September 11 Incidents and Ethnic Issues in the Philippines - Essay Example

How the September 11, 2001 Incidents in New York and Washington Have Affected Ethnic Issues in Philippines Student’s name: Institution: Instructor: Subject: How the September 11, 2001 Incidents in New York and Washington Have Affected Ethnic Issues in Philippines The Philippines has been facing problems associated with ethic and religious minority population like many of the third word nations in Southeast Asia. As a state comprising of multi-culture, one of the main issues is how to foster cooperation and unity among different ethic groups in the country. The Muslim Filipinos (Bangsamoro) ethnic group, one of the minorities, has been demanding for their right to self-independence (Sylvia, Larry & Romulo, 2003). Their struggle has acquired many shapes ranging from armed to parliamentary struggle with a main demand of a separate Islamic state or regional political autonomy. The Bangsamoro struggle, also referred to as Mindanao conflict, is deeply traced issue with strong historical issues that can be hinted back to as far as era of colonials. It has continued up to the present days and might prolong in the future such that it might be a threat to the Republic of Philippines national security if it go unchecked. At present, the population in the region can be grouped into 3 general groups, namely, Filipino Christian migrants settlers, the Lumad tribes, and the Bangsamoro people. The Muslim Filipinos (the Bangsamoro people) comprise approximately 20% of the total population of Philippines in South. They are dominant only in the 5 provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Lanao del sur, and Maguindano, and also in some municipalities of Davao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Norte, and Cotabato. The MIM (Muslim Independence Movement) was initially formed in 1968. It supported the outright secession of Mindanao, Palawan, and Sulu regions from the control of Philippines. It also rooted for holy war (jihad) to defend the Bangsamoro native soil. The word Muslim was change to Mindanao in order to harbor inhabitants in south of Philippines who were not Muslims (Glang, 1972). In 1972, only after 2 month of declaration of Martial Law in the country, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) carried out well planned attacks against various groups of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Lanao, Sulu, and Cotabato provinces. This was later followed by a full-scale war in the southern part of Philippines. The main objective of the MNLF was absolute liberation on the Bangsamoro ethic groups and the Mindanao independence. The Tripoli Agreement signing resulted to the division of the MNLF. Another group cropped up in Mindanao, MILF (the Molo Islamic Liberation Front) that was formed by the former deputy of the MNLF central committee. The division of the MNLF in to 2 main groups resulted to two main ethic groupings and demarcated Mindano in terms of territory. Hashim salamat sort loyalty among the Maguidanaos in province of Maguindano and later Zamboanga, Lanao del Norte, and Lanao del Sur provinces. On the other hand, Nur Misuari sort loyalty among Tausug in Western Mindanao in populated regions of Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Zamboanga, and Lanao del Norte. Another group was formed by Abdurajak Janjalani in the early 1990s and it was named Abu Sayyaf (ASG). The group was originally referred to as Harakatul Islamia and later change to ASG (Bearer of the Sword). The main objective of ASG was to establish Mindanao Independent Islamic State same as aspirations of MILF. ASG was recognized as a lethal entity in Mindanao due to its most serious terrorist attacks it initiated. Additionally, ASG was alleged by the United States President, George Bush, as one of the terror groups connected to Al-qaeda International Terrorist group and Osama bin Laden that carried out terror attack on September 11, 2001 that destroyed the pentagon in Washington D.C and the world Trade Center in New York. This was based on the fact that Janjalani, the leader of ASG, was trained in the military camp of Middle East and obtained help from Al-qaeda. The September 11, 2001 incident and other criminal activities like brutal killings of Christians, hostage-taking, and kidnapping in Mindanao fueled the polarization among Muslims and Christians ethnic groups. These may have caused a further emergence of the historical anti-Muslim reactions of the Christians and vice versa, in Mindanao. President Arroyo of Philippines sent an apparent signal to back the US in the outcome of the September 11, 2001 terrorists assault. She stated that the country was ready to move step further in collaboration with United States. The Philippines President, Arroyo, permitted United States Military forces to utilize Filipino ports and airfields to back military operations in Afghanistan. She cited Philippines national interest and morality as grounds for her stand to support US. She described interest of the nation as connecting struggle to fight global terrorism with the struggle to fight terrorism inside the Philippines. The objective of policy of President Arroyo was to combat terrorism and Muslim insurgency. As a result of her policy, some of Muslim ethnic groups in Mindanao felt like they were being targeted. Larry (2002) suggests that starting in October 2001, the US sent a batch of military personnel as observers to Mindanao to assess AFP operations against Abu Sayyaf to offer advice and investigate AFP equipment needs. When President Gloria paid a visit to US in 2001, US president gave $93 million in military assistance to the Philippines. Arroyo insinuated that the military role played by US was advisory and the AFP had to remain with complete operational responsibility. The AFP on Mindanao started to get quantities of U.S military wares by late December 2001. Due to ineffectiveness of AFP, it was decided in January 2002 that the US would deploy 650 troops to Basilan and Minadano within 30 days. Unite States military was not given autonomy to carry out independent operations, although they were allowed to use their weapons to defend themselves. Such a role on Mindanao was likely to place United States military personnel in direct confrontational conditions in AFP-Abu Sayyaf encounters. The Arroyo campaign of anti-terrorism created a chance for the military of Philippines to acquire more training, funds, and equipment from the United States. It also raised the danger of an inappropriate framework that was being induced on the conflict of Mindanao by defining the Moros –and more specifically the MILF mass base- as sympathizers of terrorists. This helped the government to abandon the historical grievances of poverty, insecurity, and dispossession that created the conflict in the first place. Such incidences have continued to push indigenous of Mindanao and Population of Muslims to the margins of political and socio-economic development. The expanded United States military operation developed some implications. Successful operations of military against Abu Sayyaf could widen U.S accomplishments past Afghanistan and reinstate the message of Bush Government to other governments elsewhere that the US is committed to eliminate terrorism at any cost. The example set by government of Philippines would influence other governments to welcome US initiatives on fight against terrorism. Accomplishment against Abu Sayyaf was set to revive the US-Philippines security coalition, which was a goal of US policy since the signing in 1998 of a US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (Larry, 2002). It was set to give huge US-Philippines cooperation against any further attempts by Al qaeda to carry out terrorism activities in Philippines especially Manila. The other implication was the increased danger to ethnic groups from Christian religion in Mandanao and American citizens who would be targeted by Al qaeda or even Abu Sayyaf. Another implication was associated with maintaining the target of operation to Abu Sayyaf. The Administration of Bush was reported to have wanted to escape military engagement with the MILF. It was clear that if the truces of Philippines Government with the MNLF and MILF collapsed, the AFP would actually utilize equipments supplied by United States military to fight these groups. The government of Philippines wanted United States advice and training to strengthen AFP against the MNLF and MILF groups. Military personnel of US with AFP were set to engage fight against MNLF or MILF groups in regions where these groups were collaborating with Abu Sayyaf (Larry, 2002). Operations of AFP to fight Abu Sayyaf utilized aerial artillery or bombing and this linked the US with possible huge civilian casualties. Additionally, if there were reports of Al-qaeda-MILF connections, a bold case would have emerged in US policy deliberation to target the MILF and Abu Sayyaf. This means that US had to expand it operation against Abu Sayyaf. This contained an elevated risk of broader US military involvement affecting large ethnic groups of the Muslim population of Mindanao. The threat was brought to light by warnings in January 2002 from group loyal to Misuari Nur, MNLF, to target American supporters in cities of Philippines as well as Manila. The expanded role of United States military also carried the risk of political backlashes. Ethnic group from Muslim religion in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia were expected to react against the United States Military roles that had expanded past missions against Abu Sayyaf group. Influential leftist and nationalist groups from Philippines started to criticize the role of US military although the polls showed a huge Filipino public backing for it and the influential Catholic Bishops Conference supported it. The groups that criticized US role indicated that there were plans to restore a permanent presence of US military in the Philippines. The military role of US included implications for a United States political role on Mindanao. The administration of Bush faced pressure and sentiment to influence the social, political, and issues underlying Filipino Muslim discontent. The issues that was underlying for Muslim ethnic groups were the extent and scope of autonomy of the Muslim populated region, economic development issues, and the role of Islam in education. The evidence of involvement of United States in these issues was revealed by promise of President Bush to president Arroyo in November 2001 of $ 55 million as a financial help for Mindanao. It was hard to convince people of Bangsamoro that this was not a religious war between Muslim and Christian communities. This is because it was an armed confrontation between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Christian dominated government of Philippines (Salvatore &Mary, 2005). It was difficult for both Muslim and Christian religious leaders to respect and recognize the values for compassion, peace, and justice in each other religious traditions especially after US military involvement in Mandanao conflict. Extremist vigilante groups such as Abu Sayyaf sort vengeance on the involvement of US by polarizing Christian cultural communities. The event of September 11th caused the actual issues behind the conflict in Mindanao to be overshadowed. Instead of focusing on how to resolve the land problems that have persisted for centuries, the policy of government gave greater focus to fight against terrorist groups such as Abu Sayyaf. In stead of directed more resources into efforts of peace building, the government spent huge amount of money on defense against attacks from terrorists. Additionally, at the community level, more efforts were directed towards maintaining law and order instead of focusing on development and peace to foster harmonious living among ethnic groups in Mindanao. There has been an attitude that has persisted among local ethnic groups and also in circles of government that is based on the assumption that any individual or group that rises up to oppose the government has been considered as terrorist and rebels. Regardless of how legitimate are the matters raised by the armed ethnic groups, this is the name the government is quick to label them. The Philippines is made up of complex cultures with ethnic and religious minorities in the populations. Bangsamoro people have been fighting for outright secession of Mindanao and their efforts have seen them forming MIM, MNLF, MILF and ASG groups. ASG was alleged by the United States as one of the terror groups connected to Al-qaeda International Terrorist group and Osama bin Laden that carried out terror attack on September 11, 2001. President Gloria Arroyo sent a strong signal to back the US in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorists attack. Bangsamoro people saw this as way to push indigenous of Mindanao and Population of Muslims to the margins of political and socio-economic development. AFP-US military campaign against ASG affected large ethnic groups of the Muslim population of Mindanao. Armed confrontation between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Christian dominated government of Philippines was viewed as religious was between Muslim and Christians communities. References Glang, A. (1971). Muslim: Secession or Integration? Manila: Cardinal Book Store Larry, N. (2002). Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation, 3-12. Salvatore S. C., &Mary, J. (2005). The Mindanao Conflict in the Philippines: Roots, Costs, and Potential Peace Dividend, Conflict Prevention & Reconstruction, 5 (24), 1-13. Sylvia, C., Larry, D., & Romulo, R. (2003). Breaking the links between economics and conflict in Mindanao, Waging Peace, 5 (2), 4-50. Read More