Commentary

Balikatan War Games: A Bane to Moro, Lumad Culture

Having U.S. troops in a country, which claims to be sovereign is anomalous. Lumad and Moro women are against the holding of Balikatan exercises in Davao and believe that the presence of U.S. troops is a threat to the peace that all Dabawenyas aspire for.

By Arve Bañez
Bulatlat

DAVAO CITY - Last Sept. 30, 2004 during an activity of the Mindanao Interfaith People's Conference (MIPC) I had an opportunity to talk to a Lumad organizer and a Moro woman leader. Over dinner our talk centered on how the planned U.S.-Philippine Balikatan war exercises would affect their communities.

The Sabukahan Tomo Kamalintan (Sabukahan or Unity of Women), a Lumad women's organization believes the Balikatan exercises as culturally alienating. The Lumad women’s limited exposure to lowland culture has marginalized them from the mainstream of society. Exposing them to gun-toting foreigners may even come as a culture shock.

As Lumad women they do not see how they could benefit from the presence of the U.S. troops in Davao. In fact, the military exercises would instill fear among the Lumad women and their children. Lumad women fear for their lives especially for the safety of their men and children.

Lumad women worry that the Balikatan exercises would be conducted in their ancestral domain. They see the conduct of the war games as a desecration of their ancestral lands which they believe are the abode of
spirits and their ancestors. The sanctity of land is integral to their existence; they gather food and other materials in the rainforest to sustain their lives.

Members of the Kababaihan na Moro na Islam sa Davao na Nagkakaisa Para sa Sariling Pagpasya at Demokrasya (Kahadija), a Moro women's organization, said they are also against the Balikatan exercises because as a people Moros have consistently opposed foreign colonization in the Philippines. Historically, the Moro people resisted foreign domination and continue to do so with their assertion for their right to self-determination.

A Kahadija leader explained that when the Americans came to colonize Mindanao they launched bloody massacres and raped many Moro women. The massacres include the Bud Bagsak and Bud Dajo massacres in Jolo.

Since the bombing of the World trade Center in the United States, Muslims all over the world have been indiscriminately tagged as "terrorists". The Balikatan exercises could become another pretext for the Americans to wage their war against “terrorism” among the Moro community here in Davao.

Moros have had long drawn-out battles with government troops as a result of the all-out war policies of the Estrada and Arroyo administrations. Moro women have suffered a lot of psychological trauma when they lost their husbands and children; when they were displaced from their homes; when they were driven out of their lands in favor of foreign multinational corporations.

Massive deployments of local military troops in Lumad and Moro communities have transformed these peaceful places into war-torn areas. Barely have they grappled with this reality when another violent exercise – Philippine-U.S. war games will take place.

Having foreign troops in a country, which claims to be sovereign, is anomalous. Lumad and Moro women are against the holding of Balikatan exercises in Davao. They are one in the belief that the presence of U.S. troops in Davao is a threat to the peace that all Dabawenyas aspire for. Bulatlat

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