Mission accomplished?

It's not as simple as that--that Zambonga conflict. After killing 166 Muslims and capturing more than 200, what has the government accomplished? Stoppage of firefight, perhaps. But peace? Violence cannot buy peace. Violence can be dealt with violence, but once put out peace seldom follows. In the post-war history of the Mindanao conflict spanning more than 50 years, there have been intermittent major armed confrontations which have cost more than 150 thousand lives. Yet normalcy in the socio-political and economic domain has remained an illusion.

Where lies the root of the problem? Some social psychologists are quick to single out religion as a dominant cause. Yet a devout Christian and a devout Muslim are no different from each other in their longing for peace and the good life. One can point out a number of countries where Muslims live in harmony with their compatriots of different religious persuasions. And one doesn't have to look far for examples. Singapore is one. Malaysia is another, and right at our southern backdoor, Indonesia is still another. Why are the Muslims in these places peace-loving? The answer could be because they enjoy a better quality of life than their counterparts in our country. And this happens because in these countries (at least, in Singapore and Malaysia), the general socio-economic status of their citizens is much higher than in the Philippines. The per capital income of a Singaporean (2011) is US$42,930 while that of a Malaysian is US$8,770, which are much higher than our US$2,200. Higher income implies an educated citizenry because schooling even in higher levels is within reach of the average individual. The outcome of course is presence of responsible and productive members of the community.

In Indonesia, the GNI or gross national income could be just comparable to that in this country. Yet the Muslims therein, which make up a big majority of the population, are not taking arms against their government. Which leads us to the realization that factors other than socio-economic development have to do with peaceful coexistence among diverse ethnic groups. And what is one of those factors? The feeling that one's ethnic group belongs integrally to the mainstream of the population. Without that feeling, a sense of alienation prevails, and the consequence is a longing for a separate and independent state.

 In the Philippines, this sense of alienation is particularly strong, abetted no doubt by the backward state of the areas where Muslims reside. Because of grinding state of deprivation, the average Muslim youth is quick to join any movements that promise better life, even if these involve anti-government activities.

Add to such sense of alienation is the shared belief that they are the aborigines of Mindanao, the land of their forebears. Hence, even if Christians have settled therein and have lawfully acquired ownership of certain areas, such ownership has no value insofar as the average Muslim is concerned. "Christians may have the title," a Muslim friend once told me, "but we own the land ."

So what's wrong if houses are burned and settlers are massacred? What's wrong if some Muslims raise an army, declare independence, march into a city and occupy it? Philippine law calls it rebellion. But most Muslims have little regard for the law. Their loyalty is to their own tribe under a sultan or strongman. They are not citizens of this country, they say. This explains why no matter how many millions of development money is poured into Muslim communities little is accomplished because much of it go into the pockets of corrupt officials. For example, to support the ARMM communities, hundreds of millions were allotted to these areas, only to remain unaccounted for when verification was made later.

Mission accomplished, says the AFP. If we talk about the attacks and counter-attacks to drive out the intruders, perhaps mission is accomplished. But if we talk about peace and security and normal socio-political and economic endeavors, the mission is far, far from being accomplished.