The Islamic Insurgents (catch all)

[davidbfpo]

The UK Channel Four documentary series 'Un-Reported World' latest report by Peter Oborne is on the fighting in Mindanao, between the MILF and others. Article: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/u...009/episode-12 and a podcast is available (hopefully available beyond the UK). Includes footage of a MILF assembly, of four hundred and new recruits motivation.

There is some odd footage of a village destroyed allegedly by the Filipino army, but in the background are intact, inhabited houses as the reporter walks through burnt out concrete blocks buildings.

I was not aware that post-1945 Christians have arrived on the island and the war can be seen as a local, sectarian conflict over land ownership. Christian militia are also visited and interviewed.

Grim report.

davidbfpo

[Dayuhan]

Can't view it here... looked at the synopsis, though, and noticed this:

A few kilometres further south, the Ligawasan marsh covers 3000 square kilometres of central Mindanao. It's at the heart of the war, and is home to many of the MILF units. And here Unreported World reveals that the conflict is not just about religious hatred - it's also a fight over land and mineral wealth. The area includes vast deposits of natural gas and oil worth billions of dollars. With so much at stake, Muslims and Christians are equally determined they will never surrender.

Did they actually cite any evidence to support the allegations of "vast deposits of natural gas and oil"? This claim has been floating about for some time, generally without any serious supporting data. As far as I know, the area is regarded as promising but no meaningful exploration has ever been done due to the long-running security problems. It does make lovely fodder for all kinds of conspiracy theorists though.

I was not aware that post-1945 Christians have arrived on the island and the war can be seen as a local, sectarian conflict over land ownership. Christian militia are also visited and interviewed.

This is one of the core issues of the conflict, especially in the MILF areas on the Mindanao mainland. During the 50s and 60s the Government ran homestead programs giving away Mindanao land to settlers, predominantly from the Visayas. The primary reason appears to have been alleviating agrarian unrest and overpopulation in the plantation-dominated sugar producing islands of Negros and Iloilo, though some claim that dilution of the Muslim majority was also intended. If that is the case, the goal was accomplished: Muslims are now a numerical minority in much of what they regard as their ancestral domain.

When fighting started in 1970, the actual combatants were immigrant and indigenous gangs and militias. The government had an opportunity to send military forces in to keep peace and act as a neutral broker in the conflict, instead they took sides, fighting on behalf of the settlers. The consequences of that decision are still being felt.

Many of the settlers are now in their 4th and 5th generations, and regard themselves as native to Mindanao. They have nowhere else to go. Most are poor, though their political leaders are quite wealthy (leaders on both sides use the conflict to justify their own control and their own corruption: "you need us to protect you from them" is a constant refrain). This situation makes a direct vote on autonomy or any ancestral domain issue complex, as the immigrant population, a majority, will vote against any such deal. Indigenous leaders claim that only the indigenous population should be allowed to vote on the question, a proposal that is naturally rejected out of hand by the immigrants. Adding to the complications, immigrant and indigenous villages are not geographically contiguous. A village-to-village vote on inclusion in an autonomous region would result in what has been called a "dalmatian region", obviously not manageable.

Very ugly situation with no easy solutions...

[Bob's World]

A good insight to post-WWII US involvement in both the Philippines and Vietnam is Ed Lansdale's "In the Midst of Wars."

Looks like you can get on Amazon for $25. I was lucky enough to find one in a box of give-away items at condo complex I lived in in Kaneohe, Hawaii. I didn't know what it was, or who Lansdale was at the time, but I was working OEF-P issues, so I picked it up and took it home. First Edition hardbound, published in 1972 by Harper and Row.

[davidbfpo]

Dayuhan asked:

Did they actually cite any evidence to support the allegations of "vast deposits of natural gas and oil"?

No, the programme had an in the field interview with a lady involved in development work and she cited the oil and gas figures.

Sorry the programme cannot be viewed outside the UK, even though on the web (this has happened before with BBC items). Bob could you view it, I now realise Dayuhan is in the Phillipines.

davidbfpo

[Bill Moore]

Dayuhan asked:
No, the programme had an in the field interview with a lady involved in development work and she cited the oil and gas figures.

Sorry the programme cannot be viewed outside the UK, even though on the web (this has happened before with BBC items). Bob could you view it, I now realise Dayuhan is in the Phillipines.

davidbfpo

From the website, accessed from the U.S.. Unfortunate, it looks interesting.

Rights agreements mean that our 4oD service is only available in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, (although C4 does not always have rights for programmes in ROI). Even if you are a citizen of the UK or ROI you cannot access the service from abroad

[Dayuhan]

No, the programme had an in the field interview with a lady involved in development work and she cited the oil and gas figures.

MNLF ex-chair Nur Misuari announced not long ago that "some American oil engineers" had told him that Liguasan's oil and gas reserves were worth $850 billion. He didn't say who the individuals were or for whom they worked. The MILF has also occasionally made statements suggesting such reserves, as have occasional government representatives. As far as I can determine, though, no actual wells have been drilled and only very superficial preparatory survey work has been done due to the security situation, which has been very bad for decades - even the MILF doesn't really control the area. I have yet to see any credible, exploration-based estimates of recoverable reserves.

The claim does make lively fodder for a whole range of "all about oil" theories. Some claim that USIP's involvement in the MOA-AD process was part of a dastardly American plan to splinter off an independent Mindanao Sultanate, which could then be forced into oil deals by the US. Others claim that US support for GRP efforts in Mindanao is a tradeoff for eventual oil concessions from the GRP once the area is subjugated. There are a number of variations; none of them make much sense but they provide abundant distraction from the actual issues.

Another oft-overlooked historical quirk is that since the Spanish colonists never effectively subjugated or administered Muslim Mindanao and the American colonial regime governed it as a separate entity, the area was in actual practice only joined to the Philippines in 1945. During early discussions on independence Muslim leaders repeatedly asked to be granted a separate independence or to be retained as a US colony rather than turned over to "the Filipinos".

From “The Zamboanga Declaration of Rights and Purposes”, 1924:

“…In the event that the United States grants independence to the Philippine Islands without provision for our retention under the American flag, it is our firm intention and resolve to declare ourselves an independent constitutional sultanate to be known to the world as Moro Nation….”

From the Dasnalan Declaration, issued in 1935 by a group of 189 Lanao Datus:

"With regard to the forthcoming Philippine Independence, we foresee that the condition will be characterized by unrest, suffering and misery…. We do not want to be included in the Philippine Independence"

"Unrest, suffering, and misery" might be seen as a bit of prophecy.

Mindanao Muslims were never allowed to vote on whether to become part of the post-independence Philippines, nor were they allowed to vote on whether Mindanao lands should be given away to settlers. The concept of majority rule apparently only applied once the immigrants became the majority.