Vigilante group appeals against polarization in Mindanao

COTABATO City, Philippines—The head of a resurgent vigilante group is urging the Moro Islamic Liberation Front not to further divide the people of Mindanao, especially between Moros and non-Moros.

In a statement released Tuesday, Mike Santiago, leader of the Reformed Ilaga Movement, said the efforts to further drive a wedge between Moros, who are Muslims, and non-Moros, who are mostly Christians, can easily be gleaned from the “Comprehensive Compact” that the MILF submitted to the government.

The Ilaga was a vigilante group blamed for massacre of tens of thousands of people at the height of the government campaign against Moro rebels in the 1970s.

“The move for an ARMM sub-state status has caused apprehension among non-Muslims,” Santiago, also spokesman of the Mindanao Christian and Highlanders Alliance (Micha), said.

Santiago said in the draft agreement that the MILF submitted, the preference for the Moro people was glaring.

He quoted a line that says: “The present wish of a majority of the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao is a territorial unit comprising their ancestral domain for asymmetrical, compact of free association” which will be known as the “interim jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro State.”

Santiago said in their view, all inhabitants within the Philippine archipelago, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, “are considered Filipino nationals; that they belong to the mainstream regardless of tribal, political and religious affiliation.”

Santiago said that for this reason, the MILF and its supporters can “liv(e) their normal Islamic way without necessarily bringing forth secessionist ideals and terror activities brought about by the Bangsamoro concept of identity.”

Santiago also advised presidential peace adviser Teresita Quintos-Deles and government chief peace panel negotiator Marvic Leonen to be circumspect in dealing with contentious issues and concerns affecting ARMM inhabitants.

In reaction to Santiago’s statement, Deles said, “That’s why we have been conducting a series of public consultations to get the people’s sentiments and aspirations.”

Santiago said his group’s only concern was that Moros and non-Moros will have peaceful co-existence and socio-economic well-being.