MANILA, Philippines - The stark reality is out. Statistics released last week revealed that nearly 80 percent of terror attacks are Muslims. We are aware that Islamist terrorists had been targeting non-believers of Islam but in truth this has not been the case. Death statistics all over showed that victims of terrorists had been innocent Muslim civilians who have nothing to do at all with their missions.
The morbid fact is even worst in Muslim Mindanao ever since some elements went into separatist adventurism. The Moro National Liberation front waged a secessionist armed struggle but failed to rally the Muslim populace to support its agenda. Later it signed a peace pact with the government. Sooner that expected the Moro Islamic Liberation Front pursued the same separatist path. As with the MNLF, the government demonstrated its capability to deal with armed rebellion and even as the front is funded and provided with war materials from various sources they were no match to the government peace keeping force.
The separatist struggles had effectively lost its vision for an independent Islamic state because its mission had come to secret alliances with terrorists groups. Among these are the al Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf who had been engaged in kidnap for ransom and murder and then the more notorious of them all - the Jemaah Islamiyah which find manic satisfaction in manslaughter with the use of improvised explosive devices.
Terror groups have infested separatists groups and for which reason Muslim Filipinos, as elsewhere in the world, have become victims of the crazy adventurism. Unfortunately, in Muslim Mindanao, the Bangsamoro People are not only dying, they are also uprooted from their sources of modest livelihood and the youth are deprived of opportunities that are ordinarily available to others.