WE have honored the vanquished but not the victor. We have enshrined in our annals our defeats but not our victories. One example is the historic battle of Mactan and Raha Lapu-Lapu, 483 years ago.
The remote causes of the Muslim separatist rebellion that engulfed much of the southern Philippines in the 1970s and continues in parts of the South today may be found in the policies and practices of the Philippine colonial and national states. Early American rule in the Muslim Philippines followed a pattern quite similar to American governance of the rest of the colony--pious paternalism punctuated by brutal pacification operations. In the Muslim South, however, pacification took longer to achieve, requiring even harsher methods, while paternalism was also more pronounced. By 1914, "Moroland", as it was most commonly termed by the Americans, was considered fully pacified....
What Mindanao needs is an honest-to-goodness course of treatment based on a deep awareness of the roots of the conflicts that have troubled it for centuries, and a readiness on our part to admit responsibility for the mess in which the island finds itself. The solution cannot come from merchants of military gadgetry who seduce our allegiance by offering to leave "professional samples" behind. It cannot come from powerful nations that seek to make their needs and beliefs the norm for all humanity.
It must proceed from a sustained striving to solve our problems our own way. For only a nation that has sincerely tested the limits of self-reliance can profit from the help of others.
"ang mga bayaning moro ay aking mga personal na bayani, tunay na ehemplo ng pagpapanatili ng sariling kultura at kabuuan. ang kasalukuyang henerasyon ng mga pilipino (mula luzon hanggang mindanao) ay maraming matututunan sa ating mga morong bayani sa pagharap ng mga kontemporaryong problema. muli, mabuhay!
As Gen. Bates would later admit: "The Treaty was made at a time when nearly
all the state volunteers had been sent home and other troops had not arrived
to take their places. It was a critical time, as all the troops were needed
in Luzon. The Government could not afford to stir up trouble with the Moros...
Islamic Development Bank scholarships for NURSING, MEDICINE, AGRICULTURE and other courses deadline up by this May. Upload application forms at the IDB website...
Events have gone faster as Gov. Manalao has reportedly obtained a COPY of dismissal of his case (of malversation, among others) in the Ombudsman and will be sitting at Capitol again, confirms Joint Taskforce Ranao Brigadier Gen. Benjamin DOLORFINO...
Europe’s so-called identity crisis a major agenda at the elite World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. Europe which hosts a large Muslim immigrant population is beset by youth riots in France and rumblings in other countries...
Constitutional Commission Chairman Jose Abueva gives the group a December 15 deadline to come up with a draft proposal for their proposed changes to our Constitution.
She’s all over the news! Precious Lara Quigaman winning as Ms International has shifted......
Kudos to Muslim women’s rights activist Yasmin Busran-Lao for another award. This time she was recognized as one of the top 25 women of substance by MARIE CLAIRE magazine...
This book on the Moros is not presumed to be exhaustive and scholarly. It is not history either. The following pages constitute an attempt to explain the hows and whys the Moros became strangers to the land they had nurtured for centuries - and which they are now trying to liberate - with their "blood, seat and tears."
Much has been written......