Page 5 - Empowerment and Protection - The Philippines

EVELOPMENT 3
PhiliPPines
Three Mindanao Perspectives on Human Security
tHe Moro PeACebuILder Ismael G. Kulat
Ismael “Mike” G. Kulat was a self-described child combatant
during the early years of the MnLF and later of the MILF. He
became a peace advocate and works with various nongovernmental
The consultations we have done across the 11 barangays (villages), the smallest units of local governance, have shown that the government may also perpetuate conflicts. In its drive to counter the Moro insurrection, the military has been known to arm settlers and IPs as paramilitary forces in Moro territory. With the state’s apparent stamp of approval, paramilitary forces such
as the Barangay Self Defense Units continued human rights violations and helped perpetuate the conflict between peoples. This has caused
bad relationships to fester and propagated the conflict for decades. When strategic MILF and
IP areas have overlapped and escalated, pulling
in the MILF and government forces, these small clashes oftentimes turned into ideological conflicts between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Moro fronts.
identity and rediscovering bonds
Even now, there is a continuing debate on the perceived problem of identity. Is there a clear definition of the ‘Moro’? In defining the Moro, do we go with the 13 ethno-linguistic groups where, historically, even IPs participated in the conflict against the Spaniards, earning them the moniker of ‘Moro’ as well? Through time, the definition of Moro as Islamised has become divisive.
The core to resolving these conflicts has been
the common roots we share. Despite some of us having been Islamised, we stress the common IP roots and blood we all shared at some point in our common history. The Dyandi kinship reaffirmation ceremony we have been working towards is a traditional renewal of relationships between major groupings of IPs in Mindanao, both Islamised and non-Islamised, who trace their lineage to a common Manobo ancestry. Through consultations, summits and ceremonies with key leaders, this effort has established 11 peace covenants with the various tribes and government units in the conflict-affected areas of Muslim Mindanao. This has helped resolve festering feuds and provided a mechanism for resolving disputes.
It was primarily with colonisation that our differences and the sense of separateness between our tribes became emphasised. Now, the Bangsamoro must try to involve and include the non-Islamised to stop the cycle of conflict and violence that has split us apart. The reality of our common bond is clearly seen in the patchwork
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He is currently the Administration officer of the Consortium of bangsamoro Civil society (CbCs), the largest network of Moro Csos engaged in peace and development in the bangsamoro. one of CbCs’s flagship efforts over the last decade is their kinship reaffirmation project that seeks to end clan war between and among Moro and IP communities through rekindling and strengthening lost and fragmented ties with the Moro’s non-Islamised ‘brothers.’
living with intertribal violence
The culture of war has been our norm. You could say that over the past forty years, our normal
life has actually been quite abnormal, with guns always an option for settling conflicts. So the Moro rido (clan war) response prevails; it has become
the quickest and accepted response to perceived wrongs and injustice.
But the notion of ridos as exclusively localised also needs to be corrected. True ridos are sudden and short-term in nature. A long-running rido would require a stable support base, which makes it likely that there are backers to these pseudo-wars, usually either politicians or as part of the pacification efforts of the government.
”The core to resolving these conflicts has been the common roots we share.”
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