STATEMENT FROM SULU CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS
Sulu Civil Society Organizations
Pagtabangan Basulta
Bismillahir rahmanir rahim…
Whereas, the ongoing open hostilities between the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front)-MBG (Misuari Breakaway Group) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which started on the eve of February 7, 2005, have caused severe anxiety and fear upon the innocent civilians and/or constituents of Sulu most especially the vulnerable groups such as the children, women, and the elderly who are directly affected in conflict zones;
Whereas, no matter how ambiguous the nature, facts and circumstances of the offensive launched by the MNLF-MBG leader Ustadz Habier Malik, the clearest picture that is glaring before us is the “urgency of a ceasefire” and a subsequent “good faith” dialogue between conflicting parties in order for truth to come out and reconciliation be forged anew;
Whereas, it is sadly a folly for the Government to opt for engagement and to nix the call for ceasefire from the Sulu stakeholders such as the civil society and its duly elected local officials because this rejection contravenes the constitutional provision that “Civilian authority is at all times supreme over the military”;
Whereas, it is equally folly for the MNLF-MBG to nix the call for ceasefire and to opt for RTC (Release of Nur Misuari, Talks, then Ceasefire) because this contravenes the MNLF-MBG’s self-pronounced mandate as “vanguards of the Raayat”;
Whereas, this has ceased to become a “just war” between the combatants because it has obfuscated reason and objectivity due to passion and vindictiveness on the part of the AFP who lost a number of its key officers and soldiers in the name of protecting the Philippine flag and the Philippines, and on the part of protecting Islam and the Muslims of Sulu from human rights violation;
Whereas, this war is devastating in as much as it has undermined peace and development initiatives both of the local and national government along with the support of CSOs and all stakeholders, wasted sacred innocent lives, and hundred millions of pesos in terms of military expenditures;
Thus, be it resolved, that the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the AFP declare a ceasefire in the spirit of mercy and sobriety by listening to and heeding the appeal of her citizenry from the remote autonomous province of Sulu; and that the MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari, albeit incarcerated pending judicial judgment, exhort its MNLF-MBG to heed the call for ceasefire from the citizenry whom it owes its vanguardship so that we can all give the budding seedling of hope for peace and prosperity nurtured by its fledgling Sulu Provincial Government under the helm of Governor Benjamin T. Loong the crucial chance that it needs in order to grow into a sturdy tree and eventually bear fruits for the Sulu Raayats to reap. Insha’Allah.
Done this 3rd day of Muharram, 11 February 2005, Sulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Office, Santanina Rasul Compound, Jolo, Sulu.
