PHILIPPINES: Moros resist harassment

MANILA — On June 9, some 3000 Moros (an ethnic group in the Philippines)
from 45 villages in Metro Manila held a prayer-rally at the Maharlika village
in Taguig. The rally was hosted by the Pagragn National Movement, a new
coalition of Moro groups that was formed recently in response to the harassment
of Muslim communities in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. Pagragn
is Moro dialect meaning assistance given to the poor and oppressed.

Maharlika village, a sprawling Muslim enclave in the midst of a military
camp and detention centre, was raided by the police a week before the rally.
Heavily armed police troops ransacked houses and took away “suspects” without
arrest warrants. Twenty-six people were arrested and charged in relation
to a spate of bombings that have wracked Metro Manila's malls in the past
few months. One of the bombings claimed the life of a janitor at the largest
shopping centre in Manila.

Sultan Panny Pangandaman, head of the Pagragn movement, organised the
rally with support from Muslim clergy and various Moro groups. Posters
were put up announcing the event and calling on everyone to make a stand
against the harassment of Muslim communities, the arrest of the “Maharlika
26” and the escalating war in Mindanao.

On the day of the rally, the only mosque in Metro Manila open for prayers
was the one in Maharlika village. As early as 8am, Muslims from various
places started to arrive. The prayer-rally assembled at the park facing
the Maharlika mosque. A truck bedecked with placards and streamers denouncing
the harassment was used as a makeshift stage.

Police cars and trucks of army soldiers stationed themselves just outside
the village perimeter.

Leaders of various Muslim groups in Metro Manila spoke. Wives of some
of the 26 arrested villagers also came on stage and took an oath on the
Koran that their husbands were not the “bombers” as claimed by the police.

Other organisations invited included the Moro-Christian People's Alliance
and the Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (Socialist Party of Labour). On
entering the rally site, the SPP contingent held a brief march and unfurled
banners that said, “Stop the War! Pull-out AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines]
Troops in Mindanao!”, and “Free the Maharlika 26!”. These elicited repeated
shouts of Alahu, Akbar! (Allah be praised!).

A mock referendum to determine whether Moros wanted autonomy, federalism
or independence was held during the rally. The poll result showed that
they were overwhelmingly for independence.

Continuing harassment

As the rally was closing, reports arrived of the harassment of a Muslim
community in Quiapo, Manila. Two Muslim men in Manila to have their papers
processed to allow them to work overseas were killed in cold blood by police.
The cops claimed it was a shoot-out, and that the two slain Moros were
members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The autopsy a week
later of the two victims found that they had not fired guns.

Other forms of harassment and discrimination against Muslims in Metro
Manila include the introduction of an identification card system that identifies
the Moro. This racist system is now being implemented in Pasig City, and
other cities and municipalities are expected to follow suit.

The harassment of Moros and Muslim communities in Metro Manila is expected
to escalate as Philippine President Joseph Estrada continues his “all-out
war policy” against the Moros in Mindanao.

Estrada has ignored the call of the Catholic bishops to declare an end
to the war. He reiterated his three conditions: for the MILF to end its
campaign for secession; stop its “terroristic and criminal activities”,
and to call on its fighters to lay down their arms. Some bishops have called
these conditions “unrealisable and absurd” and “counter-productive to the
peace process”.

On June 19, a new anti-war coalition will be formed to address the escalating
harassment of the Moro people. The SPP and various progressive groups —
including the Pagragn National Movement and the Cordillera People's Liberation
Army, which is fighting for self-determination in the north of the Philippines
— will host a press conference to announce a “million signature campaign”
and other activities against the war in Mindanao, and against the discrimination
against Muslims in the Philippines.

BY SONNY MELENCIO

[The author is the chairperson of the Socialist Party of Labour in the
Philippines.]

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