Table Talk By: Mike S. Apostol City’s social dislocation caused by MNLF bloody siege The staggering cost that government, the religious sector and some private entities and individuals will have to spend to rehabilitate the damage caused by the senseless private war for independence of the Moro National Liberation Front will take years to undertake. It will take a fortune to replace the infrastructure that government developed and priceless for the loss of lives, trauma, anguish and mental torture to the hundreds of thousand innocent residents of Zamboanga City. The MNLF may have made their point clear for government to listen but at the cost of Zamboanga City’s innocence and neutrality. The foreign financiers of the lawlessness of the MNLF must shoulder the cost of this destruction because they share equal blame for this terrorism. *** The National Government must “walk their talk” on their promises of peace for Mindanao, especially Western Mindanao and the Zamboanga Peninsula that has a bloody history since the Spanish Occupation in the 16 hundreds. The government and the officials of the Peace Process must review the records of history and not only bank on the research work of their men in the field for their reference and data to come up with a “Peace Process” agenda. The Moro Tausug and the Samal Banguingi tribes have been warriors of the Sultanate of Sulu, when there was no government in the Philippines to talk about and who were in fact requested for help by the Sultan of Brunei, to quell a rebellion in Brunei and when the Sultan of Brunei won, the Tausugs and Samal Baguinguis of Sulu were rewarded with the Island of North Borneo that is also an irritant in our Peace Process. Had the Peace Process officials handled the Mindanao Moro grievances fairly and justly with no group left out in the process, historical and cosmopolitan Zamboanga City, a neutral territory but the “the jewel” of the south since time immemorial could not have been the “killing fields” of the MNLF like Beirut in Lebanon that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) destroyed in the late 70’s when it was at its peak as the business and tourist center of the Middle East. *** The greatest mistake of the MNLF is when they took the law into their hands by invading neutral Zamboanga City who is a gracious host to many of their members and sympathizers and immediate family members. In fact the accepted MNLF Chairman and most of their sympathizers considered Zamboanga City their home since most of them have bought properties in the city without any objection from the city government for as long as they behave. But, not anymore now because the MNLF abused the hospitality of the city and even destroyed some parts of the city and made thousands of residents homeless. The MNLF volunteered to be enemies of the city by destroying their very homes and a neutral city since time immemorial. *** Scoop: This is the fifth day of standstill in business, economic and education activities in Zamboanga City. And this is the fifth day of feeding thousands of evacuees by the city government, religious institution and private entities and individuals. We hope the MNLF will realize he gravity of what they have caused the city. Agree or disagree.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 02:21:37 +0000
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