Some groups, in the hope that harmony would reign in our land between and among all ethnolinguistic peoples and groups that constitute the Filipino nation, have called for what they term as a healing process in order that the nation can move on. Street marches and assemblies in some key points in Metro Manila and other big cities of the country to dramatize this call for harmony and healing marked last Fridays’s eventful day process.
Indeed there is a need for a healing. But if this call is as shortsighted as to appease the disappointments and misgivings of the Moro people after what happened in Mamasapano, or if it intended to keep President Noynoy Aquino in power, it will not succeed and it is the wrong ingredient for the healing process.
The Christian population in this country must take to heart the grievous wrong that has been the unfortunate historical narrative that dealt with the Moro people since time immemorial. The Christian population, and the Philippine Government itself, must rectify the great injustice done to the Bangsamoro. Unless this great injustice is addressed and made the core concern of any calls for harmony and healing will flounder. The wounds caused by deep biases and prejudices have grown through the decades because of the historical injustice, aggravated by more and more injustices by the series of governments from the birth of the Philippine republic…
Justice first. And then the healing process and the concomitant harmonious relationship between the concerned peoples will take its natural course. However, no effective rectification of the injustice can proceed, unless a necessary journey back to history is made. This revisiting to history should be spearheaded by Government—decidedly made a subject of legislation and made a significant concern for all mass media to be harnessed towards this end.
The first step in this journey to the past has to begin with the facts and circumstances accompanying the first footmarks on the shores of Mindanao made by the American Forces at the turn of the century .
We have already laid down certain accounts that picturized the conduct of the Bud Dajo massacre in March of 1906. We noted with disgust why this very significant event in our history was glossed over in the study of Philippine history or only given a passing mention without delving into its motives and implications which could have factored in the formulation of policies by our government leaders.
Presumably our educated elite who by the way are always the crop of leadership at the helm of government may have failed to take to heart the lessons of history. Or their perception of American superiority in all fields of human pursuits could have mesmerized them into total submission to the American Dream, mistaking this dream perhaps as their own dream and projecting it as the Filipino Dream?
In the minds of our educated ilustrado elite—the first batch of Filipino graduates under the American educational system– the course of Philippine development and progress could only be undertaken via a system of puppetry to the Americans. They might have thought it the only option. Unmistakably so, because such has been the pathway taken by the Philippine State in its journey from the Commonwealth of Manuel L. Quezon to the Philippine Republic of Manuel A. Roxas. Until we arrive at this “matuwid na daan” government of Noynoy Aquino.
Ordinary Filipinos like us wonder, “How come”? And by common sense or by natural instinct we would recommend to made a journey back to history. And if such a necessary journey is what it takes to start the healing process towards harmony, is this government capable of leading such task that entails a harnessing of the entire government machinery for it to succeed? Does Noynoy know Philippine history? Do the men and women in his cabinet know history? Do senators and congressmen?
Perhaps, Noynoy Aquino and his Cabinet do not even know the following piece of information, to wit:
Philippine Senate Resolution No. 70 of the 13thPhilippine Congress
RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SENTIMENT OF THE SENATE THAT THE MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO DIED IN DEFENSE OF THEIR HOMELAND AT BUD DAJO BE HONORED AS MARTYRS OF FREEDOM AND THAT MARCH 6 OF THIS YEAR AND EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER BE DECLARED AS BUD DAJO DAY
WHEREAS, 100 years ago today about 1,000 men, women and children died in defense of their homeland in Bud Dajo, Sulu;
WHEREAS, the Moros of Sulu, refused to recognize American sovereignty over their island together with the other Moro tribes in Mindanao. They did not wish to submit to American rule by paying taxes or surrendering their weapons;
WHEREAS, the Moro rebels took their stand on the top of Bud Dajo, a mountain some 10 kilometers from Jolo. Here they fortified the top of the mountain, the lava cone of an extinct volcano, at an altitude of 2,100 feet;
WHEREAS, a force of 800 American troops, armed with modern weapons of that period, stormed Bud Dajo killing almost all of the 1,000 Moros armed only with hrises, spears and a few rifles with a loss to themselves of only twenty-one killed and seventy-five wounded;
WHEREAS, the Bud Dajo defenders did not think about survival first ahead of their duty to defend their motherland and thus the demands of honor required of them to pay the ultimate sacrifice as Lapu-Lapu, Gregorio del Pilar, the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Jose Abad Santos and our other National Heroes did
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, as the Senate hereby resolves, That the men, women and children who died in defense of their homeland in Bud Dajo, be honored as martyrs of freedom. Resolved, further, That March 6 of this year and every year thereafter be declared as Bud Dajo day in remembrance of the supreme sacrifice that the defenders of Bud Dajo made for love of their homeland.
Resolved, finally, That copies of this Resolution be furnished the 086Ce of the President and the National Heroes Commission created under Executive Order No. 75, series of 1993, for their information, consideration and guidance.
Well, if they do know this, it would be a good start that they take pains in propagating this in the mass media and in the classrooms. Maybe, it would be a good wake-up call to all and sundry that the solution of the Bangsamoro Problem should start with this recognition that the endless struggle of the Moro people has been a noble and commendable heroic struggle of a people who never bent down their knees in face of powerful forces that wanted to subdue them. And they were never subdued. They were never colonized!
If all living Christian Filipino begins to realize this now, it would be halfway towards dissipating the prejudices against this admirable people on earth.
All these vilifying statements being aired now against the Moro rebels or against the Moro people in general—as hang-over effects o f the Mamasapano Incident— cannot be dissipated with haphazard and token investigations, especially investigations conducted by the security force of the government.
Much more so if from the start certain quarters are protected from thorough inquiry. One of these is the role played by the US soldiers in the execution of the operation plans—Oplan Wolverine and or Oplan Exodus that led to the Mamasapano tragedy.
The involvement of the American government must be unearthed because as long as the US is exculpated from liability and accountability and responsibility, Noynoy Aquino would also be similarly acquitted. The US-Aquino’s culpability must be brought to the light of day. Nothing else is credible and acceptable.
