the two families. The disruption of classes, official and business activities are inexcusable. It defeats my purpose of working for the betterment of my community.

Whether we admit it or not, Sulu is down the gorge of moral decadence. In the course of the Bangsamoro people’s fight for change, divide-and-rule tactics successfully ambushed us, and not choosing to stand up again is definitely something our sons and daughters from the next generation will condemn us for. There can be no other option but for the Tausugs to unite again for we are slowly dying. We are a life gradually turning chlorotic and arid.

It is our responsibility to fight for this right to life—a fight that I do not intend to abandon—one that gives me more reason to face the malicious charges filed against me. I am very much willing to face my accuser, but not in any of the courts in Sulu as they have already been rendered incompetent to handle my case since my accuser has virtually become the judge and executioner in my home province.

Lastly, i would like to thank all the peacekeeping forces and organizations who ceaselessly believe in the strength of peace, understanding and unity, in the strength of Tausugs to achieve the genuine Right to Self-determination, and in the strength of possiblity that Sulu can still serve as a portion of Ummah to all the adherents of Islam.


TEMOGEN “COCOY” TULAWIE
Sulu Human Rights Defender

A CALL FOR THE REALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) is a network of key Moro civil society organizations strategically located in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) including Moro communities in some parts of Mindanao. To date, the CBCS has eight (8) regional formations with their corresponding regional management committees (RMC} based in Cotabato City, General Santos City, Digos City, Marawi City, Pagadian City, Zamboanga City, Basilan and Sulu to pursue the advocacy for human rights, peace and good governance

After the formation of its management committee in the Sulu Region in 2006, the CBCS member organizations in the area have elected Mr. Temogen “Cocoy” Sahipa Tulawie as the first chairperson of their RMC. With his 3- year stint with the Sulu RMC as chairperson, Mr. Timogen “Cocoy” Tulawie has shown extraordinary courage and a sterling performance in the protection of human rights, advocacy for peace, and promotion of good governance.

As a human rights defender, he spearheaded the staging of a protest rally to seek justice for the victims of the Ipil massacre where eight civilians, among them a 4 year-old child died as a result of an indiscriminate firing of the Philippine Navy under the Western Mindanao Command in Bgy. Ipil, Maimbung Sulu on February 4, 2008. He also led protest actions against the implementation of the Sulu Provincial Identification Card System in January 2008, which ordered the mandatory wearing of ID cards by Sulu citizens.

When the state of emergency was declared in the Sulu island province by Governor Sakur Tan on March 31 last year, he exposed the rampant human rights violations committed by the Civilian Emergency Forces (CEF) and spearheaded the move to call for the lifting of the state of emergency.

When the GRP-MILF peace negotiation was on the brink of collapse in 2008 and 2009, he led the move to call for the sustenance of the peace talks. When the GRP and MNLF squabbled on the interpretation of the Final Peace Accord, he spearheaded a move to call for a comprehensive review and full implementation of the said peace accord.

As a staunch peace advocate, he also mobilized key leaders of CBCS member-organizations in his region to mediate and settle local conflicts. And as a proponent of good governance, Cocoy Tulawie mobilized the same group to monitor and ensure the conduct of a clean, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful election in his beloved island province of Sulu.

With this track record in defending and promoting human rights as well as responsible governance, it is no wonder then that his daring and passionate advocacies may have threatened or gotten the ire of some parties and political personalities in the province.

When Mr. Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie was tagged as among the suspects in the alleged ambush of Governor Sakur Tan a year ago, he immediately tendered his resignation as chairperson of RMC of Sulu Region to avoid dragging the name of CBCS on the issue. On August 5 this year, he was again tagged as mastermind behind the bombing attack on Gov. Tan outside the arrival area of the Zamboanga City airport.

We in the CBCS were and are deeply saddened by this development and find it ironic -- but not at all surprising -- that being a human rights defender, peace advocate and a proponent of good governance, he was harassed and charged with a crime merely founded on questionable and non-validated source of information and testimonies.

We are also alarmed that if this arbitrary practice will not be properly checked, more human rights defenders, peace activists and proponents of responsible governance will be put into risk by being harassed and charged with a crime similar to that of Mr. Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie.

We vehemently condemn the harassment done on Mr. Timogen “Cocoy” Tulawie and members of his family. We also sympathize with the suffering and anguish he has undergone since he went into hiding to avoid falling into the hands of Sulu and Zamboanga authorities he referred to as both his “judge and executioner.”

As we manifest our unwavering unity and solidarity with the people of Sulu, we are also urging the government, especially the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Presidential Commission on Human Rights (PCHR), to immediate conduct an impartial re-investigation of the case charged against Mr. Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie and for the speedy resolution of the Petition for Review and Prohibition he filed at the DOJ.

Uphold the integrity of human rights defenders! Protect the peace advocates and proponents of good governance in the ARMM! Uphold the integrity of Mr. Temogen “Cocoy” Tulawie as a staunch human rights defender and protect his rights as a citizen, as a peace advocate and a proponent of good governance!

Adopted and issued in Cotabato City, this 12th day of October 2010.

Reference:

Sammy Maulana
Secretary-General
Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS)
Handy numbers: 09282277154; 09061893507