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I WAS born in Mindanao in a place entirely inhabited by Christians. But I studied for four years in Marawi City for my bachelor’s degree mingling and interacting with Muslim Filipinos. I continued further studies somewhere in Diliman. After graduation from Diliman, I had lived and worked for many years in Imperial Manila. I am now back in Mindanao living in a place where there is sizeable Muslim population. I briefly state this background to provide some perspective to my reaction to the opposition against the creation of Bangsamoro. As a Christian and Filipino, I am in favor of Bangsamoro.

My impression is that the opposition and criticism against the Bangsamoro are being sprouted by the nattering nabobs of negativism. Lest I could be charged with plagiarism, I hereby declare that I borrowed this phrase from a Vice President of America who hurled these words against his relentless media critics.

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There are purportedly legal or constitutional objections to the Bangsamoro. These, in my opinion, are untenable. But let us veer away from this area and turn to other perspectives.

There are two underlying reasons of the opposition and criticism against Bangsamoro. The first is mistrust of many Christian Filipinos against Muslim Filipinos. There are Christians who are incapable of trusting the Muslims. One can discern this from this statement: “If you will give the Muslims this degree of political autonomy, this will be the first large step towards secession.” These Christians view the Bangsamoro as a trick or subterfuge by the Muslim whose ultimate game plan is to secede from the Republic. I suggest we should depart from this paradigm. It is possible––and I believe this is the truth––that the MILF leaders are responsible Filipinos and they are guided by genuine desire to promote peace in Mindanao and to uplift the Muslims from misery and poverty. It is no news anymore to say that the Muslims are the poorest members of the Filipino people. If we adopt this affirmative paradigm, and junk the ideas sprouted by the nattering nabobs of negativism, the Filipinos, especially the Filipinos in Mindanao, will reap the fruits of peace, cooperation and friendship. For instance, the Muslims in Bangsamoro will be hiring Christian bureaucrats, experts, and consultants in the development and exploitation of the natural resources. This possibility is probably unimaginable to Christians in Luzon who have not interacted with Filipino Muslims. But to the Christians in Mindanao, this will be normal.

The second underlying reason for the opposition and criticism against the Bangsamoro is rooted in the colonial paradigm. Many Filipinos from Luzon, and many of them have not even interacted with Muslims, still regard Mindanao as colony of Luzon and the Visayas. As colony, the wealth of Mindanao, primarily its natural resources, shall be exploited and enjoyed by the businessman and capitalists and carpetbaggers from Luzon. The creation of Bangsamoro will curtail the activities of Luzonian carpetbaggers. A look at the past is telling to illustrate this point: who denuded the rainforests of Mindanao? It was the logging operators from Luzon.

It is no secret that the proposed territory of the Bangsamoro has huge deposits of gold, oil, natural gas, and other minerals. Carpetbaggers and businessmen from Luzon and their foreign partners are salivating of this wealth. Why not entertain this alternative: allow the Muslim Filipinos to exploit and enjoy these natural resources? They have been occupying these areas even before the Spaniards and Americans came to our land, and up to the present, and their right to exploit and enjoy these natural resources should be regarded as primordial. And in the process of this exploitation, the economic benefits will surely spread to all parts of Mindanao and to the entire country.

I have to go back to the first underlying reason: mistrust. To many Christians, the Muslims cannot be trusted: They cannot be even trusted to govern themselves. They cannot even be trusted to exploit and enjoy their natural resources. The bedrock is Christian hubris and condescendence.

As I said, I had lived among the Muslims as a college student. In the place where I live now, there was a time that my neighbors were Muslims. I have discovered no essential human difference between Muslims and Christians. Of course, there are bad Muslims. But are there no bad Christians?

The Mamasapano incident is really unfortunate. I do not want to belittle the deaths of our valorous soldiers. To my eyes, they are heroes albeit with American tinge. But I sense that there are sectors in our polity who are exploiting the negativism of the incident to the fullest. Yes, it was tragic, but the tragedy should not be used to strike the spine of the Bangsamoro. This negativist sectors even exploited the deaths of our heroic soldiers by calling for the resignation of President Aquino being the Commander-in-Chief of the military. I cannot understand this point.

When the Nenita Unit of the Philippine Army where decimated by Kamlon’s forces in Sulu, was there a call at that time for President Quirino to resign being the Comander-in-Chief? When the Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, was there a call by the American People for President Roosevelt to resign? ––Jose L. Escobido, Hubangon, Mahinog, Camiguin

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