War continues in
\HE continuing chaos in Mindanao has attracted great attention not only in the Philippines but also in the entire world. The decision of the Philippine state to launch an all out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is the main reason the Mindanao trouble has erupted.
WHILE the hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf group have still not been
But the situation became complicated freed, the Philippine army is pursuing its offensive in Mindanao against and more confused when the Abu Sayyaf group kidnapped not only local residents the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front — see IV 321, May 2000).
but also international tourists. This inci-
According to local sources, several hundred thousand people have been dent is not co-incidence but a part of the made refugees in the central region of Mindanao following this brutal over-all scheme of the Estrada regime.
offensive. Bases of the Revolutionary Workers' Party of the Philippines
Basically, the all out war is the decisive
(RPMP - an organisation which has observer status in the Fourth use of all the weapons and armaments of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
International located in the centre of Mindanao are also directly threatto wipe out the MILF and other revoluened by the army and are having to cope with influxes of refugees. The tionary groups that have become an impedsections of the Fourth International have launched a fund drive to aid the iment to the economic interests of the rul-
RPMP in its attempts to protect the civilian population and help the ing class in Mindanao and in the refugees. Send contributions to the IIRF (mention "Philippines fund"),
Philippines.
account number 630-0113884-65 at the Caisse Privée Banque, place
The role of Abu Sayyaf
Champs de Mars 2, Brussels, Belgium.
The all out war carried out by the
We print here an analysis of the Mindanao conflict based on RPMP doc-
Estrada government as the solution to
Mindanao problem was implemented with due consideration to all the lessons they learned from the past. The ground, air and naval assaults against Camp Abubakar, the
MILF's biggest camp, fitted in very well with the Abu Sayyaf's kidnapping and terrorist activities. The purpose of Abu
Sayyaf is to sabotage the struggle of the
MILF and the Bangsamoro in general by ensuring that the sympathy and the popular support of the masses will not go to the
MILF, while international Islamic communities would be too confused or divided to support the MILF and the struggle of the
Bangsamoro for the right to self-determi-
Let us review the packaging of the military offensive launched by the AFP against the MILF: before the military launched its offensive against Camp
Abubakar, in the guise of clearing the
Narciso Ramos Highway, there was first a series of bombings all over Mindanao
(later in part extended to Metro Manila), which the AFP was quick to blame on the
MILF. Again, before the military attacked the Narciso Ramos Highway where the
MILF established their military checkpoints there was the kidnapping of the foreign tourists by the Abu Sayyaf group in a world class diving resort in Sabah
Malaysia.
This incident fuels again the sensitive uments. * issue of the so-called Muslim-Christian conflict. In this context, the AFP justified its offensive against the MILF and has tried to get the support of the media, Congress, the local populace and the international community.
### Afghan origins
The Abu Sayyaf group originated among Moro people in the Southern Philippines that were trained in Afghanistan by the United States to fight against the Russian military forces. Almonte, the former military adviser of Fidel Ramos, who is connected to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was responsible for forming this group. Edwin Angeles, the former tactician of the Abu Sayyaf who was killed in his house with his family after his release from jail, was a military agent. The other leaders of this group were confirmed as military agents, one is an army captain and the other two are military sergeants.
Janjalani Khadafffi, one of the known leaders who escaped from his cell last year in dubious circumstances, had frequently been seen meeting with General Panfilo Lacson, the new National Police chief. It is reported that a certain army general is the handler of commander Robot, one of the military leaders of Abu Sayyaf who kidnapped the foreign tourists.
After the killing of the Abu Sayyaf founder-leader Abdul Rajak Janjanlani and the killing of other leaders by the military this group was silent. The AFP declared last year that the group was finished. But surprisingly in the first quarter of this year Abu Sayyaf reemerged with more kidnapping and terrorist activities that victimize both Moro and Christian innocent civilians alike. The terrorist activities of the group fueled anew the so-called MuslimChristian conflict.
This has been used by the military as a pretext to reestablish the dreaded fanatical and armed vigilante groups throughout Mindanao to fight against the Moro rebels and the Bangsamoro.
### Economic interests
Mindanao's development framework is anchored to the globalization program especially in relation to the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, PhilippinesEast Asian Growth Area and the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). These are manifested in the following development projects: the 25,000 hectares sugar plantation and sugar central at Maguindanao; the 100,000 hectares palmInternational Viewpoint #323 July-August 2000 31
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Mindanao
NEWS FROM THE RPMP
RECENT reports from the Revolutionary Workers' Party of the Philippines
(RPMP) indicate that military operations in different areas of Mindanao are still intensifying. The AFP's objective is to capture more MILF camps to
* Philippines oil plantation at Lanao and oil basins in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and South and North Cotabato; and hundreds of thousands of hectares of gold and copper mining in the Western Mindanao region and elsewhere. Not to mention the project a picture of military victory but at the same time to prepare for the remaining vast hectares of fertile agriculimpending ceasefire that might result because of tural lands, forest and seashores.
the pressures on the Estrada administration from all sides. So if there is a
Moreover, all development aid to ceasefire tomorrow, the AFP will be in the positions previously held by the
Mindanao is directed to pave the way for
MILE. However, the MILF has not been following the conventional/positionforeign investors and to facilitate the masal warfare. They have shown that they can tactically abandon their camps sive integration of the island in the global and reclaim them later. The MILF has strongly suggested also that the next economy.
talks with the government will be in July. So what will happen to the June
The integration of Mindanao in the
30 deadline set for the peace talks by the Estrada government?
neo-liberal globalization process is the pri-
The influential Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and ority for the ruling class and key to the ecothe Business Group have been pressing the Estrada government to extend nomic development of the Philippine the deadline. The OIC (Organisation of Islamic Congress) met in Kuala nation, especially the BIMP-EAGA and its
Lumpur and the Mindanao crisis and the MILF position were discussed.
strategic role in the comprehensive eco-
The so-called internal conflicts will be internationalized. The MNLF (Moro nomic-political interest of the US and big
National Liberation Front) through Nur Misuari (and with the blessing of capitalist states in the Asia-Pacific.
the government) has tried to sabotage the MILF international offensive but
So, in order to effectively and systematically implement the program of globalwithout success. Misuari has tried to block the entry of the MILE as an observer in the OIC but appears to have failed in this goal. The RPMP is ization, it needs to destroy and to smash all forces that impede it. The areas where currently involved in the second round of peace talks with the government.
the economic projects are located and sub-
The talks are sponsored by religious groups.
ject to foreign capitalist exploitation are
During the May 1 (Labor Day) Celebration the RPMP was able to initiate areas where the revolutionary armed forces the broadest mobilizations composed of the five biggest coalitions of labor in are basing and operating, such as the the history of the country (including a progressive section of the TUCP), of
MILF, the New Peoples Army (NPA), or around seventy thousand (70,000) workers. The party has also launched a the RPA-ABB.
National Congress of the Rural Poor and next month is launching a National
Machinery for Electoral and Parliamentary Struggle.
Oppression and exploitation
The RPMP has also recently concluded the fifth plenum of its 1st party
The problem of Mindanao is mainly
Congress. Among the items discussed were the peace talks and the situation based on a long history of oppression and in Mindanao. A document is to be produced containing a new analysis of the exploitation by the imperialist nations, national situation with the Mindanao crisis as the main consideration. * using the Philippine state against the Moro people as well as the Filipino and Lumad peoples. History has shown, especially during the time of the Marcos dictatorship, that the military solution is not the answer to the Mindanao problem. Even the AFP have stated that military means are not the main answer to solve the insurgency problem; the socio-economic problems of the people must be addressed. Needless to say, the Estrada regime is expected to blindly continue with its all out military solution to the Mindanao problem.
History shows that while both the colonial and neo-colonial states have failed to address the basic problems and issues of
Mindanao, the armed and non-armed struggles of the three peoples (Moro,
Lumad and Filipino) have continued to persist. The Estrada regime has been trying to solve the problem through economic means, for example the "angat pinoy" program, but failed since it has no clear cut
32 International Viewpoint #323 July-August 2000 economic development program and economic and political structures are defective and biased to foreign capitalists. When Estrada's popularity dived sharply he easily gave in to the dictats of the militarist people surrounding him. Now, the military solution became a key factor and a short cut towards developing Mindanao and forcibly integrating it to the global economy.
### Teaching a lesson
Even though the Estrada regime knows that all out war is not the right solution to the Mindanao problem it continues implementing it because it wants to teach a lesson to all armed revolutionary groups. If the government, for example, could pin down and crush the MILF, this will serve as a message to other revolutionary forces that want to topple the administration.
But in the long and rich history of the revolutionary struggle throughout the world, the military approach has always failed to stop the mass struggle of the people.
Never in history have the revolutionary forces born out of the oppression and exploitation of the masses stopped because of all out military war waged by the state. Only solving the basic problems of the people and putting an end to the oppres sion and exploitation of the masses can create a situation where genuine revolutionary forces and mass struggle fade away and lose their grounds of existence.*