HONG KONG (SE): Many have asked if martial law is the answer to the crisis in Mindanao, the Philippines, but the Director of the Columban Mission Society in Manila, Columban Fr Paul Glynn, says it is not even clear what the question is.
Fr Glynn has remembered deceased Columbans Frs Des Hartford and Rufus Halley who both worked in Mindanao. The former was a kidnap victim in 1997 and the second was murdered in 2001 after two decades promoting dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
Noting that the age-old enmity between Muslims and Christians was first sown by the Spanish colonisers of the country some 500 years ago to undermine the influence of the traditional sultanates, he says that it has become so deeply ingrained as to be not easily uprooted.
“Such mistrust is easily manipulated,” he points out, adding that the military dictator of the 1970s and 1980s, Ferdinand Marcos, used it as an excuse for martial law, “but past experience has taught us that such attacks as the one in Marawi, Mindanao, (the Philippines) are not necessarily only the work of Islamist extremists.”
He stresses, “Suspicion abounds that some of these attacks are, at times, orchestrated by corrupt military and government officials to keep Mindanao in a state of war; a war from which some continue to gain financially.”
He adds that there is much suspicion about the President of the Philippines, Duterte and his involvement and motive, as he openly supports Marcos’ son, Bongbong Marcos, who may also have dirty hands.
The Maute Group, (an Islamist terror group) has affiliation with the older Abu Sayyaf (a Jihadist militant group), but Fr Glynn says, “Rumours abound that certain corrupt, high-ranking politicians and military personnel have links to the Abu Sayyaf, benefitting from the perpetual state of war and, of course, the hefty ransoms gained from the kidnappings; hence the many speculations around at the moment as to who may be behind these attacks.”
But he laments, “Truth is a rare commodity in these circumstances.”
Suspicions are also fanned by the speed with which the police in Manila declared the attack on the World Resorts casino early on June 2, the work of a lone wolf. History tells us that Marcos orchestrated an attack in Miranda Plaza outside the famed Quiapo Church as part of setting the scene for martial law. Duterte is on record as saying that he is considering extending it across the whole country.
As Shakespeare would say, “Something is rotten…”
Although Mindanao is always an unstable place, reports over the past weeks tell of overcrowded evacuation centres, hundreds of thousands of displaced people and the struggle to welcome them to safer places, dead bodies in streets and intermittent bomb blasts.
In the city of Marawi, the Islamist terror group, Maute, has been locked in battle with the Philippine military since May 23.
Fr Chito Sluganob, Vicar General for Marawi and parish priest of St Mary’s Cathedral together with a group of parishioners and some students and staff from the Protestant Dansalan College, were kidnapped and, except for a photograph posted on the Internet the following day, and a later video, nothing is known of their fate.
In the video Fr Suganob appealed to the president to call his troops off. “We are asking for you to withdraw your forces from Lanao del Sur and Marawi,” Fr Suganob said.
Claiming he was speaking for 240 prisoners of war, the bearded priest addressed Duterte saying, “If you want me to kneel before you, just for you to find favour for our families who are crying out... we will do that.”
Bishop Edwin dela Peña, Bishop Prelate of Marawi also joined the appeal, echoing the call for a ceasefire. He added that he too had been contacted by one of the gunmen demanding a unilateral ceasefire.
“They want a ceasefire and for the military to give them access out of Marawi. Otherwise they will kill the hostages,” he said.
The bishop stressed that the Maute will refuse to negotiate and may even use the hostages as human shields, but with Duterte equally as determined not to negotiate, a worst case scenario could see the hapless hostages never knowing whose bullets spelled their demise.
If as Fr Glynn suggests, the bottom line question in Mindanao is to heal the mistrust between the Muslim and Christian populations, a task he has devoted his missionary life to, then martial law is definitely not the answer.
Fr Paul Glynn SSC first went to the Philippines in 1990.
Related Links
- Watch Video: Fr Chito Suganob pleads for mercy
