Iligan folk seek St. Michael help, also bear arms
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 03:15:00 08/20/2008
Filed Under: Armed conflict, Mindanao peace process, Local authorities, Security (general), Defense
ILIGAN CITY—“St. Michael, the Archangel, defend Iligan in battle.”
Residents of this predominantly Catholic city of 300,000 nearest the Islamic gateway in Marawi City started circulating this text message imploring their patron saint’s help following Moro rebel attacks in two towns in Lanao del Norte province that left at least 24 people dead.
St. Michael, whose feast day falls on Sept. 29, is the patron saint of Iligan.
The industrial city remains guarded. A curfew has been imposed from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., while checkpoints have been set up at random.
Some 500 volunteers, mostly members of gun clubs, have patrolled the streets since Monday after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) stormed Kauswagan and Kolambugan towns. A group of young men on motorcycles helped monitor rebel movements.
Somewhere in North Cotabato province, a group of Christians fighting for their land rights have reportedly resurrected the Ilaga, an organization once known for its involvement in the bloodiest violence in Mindanao in the 1970s.
But Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone that there “is no such thing” as the reactivation of the Ilaga. “As far as North Cotabato is concerned, that’s a dead group,” he said.
Ilaga violence
North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan hinted that local officials who are opposing the inclusion of their villages in the proposed Moro homeland could be behind the move to resurrect the Ilaga, an Ilonggo-led private armed group that fought the Moro Blackshirts in Cotabato and the Barracudas in Lanao in the 1970s.
The Ilaga violence reached its bloodiest in June 1971 with the massacre of 65 men, women and children in a mosque in Barangay Manili, Carmen, North Cotabato.
Eid Kabalu, civil military affairs chief of the MILF, confirmed the report but could not provide details.
“We have received that report. Based on the intelligence information, the group of Christians reorganized the Ilaga to fight against us. Their leaders way back in 1970s are still alive,” Kabalu told the Inquirer.
“However, I don’t think they will prosper. They are not popular now. There are some Christians we know who are against their cause,” he added.
Classes suspended
Civic groups and concerned residents brought canned goods and clothing to villagers who have sought shelter at the Iligan City National High School.
Although business establishments reopened on Tuesday, classes in all levels remain suspended. Some schools, like Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology and St. Michael’s College, braced for bomb threats.
On Sunday, two bombs exploded 10 minutes apart in two hotels, wounding at least three people. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings.
“We are going to defend our inherent right to self-preservation,” Mayor Lawrence Cruz told the Inquirer in a phone interview. He said that after the blasts, gun club members came up with the idea that all licensed owners should carry their guns with them.
No more playing underdog
“It did not come from Rep. (Vicente) Belmonte or me but from the people themselves because they want to protect their lives,” Cruz said.
He described them as retired members of the defunct Philippine Constabulary, Army soldiers and “mere citizens who no longer wanted to play underdog.”
Cruz said some businessmen informed him on Tuesday that they were buying guns for their establishments so they could fight back.
“This is how the good and peace-loving people in Iligan are thinking right now. This is something that doesn’t need my nod because they are doing it now. We have the inherent right to self-preservation, we don’t have to wait or call the police to help us, we will protect ourselves,” Cruz said.
“We don’t want to be helpless like those civilians who were butchered, strafed, torched and properties looted and ransacked. We don’t want that to happen to us,” he said.
Many residents interviewed by the Inquirer expressed anger at the slow military response to Monday’s attacks. “You just can’t imagine the heightened fear in our hearts. We know and we have seen what they’re capable of doing and we don’t want to be helpless,” Cruz said.
Iligan does not want to be included in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain between the government and the MILF, according to its officials. The Supreme Court last week stopped the signing of the MOA in Kuala Lumpur.
“I could not imagine what would happen when we are going to campaign for no to inclusion … when that plebiscite comes,” Cruz said.
Saintly invocation
The text messages to St. Michael read: “Be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. We humbly beseech God to subdue him. And You, oh Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and other evil spirits who roam thru the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.” Grace Cantal-Albasin and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao, with a report from Christine Godinez-Ortega
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