It is always a sad day for the country every time violence take its toll in the form of human lives. It is even sadder if this loss of lives is a result of conflicts that have long plagued the country without being resolved. Let us take the example of the Zamboanga City attack by forces of Muslim rebels identified with the faction of MNLF founder Nur Misuari. The armed attack is now almost a week and the casualties have risen to 22 killed and 28 wounded without a solution un sight despite the personal visit of President Aquino in the battle field. Worse fresh armed attacks have also been reported in Basilan and North Cotabato. The attacks may not at all be connected as claimed by sources coming from the side of the attackers. But we cannot help but suspect the connection given the circumstances. It pains us more knowing that the government is poised to agree and sign with the MILF the final document that will put an end to the Moro problem in the South. What was already a win-win solution in sight in the near future is slowly fading and is pushed father away in the distance. Unless the Zamboanga standoff is resolved fast we may never see the day of the final signing of agreement to the establishment of a Bangsa Moro government. Having lived and grown up in Cotabato, I have seen and experienced the first 20 years 40 decades of fighting between the Muslim rebels seeking independence and government troops. Since 1969 there may be more than 25,000 casualties that have been counted from the sides of the rebels, soldiers and the civilians. As always the civilians suffer the most damage to life and property.

What makes the problem without solution up to the present is the fact that the Muslims are divided themselves and belong to as many factions as there are leaders with different goals. When the problem surfaced in late 60’s the Matalams of Magundanao wanted independence when they organized the MIM or Muslim Independence Movement backed up by their armed force called Blackshirts. When the Blashirts were neutralized with the help of the Ilagas, Nur Misuari of Sulu organized the MNLF or the Moro National Liberation Front. With the intervention of Libya’s Muhamar Kadafi, the demand was reduced short of independence in 1976. However before the full agreement could implemented, Hashim Salamat’s MILF or Moro Islamic Liberation Front came into being. Malaysia played an important role in the negotiation with the MILF that resulted to an agreement that encroached on territories considered ancestral lands of the Lumads and which therefore met strong opposition from the Christian population and other Lumads in the affected provinces of Mindanao. This brought about the birth of Umbra Kato’s Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters of BIFF.

Had Nur’s MNLF not jumped the gun on the BIFF by attacking Zamboanga City, BIFF could be the new force that government would be fighting against. It is not farfetched therefore that BIFF has forged a partnership with MNLF to provide the rebellion with forces that could launch simultaneous attacks in the provinces of the former Cotabato provinces and Lanao provinces on the one front and the Sulu, Basilan and Zamboanga provinces on the other front. When this happens the fight will not only be staged in the rural battle fields but also and especially in the urban centers of the cities. Now why did Nur Misuari don back his battle uniform after all the concessions he got from the Marcos Presidency and thereafter? Was he left behind in the negotiations or agreement that is to be forged with the MILF? Government has to honestly look into this if it hopes to find the ultimate solution to the problem. On the other hand, until such time that the Muslims are unified with what they want under one recognized leader, the Muslim problem in the South will never see a solution that is acceptable to all concerned stakeholders. Every faction will just be replaced by another faction under another leader. And every time a bloody encounter such as this one now in Zamboanga takes place, the whole country is affected. An injury in any part of the body no matter how small will be felt by the whole body. Whatever happens in the South is felt by us in the Visayas and by the rest of the population in Luzon. The 40 years of fighting for self rule has got to have a peaceful solution soon or we go back to square one. And it will always be bad for the country.