The time of the
“all-out war” declared by the Estrada regime was not the first for their
family to have to flee from a place they had come to consider home.
Their family
originally lived in Carmen until they were attacked by the Ilagas, a
fanatical vigilante group composed of Ilonggos in Mindanao, sometime in
the 1970s. “Based on stories that have been told to me, my parents’
house was among those burned down by the Ilagas,” she said.
Early on, thus, she
developed a high awareness of the oppression suffered by the Moro people
in the Philippines.
She admits, though,
that she had been reared on the idea that Muslims should not befriend
Christians.
“Our elders would
often tell us that Christians are traitors,” she says, “because of the
many sad experiences of Muslims.”
“When I started
going to school I learned that there was that same kind of prejudice
among my Christian classmates,” she continues. “Their elders would tell
them not to befriend Muslims because the latter are murderers.”
What is made to
appear as a religious conflict between Christians and Muslims in the
Philippines dates back to the Spanish occupation (1565-1898).
The Spanish
colonizers used a diluted version of Christian doctrine, together with
the sword, to coerce the natives into submission. The Moro people –
being economically, politically, and culturally stronger than many of
the other ethnic groups in what came to be known as the Philippine
Islands – successfully resisted the intrusions of Spanish colonialism.
The Spanish colonialists vilified the Moros as “heathens” (or wicked)
before the eyes of their “Christianized” subjects.
“Fortunately, I
would later learn that instead of exacerbating our historical and
religious differences, (Christians and Muslims) can and should work
together toward solving our common problems,” Ampatuan says.
In the late 1990s
she took up AB Development Communication, majoring in Broadcasting, at
the University of Southern Mindanao’s Kabacan, North Cotabato campus.
Her goal was to take up Law after graduation. The motive for this was
two-fold, she says.
Her parents, who
owned a small restaurant, earn lower than her aunts and uncles. One of
her reasons for wanting to take up Law was the desire to help bring
their family up from the hard life.
The other reason,
she says, was that she wanted even then to defend the rights of her
fellow Muslims – and she thought that being a lawyer was the best way to
do it.
Her developing
awareness of social realities led her to join the League of Filipino
Students (LFS) chapter at the University of Southern Mindanao – of which
she eventually became the spokesperson. In 2000-2001, she served as
president of the University Student Council, which she led in
campaigning for various causes.
After graduation,
she became a full-time activist instead of pursuing her original dream
of becoming a lawyer. In 2002, she became one of the founding members of
the Suara Bangsamoro Party.
“One of our reasons
for founding the Suara Bangsamoro Party is that the Moro people have no
voice (in the country’s political life),” she says. “We want the Moro
people to have a voice, to have legitimate representation, in Congress.
At the minimum we want to be able to block anti-Moro and anti-people
policies of the government.”
The Suara
Bangsamoro Party, Ampatuan says, aims to: Uphold the Moro people’s right
to self-determination, promote a politics of self-reliance, bring about
a “progressive and healthy interaction” between the Moro and Filipino
peoples, forge a just peace not only in Mindanao but throughout the
Philippines, embark on a policy of “genuine industrialization and land
reform” as the path toward eradicating the Moro people’s poverty; create
international solidarity against foreign aggression, domination,
exploitation, and oppression; and protect the Moro people and their
homeland.
There have been
many individual politicians and even several party-list groups from
Mindanao claiming to represent the Moro people. How does the Suara
Bangsamoro Party differ from them?
“The Suara
Bangsamoro Party has been consistent in speaking out on various issues
affecting the Moro people, particularly the massive human rights
violations,” she says. “There have been many Moro politicians who claim
to represent our people but have never taken a clear stand for our
cause, who have not come up with programs responding to the basic needs
of the Moro communities. To this day there are many Moro communities in
Mindanao that lack even basic services like water and electricity.”
“The Suara
Bangsamoro Party has never allowed and will never allow big politicians
or clans to dictate upon it, to make it sacrifice its principles,” she
added.
The Suara
Bangsamoro Party ran for party-list seats in the 2004 elections, with
its secretary-general Amirah Ali Lidasan – a former chairperson of the
National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) – as its first
nominee. It lost, however, having fallen victim to the dagdag-bawas
(vote-padding and vote-shaving) that is known to be widespread in
vote-rich Mindanao.
Ampatuan says the
group has learned hard lessons from the 2004 elections which she hopes
would help it achieve success in its second electoral bid for Congress.
Bulatlat
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