REPOST: 13.3.14 STATUS UPDATE By Robert Maulana Marohombsar Alonto They came in droves. They came in throngs. From all over Ranao: south and north, east and west. From the coastal villages of Ranao del Norte to the remote hinterlands of Ranao del Sur, from the municipalities of both provinces to the barangays of the city of Marawi, they came – walking or aboard vehicles of all kinds. These are our brothers and sisters, our masses, our mujahideen - the unconquerable who “came, saw, and conquered” the hearts and minds of the members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) and officials and panel members of the government. These are the Bangsamoro people! We were expecting only about 5,000-10,000 people or even much less to attend the public consultation jointly held by the Transition Commission and the peace panels of the MILF and government, but the number that came was more than 50,000 or perhaps even more. So huge was the crowd that the Lanao del Sur Provincial Gymnasium was filled to the brim, so to speak. Throngs of people were outside the gym, young and old, unable to come in because of lack of space; many more were outside the compound of the provincial Capitol and the streets braving the heat. They came with placards, streamers, multi-coloured flags, buntings, and T-shirts all bearing essentially the same theme, the same message: Bangsamoro is our identity, our struggle, our homeland, our government. They came to support the MILF-led peace process, the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and its Annexes, the soon-to-be signed Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), and the Bangsamoro Basic Law – the law that would govern the Bangsamoro subnational-state - that is in the process of being written by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission. During the public consultation inside the gym, the government required, as part of official tradition, the singing of the Philippine National Anthem. But immediately after it was sang, the people resoundingly sang the popular Bangsamoro song that spoke of courage in battle, of Moro patriotism, of struggle, of jihaad, of the Bangsamoro and Islam. This was “asymmetry” in action; this was Bangsamoro self-determination being expressed and conveyed! The representatives of the various Moro sectors (including our brothers from the foreign-trained 90 of the MNLF composed of the original founding members and MNLF Central Committee members led by Bro. Raouf and Bro. Jungle Fox) were able to express and articulate their sentiments and support. The time was short. So not all of those who were there were able to convey their message. But to us in the Transition Commission, the message is clear, and that message was aptly conveyed by no less than our brothers and sisters, young and old, from all over Ranao – south and north, east and west - who came in droves and whose presence alone was the “VOICE” that reverberated throughout the four corners of the Bangsamoro. To the Bangsamoro people - our brothers and sisters, our masses, our people: We, MILF members of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, are a part of you and come from you. As such, we dedicate the Bangsamoro Basic Law to you and not even the Philippine constitution or Philippine Congress (or sumakwel and eroplano) can derogate from or diminish this dedication, this commitment. We stand together, we struggle together, we establish peace with justice together, and we write the Bangsamoro Basic Law together with us in the BTC as your pens. For Bangsamoro: Freedom and Self-determination!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 08:03:21 +0000
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