Some raised questions on the Basilan controversy to Sir Dureza's NBN TV Program (7:30-8 p.m.)

Dear Sir Jesus Dureza,

Good Day. How are you? I lost your phone number that is why I can’t even raise this question via text messaging.

I was told that you will have a tv program at NBN (7:30 -8 pm… such a short time) that will relate on peace and development issues in Mindanao. Many elders in peace advocacy encouraged me to raise questions for your program.

I also believe that it is more radical to ask questions than to make statements.

On the Basilan Controversy:

1. is it a case of weak intelligence or information gathering? What happen to our ground coordination even via text messaging to inform the Marines in Basilan that the kidnap-victim (Fr. Bossi) is in Lanao del Norte?
2. is it a ploy to foment another war policy of the government as alleged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)? If indeed, there is a third party who plotted all these, what are there motives?
a. to weaken the present administration, based on the theory that a big war in Mindanao will politically lame the national government as what happened during the Estrada regime?
b. To partake a political entry point to launch a major all-out war offensive in Mindanao?
c. To make a test case of Human Security Law and find justification for the enforcement of said law noting that said beheading of marine soldiers “cause fear and panic” to people?
d. To pave the way for the formal declaration that “MILF is a terrorist organization” and subsequently result to the freezing of its existing accounts from donors or funding agencies that supports its development plans thru the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA)?
e. To fan the misunderstanding, biases, and prejudices of Mindanawans?

3. but granting arguendo that this government will wage another war, who will benefit from this war? My checklist may include the following presuppositions:
a. armaments dealers, because launching a major offensive against rebels mean purchasing of more armaments and bullets.
b. The government or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to give justice to beheaded soldiers and save its face from national and international shame. (Note that the Marines in Basilan aren’t just marines. They are the 1st and 2nd Marine brigades who lampurnas the major camps of Moro Islamic Liberation Fronts (MILF) during all-out war in year 2000. These are also the Marines whose leaders questioned the graft and corruption within the ranks of AFP. Long before, their leader was Col. Querubin and that general who was imprisoned for alleged coup d’etat plot?)
c. The generals who are interested to add more stars in their sleeves; their promotions after war ensue because isn’t it that war is also about “who can best unleashed the dogs of war?”
d. War or the anti-terror war means justifications for more budgetary allocations (for campaigns and offensives). Funds maybe sourced from the national coffer or from international partners on war against terror.

4. but who will be sacrificed? My checklist also include the following vulnerable sectors of our community:
a. the people who’d become internally displaced persons. Or, should I say the “eternally displaced persons?”
b. with the muddling of MILF with Abu Sayaff group in Basilan (or in Lanao e.g. case of Fr. Bossi’s abduction), the peace process with MILF will be sacrificed including the investments spent in placing ground-based structures for ceasefires, monitoring and dialogues. Is that ‘third force’ plotting to make the ‘dead lock’ peace process ‘dead’? isn’t this also consistent to the earlier pronouncement of our national leader that that Human Security Act is designed to “strategically put an end to insurgency or rebellion in all fronts”? and if it’s the case, is this the other way of enunciating that the government isn’t willing to answer the demand relating to ancestral domain claim of the MILF?


I ask these questions as young-minded peace advocate with such zeal for the sustainability of the peace processes of the government with insurgents.

I also ask these questions as an eager young officer of the Civil Society Organization Forum for Peace in Iligan and Lanao.

I ask these questions as a young media worker who look upon you as leaders of peace and development initiatives in Mindanao.

Like anyone, I ask these questions to find honest answers.

I also invite everyone to rethink it over and propose alternatives that will best serve the interests of our people as against the interests and motives of the few.


Sincerely and best regards,
Violeta M. Gloria