Angeles added that the possibility of random arrests in connection with the July 10 encounter and beheadings is further heightened by what he described as the presence in Basilan of “mercenaries” who tip off even ordinary civilians as “rebels” or “bandits” in exchange for reward money.
“In Basilan, there are people like that in majority of the towns,” Angeles revealed. “You get into a quarrel with someone and you could end up getting arrested as a suspected rebel or bandit.”
The presence of mercenaries tipping people off to authorities as members of “rebel groups” or “bandit groups” is something that Basilan and the nearby province of Sulu appear to have in common.
Basilan and Sulu are two of six provinces comprising the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM): the others are Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Shariff Kabunsuan.
The ARMM is easily the poorest region in the Philippines. Based on June 2007 data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), a family of six – the size of the average Filipino family – needs P1,068 ($23.14 based on the average exchange rate of $1:P46.81 for last June) to survive daily. Conversely, the daily minimum wage rate for the ARMM, based on July 2007 data also from the NWPC, is P200 ($4.38 based on the average exchange rate of $1:P45.62 for last July), based also on May 2007 data from the NWPC. The NWPC’s data show that the ARMM has the highest daily family living wage for a family of six and the lowest minimum wage rate per region in the country – which has been the case for several years.
Evacuations
Fear of escalation of tension has led families in Al-Barka to evacuate to the nearby towns of Tipo-Tipo and Lamitan. Those who fled to Tipo-Tipo, Angeles said, are mostly in evacuation centers. Some of the evacuees in Tipi-Tipo and many of those in Lamitan have chosen to stay in the homes of relatives, Angeles added.
“The problem in the evacuation centers right now is the shortage of supplies,” Angeles said. “The families’ rations of rice and sardines don’t last them very long.”
MILF
The July 10 encounter in Al-Barka took place on the heels of talks of a deadlock in the GRP-MILF peace negotiations earlier this year following changes in the leadership of the GRP peace panel.
During the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal (1961-1965), Sabah, an island near Mindanao to which the Philippines has a historic claim, ended up in the hands of the Malaysian government. His successor Ferdinand Marcos later conceived a scheme which involved the recruitment of between 28 and 64 Moro fighters to occupy Sabah.
The reported summary execution of these recruits in 1968 by their superiors, which Moro historian Salah Jubair says was due to their refusal to follow orders, led to widespread outrage among Moros and led to the formation of the (Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that same year.
The MNLF, which fought for an independent state in Muslim Mindanao, entered into a series of negotiations with the GRP, beginning in the 1970s under the Marcos government. Conflicts on the issue of autonomy led to a breakdown of talks between the GRP and the MNLF in 1978, prompting a group led by Dr. Salamat Hashim to break away from the MNLF and form the MILF. Since then, the MILF has been fighting for an Islamic state in Mindanao.
In 1996, the MNLF signed a Final Peace Agreement with the GRP which created the ARMM as a concession to the group. That same year, the MILF began peace negotiations with the GRP.(Bulatlat.com)
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