Goma pushes for war? ‘Punta siya Mamasapano, tingnan natin galing niya sa fencing’ – peace advocate

A peace advocate from Mindanao slammed Richard Gomez on Friday, accusing the actor-politician of fomenting hatred against Muslims by lending his voice to those calling for “all-out war” in the south in the wake of the Mamasapano incident.

At the same time, participants to the Asian Regional Dialogue in Manila acknowledged that the violence that broke out in Mamasapana, Maguindanao on January 25 in the course of a police Special Action Force mission to get Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” has reignited anti-Moro sentiment in the country.

While Marwan is said to have been killed during the SAF operation, the ensuing clash left 44 police commandos, 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters and five civilians dead, and raised questions about the viability of the peace agreement between the MILF and government as well as the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will create a new autonomous region in Mindanao as part of the pact.

ALSO READ: Richard Gomez to MILF ‘Give Them War’

“The incident in Mamasapano has reignited anti-Moro sentiment while also increasing fear among the Moro community that the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro will not be implemented,” Jennifer Freeman, senior program officer for Women, Peace and Security of the Joan B. Froc Institute for Peace and Development based at the University of San Diego, which sponsored the dialogue, said.

The dialogue in the country, which included visits to Zamboanga and Cotabato, is the first in a series of dialogues to be held in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. It aims to explore violent extremism in the regional context as well as from the perspective of gender.

 ‘BBL, not war’

Aga Khan Sharieff, chairman of the Bangsamoro National Movement for Peace and Development, said instead of calling for all-out war, Gomez should help push for peace in Mindanao.

“Ehemplo pa naman siya ng kabataan. Imbes na makatulong siya na magkaroon ng kapayapaan,ginagatungan pa niya ang sitwasyon sa Mamasapano tulad ni Erap,” Sharieff said, referring to Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, who ordered a massive offensive against the then-secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front when he was president, and recently also urged war against the organization, which signed a peace agreement with the government last year.

“Nanawagan kami na itigil na ang paghingi ng all-out war,” Shariell said at a press conference by the participants to the dialogue at the Lotus Garden Hotel.

He urged the passage of the BBL, saying this, and not a war against the MILF, would bring lasting peace to the long-troubled South.

At the same time, he took a dig at Gomez, an avid sportsman and president of the Philippine Amateur Fencing Association, saying: “Dapat siguro, siya ang pumunta sa Mamasapano, tignan natin ang galing niya sa fencing.”

What Goma said

Gomez posted his call for all-out war and the scrapping of the BBL on his Facebook page on February 11.

Sharing an InterAksyon.com story on the Philippine National Police’s intention to hunt down the persons who uploaded a video showing the execution of a wounded SAF commando, Gomez then wrote:

Malacanang and other government and law enfrocement officials have called for the video to be taken down.

The next day, another comment was posted reacting to a statement by MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, who said they would remain a revolutionary organization until the peace agreement with government is fully implemented.

Another dialogue participant, Datuan Magon, chairman of United Youth for Peace and Development based in Cotabato City, called for an end to the labeling of Muslims as “terrorists.”

“Tigilan na ang labeling sa Muslim bilang terorista, hindi kami terorista (Stop labeling Muslims terrorists, we are not terrorists),” he said as he called on the religious sector to step up the campaign for peace and help ease tensions triggered by the Mamasapano incident.

“Kami ay nanawagan sa religious sector, to step up their own campaign for peace at tumulong upang pahupain ang tensiyon at diskriminasyon sa Muslim community dahil malaki ang maitutulong nila,” Magon said.

“Kapag nagpatuloy ang kaguluhan sa Mindanao, lahat tayo apektado, hindi lamang dito sa Luzon,kundi sa buong Pilipinas (Should the trouble in Mindanao persist, we will all be affected, not just here inLuzon but the whole Philippines),” he added.

‘Keep momentum for peace’

Freeman said the Philippines was chosen to host the dialogue, which drew some 60 participants — half of these Filipino, the others from Malaysia, Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, US and Canada — to explore the lessons from the success of the peace agreement between the MILF and government and how these could address the causes of extremism.

“Extremism comes in many forms and is not confined to any one religion, ideology or group,” Freeman said.

“While the investigation into the incident is ongoing, the momentum — from all sides — for a sustainable peace must be reinvigorated and the strategic goals for the resolution of the Bangsamoro problem must be sustained,” she urged.

Risk of radicalization

Freeman said the dialogue participants agreed that the resumption of war in Mindanao and the collapse of the peace agreement would make “the youth in particular … susceptible to radicalization.”

She cited Zamboanga City, where government forces and Moro National Liberation Front fighters battled for almost a month, noting that 7,000 families displaced by the September 2013 crisis continue to stay at the city grandstand.

“The continuing IDP (internally displaced person) situation in Zamboanga City is untenable and unproductive both for the displaced themselves and the local government,” Freeman said. “And we fear that the lack of resolution to their plight could make the youth, in particular, desperate and angry, and more susceptible to radicalization.”