MANILA, Philippines—What the government has won by crushing Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels in Zamboanga City is a Pyrrhic victory, a peace activist said on Friday.
“What does victory here mean? Whoever is victorious here, even if the military claims that they’ve eradicated the MNLF forces, and when there are no more bombings, and they all died or surrendered, where do we say we’re victorious?” Mindanao peace activist Grace Rebollos told a forum at the University of the Philippines Asian Center.
“This Pyrrhic victory may be a victory, but at what cost? If you look at the lives that have been lost, the wedges that have been driven, the psychosocial trauma of all, Zamboanga City held hostage…” she said.
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory won at such a devastating cost that it is tantamount to a defeat. It is named after the Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 B.C. and in Asculum in 279 B.C. during the Pyrrhic War. After winning the battle at Asculum, Pyrrhus said one more such victory would utterly undo him.
Zamboanga attack
At dawn on Sept. 9, about 200 rebels from the MNLF faction led by Nur Misuari stormed ashore in Zamboanga City to seize City Hall and plant the flag of an “independent Bangsamoro Republik” there.
But the military, which had discovered the MNLF plan, blocked the rebels on the coast, sparking fighting that spread to the seashore villages.
Their plan foiled, the rebels seized civilians and used them as human shields to thwart a full military assault.
The fighting went on for two weeks, with 138 rebels, 19 soldiers and nine civilians getting killed. One hundred sixty-seven soldiers and 57 civilians were wounded and 200 hostages either escaped or were rescued.
The conflict has displaced 118,819 people, who are jostling for space in Zamboanga’s sports complex and more than 30 other evacuation centers in the city.
President Aquino, who supervised the “calibrated” military operation, said the government would bring rebellion and criminal charges against Misuari and his followers, including Habier Malik, commander of the rebel force that attacked Zamboanga City.
National loss
Rebollos, who represents Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ) and Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW), described the conflict as “a loss of the entire Philippine nation.”
“This is our loss. Because even the MNLF—this might be debatable—are ours also, just like the MILF, the people of Zamboanga, and all those who feel they have a stake in this,” Rebollos said.
Cry for MNLF blood
But Rebollos conceded that her view may not be appreciated by the general public.
“There is a massive cry for the blood of the MNLF. That may be justified, because they are seen as the invaders. They wreaked havoc on Zamboanga, but we have to look at this deeper. This is deeper. This is culture,” she said.
Presenting the view of the government at the forum, Undersecretary for Political Affairs Jose Luis Gascon detailed the chronology of events at the peace table before the MNLF attack.
Gascon, who was filling in for Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, said he could not competently explain the MNLF’s actions, but these might have resulted from “miscommunication and misunderstanding” between the government and Misuari’s group.
He noted a “divergence of positions” on what a tripartite review of the 1996 peace agreement by the government, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the MNLF was supposed to achieve.
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