AMID growing insecurity and communal violence in conflict areas in Mindanao, the government is now unleashing another stealth move by allowing Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to arm conflict-weary civilians with 13,000 shotguns.
The reason for this, Sec. Puno says, is to repel Muslim rebels in the provinces of North Cotabato and Lanao as a result of the frenzy last August 18 which killed 35 people according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). Another reason, says Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), is there’s a need to address the hostilities committed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) base commands led by Ustadz Ameril Umbra Kato and Abdulrahman Macaapar in the war-affected municipalities.
As of August 23, one thousand fully-loaded shotguns were already distributed to ‘auxiliary police units’ in Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, Northern Mindanao, and Socksargen regions. However, the PNP admits that this new unit of civilian volunteers will still have to undergo a selection process and rigid training.
We, members of the Mindanao People’s Caucus (MPC), see this as a desperate move, and a very dangerous move given the anger, fury, and rage of the people affected by the conflict after the stalled signing of the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). Arming the civilians is like pouring more gasoline to a blazing house, fueling more animosity between Christians and Muslims, and ‘Balkanizing’ Mindanao. This move is highly divisive and deceptive and could only fan Christian-Muslim conflict. Arming civilians is also localizing conflict and thus encouraging communal violence.
If at all there is any legal basis to funnel more arms to Mindanao, it should be on the notion that the weapons will be given to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and PNP and not to civilians. Shotguns for civilians is like pawning them in the war front and sacrificing their lives in the war zones. Is government already relinquishing its constitutional and moral mandate to protect its citizens? Is the AFP and PNP already saying we could not protect the civilians anymore and that is why each one should now carry his/her own shotgun? Where is the rule of law given the obfuscating hostilities at the heart of the Bangsamoro Homeland?
War histories are full of gory lessons about utilizing civilians to beef up military forces. Such strategy is a brutal military and police campaign in Mindanaoa region that has become a war laboratory in the Philippines. We denounce distributing more guns to Mindanao, we denounce violence, and we condemn the escalating conflicts. While there is a need to pursue the peace process, we appeal for sobriety and sanity on both government and MILF in trying to address a political problem.
We smell blood in arming civilians, we smell the rise of animosity, prejudice and hatred. Arming the civilians with 13,000 shotguns is another layer of collateral damage in Mindanao and opens up a dim alley for human rights violations. We need to stop the reemergence of
Ilaga and Barakuda, fanatical groups of armed Christians and Muslims, who claimed thousands of lives during the 70s due to the successful hate campaign and divide and rule tactic of the martial law regime.
We call on our religious leaders for them to help bring down the violence. We urge them to be vigilant on moves that tend to capitalize on faith to sow division and mistrust among believers.
MPC, as a tripeople network which has been espousing dialogue among the peoples of Mindanao, will never allow a recurrence of animosity amongst Muslims and Christians. We shall double our efforts to save the gains of the peace process and preserve the unity and solidarity that we have developed among Christians, Muslims, and Lumads.
Let the rule of law prevail, not the rule of the gun.
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. The above statement has only been forwarded by the AHRC.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
