The Moro Islamic Liberation Front: Another Terrorist Group?

By Author: Arnold Alderite
Total Articles: 4
Comment this article

A timely evaluation whether the MILF Group in the Philippines remains to be a political party or a terrorist group.
"Davao City airport is bombed!" These were the very words of my mother. No way! After hearing this news, I started to become panicky. Who would not be when my relatives and friends are in Davao City? Before coming over to Japan, I was very confident that they were all living in a safe haven. I have reasons for believing so. After all, there is Davao's tough Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. At the same time, the MILF group promised to exclude Davao from their aggression. But the bombing incident at the Davao International Airport on March 4, killing 19 civilians (including an American missionary) and wounding 144 others, resurrected in me the fears that Davao is once again shaken. Decades ago, I personally experienced how to live in the middle of atrocity, reminiscing the dark days of the Communist Party of Philippines-New Peoples' Army (CPP-NPA) insurgents in Mindanao. Just imagine to be wakened up by the sounds of the guns in the middle of your sleep. Sometimes, Communist insurgents would barge inside your ...
... house asking for shelter and food. With all of these things coming back to my memories, I could not help but become very anxious. Years before the bombing, while Davao's neighboring areas and provinces suffered from the atrocities brought about by the presence of the Abu Sayyaf bandit and secessionist groups in Mindanao, it had been spared. I could not help but ask, how come the Philippines recognized the MILF as a political group, when the latter was presumed violent attacks to both military and civilians in the country? With this, I started to become curious about the founding principle, origin and cause of the MILF group as a political party? I was intrigued whether theories and accounts of political party violence could ever justify their cause? To sum it up, what is the MILF actually? While I was trying to pool my sources to check the origins, objectives and means of the MILF, I was beginning to question, how come the Philippine government considers the group to be a political party of the country. Is the government only trying to apply diplomatic tactic on the group towards some peace negotiation by initially acknowledging it as a political party operating in the Philippines, as it did to the MNLF? Or, is it plainly because the Philippine government has no clear-cut definitions as to the real meaning of a political party operating in the Philippines? The Moro Islamic Liberation Front started as a factional group after Hashim Salamat, its founding chairman, denounced the ways its mother group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) made a bargain to create an Autonomous Region for Moslem Mindanao (ARMM) in 1996. More so, when Nur Misuari, his contemporary official in the MNLF, became the governor of the region, Salamat started to create his own party, the MILF. Under the MILF, the call for the "Islamic State in Mindanao" was resurrected. Salamat outlined the group's objectives, such as to 1) make supreme the Word of Allah, 2) gain the pleasure of Allah, 3) strengthen the relationship of man with his creator, 4) strengthen the relationship of man and man, 5) regain the illegally and immorally usurped legitimate and inalienable rights of the Bangsamoro people to freedom and self-determination, and 5) establish an independent state and government and implement Shari'ah (Islamic Law). Salamat justified the struggle of the group as a result to the Philippines' "illegal usurpation of their legitimate rights for freedom and self-determination of the Bangsa-Moro people. For them, they were the legitimate native inhabitants of the islands of Mindanao, Basilan Sulu and Palawan, independent hundreds of years before the Spain and the United States colonize the country. He also claimed that the United States helped the Philippines to create the newly created imperialist puppet succeeded in her plot to annex the Bangsamoro homeland when she was granted independence by the USA in 1946. For Salamat, the "Philippines has inherited and developed a deep hatred against Islam and the Muslim people." It is crucial to note that the MILF group does not recognize the Philippine government in Mindanao. In this sense, they do not consider themselves Filipinos. Salamat revealed that they are in the third phase of their "Moro Jihad." The first phase was during the Spanish Invasion (1521-1898) 377 years; the second phase, against the American colonizers (1898-1946) 47 years; and against the Philippine crusade (1970 Epresent.) This has been the clear guideline of the group to wage an all out war against government of the Philippines. In a separate interview with Salamat, he claimed that the MILF group is stronger; ready to take up arms again if the Philippine government decides to do so. The group had already acquired more sophisticated arms and trained more people to fight. According to Salamat, the Bangsa Moro consultative assembly attended by more than two million people vowed to arm their own selves. The MILF once negotiated with the government in 1997. But for Salamat, it was aimed to expose the Philippine government's deceptive design during the negotiation process. This particular rationale reflects their assumption that the Philippine government was not honest in helping the Muslims in Mindanao. When the government was busy trying to solve corruption problems (such as the embezzlement of funds by government leaders, including Misuari), the MILF group became busy recruiting Muslims to join his cause. There were even speculations that the MILF was only utilizing the cease fire period to give them more time to train and recruit young Muslims (16-60 years old) in the area. So far, more than six bombings were attributed to the MILF group. They were also charged for multiple murder of the bombing in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat in December. When is violence politically justified? Despite the alleged "terror" activities by the MILF, should the government still implicitly consider it a political party of the Philippines, or should it be appropriately tagged as another terrorist group? Bertrand Russell (1872), in his book, Theory and Practice of Bolshevism, defended the use of violence to be morally acceptable if it removed the bad systems of the government, to put an end to wars and despotism, and bring liberty to the oppressed. Vladimir Lenin (1902), in his published pamphlet, What is to Be Done? encouraged the formation of a party of professional revolutionaries in order to overthrow Tsarism in Russia with a large fringe on non-party sympathizers and supporters. Julius Martov (1873), however, opted for a large party activism. Both theorists believed in the necessity of overthrowing the autocracy in Russia through revolutions. Based on the long history of political parties of the world, the idea of utilizing violence and insurgency by a political party is not an isolated case in history. For example, the German Sudeten Party, in close co-operation with the German state, played a part in the sabotage of the Czechoslovak state; first demanding merely autonomy, it finally insisted upon and won separation from Czechoslovakia and incorporation in the Greater Reich by the Munich Pact of 1938. The Malayan Communist Party (MCP) in 1948, in Malaysia, under the direction of Chin Peng-Lai Teck organized guerilla units, under the name of the Malayan People's Anti-British Army (MPABA), later named as the Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA) were behind the series of terrorist attacks and ambushes, operating from jungle camps in the Peninsula's interior. When the party reconstituted in 1965, it was known as Paperi, which later on urged Muslim Malay support for the secessionist efforts of Muslim in both southern Thailand and Southern Philippines. The famous African National Youth League by Nelson Mandela, advocated the weapons of boycott, strike, civil disobedience and non-co-operation as its official policy. In 1952, Mandela himself was the one organizing resistance especially to discriminatory legislation. Also, the Vietnam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnam Nationalist Party) sought to bring about national revolution by military force with a view to overthrowing the colonial and feudal systems and found a democratic republic. Under the leadership of Nguyen Thai Toc's they staged simultaneous attacks to government interests. At present, Algeria has the Front Islamique de Salut (FIS—Islamic Salvation Front) a political party, which was established in 1989. It initially started as the largest and most influential opposition movement, capable of developing a nation-wide organization based on mosques and Islamic organizations. In April 1990, the party's supporters demonstrated in Algiers, demanding the dissolution of the National People's Assembly (NPA) and the introduction of Sharia, the Muslim code of religious law. The new constitution led the way to general elections held in December 1991. But when the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won 188 seats in the Assembly and the (National Liberation Front) FLN just 15, President Chadli Benje did step down and a military junta assumed control, establishing a Higher Council of State. Violence caused the declaration of the emergency and the FIS was banned, exacerbating political violence with the formation of the group's military wing, the Islamic Salvation Army. The group has been behind attacks in Algeria targeting civilians and foreigners. I am sure there would a very long list yet not mentioned in this text with regards to the employment of violence by political parties. The actions by the MILF, as a political party may be therefore gleaned as the utilization of violence with the goal of destabilizing the government. Finally, Duverger claims "fascism" aims to overthrow a democratic government and not help it. However, the concept of "violence" and "insurgency" are given another dimension in the 21st Century politics. This should lead us to an important undertaking. That is, we should be able to identify the real definition of "terrorism" against the acts of "violence" and "insurgency" employed by some political parties. For example, under the anti-terrorism Patriot Act of 2001 of America, which was signed by President Bush, terrorism is defined as, "threatening, conspiring or attempting to commit acts of violence on any unprotected persons, such as government officials. What is crucial is that the Act also defines terrorism as any crime committed with the use of any weapon or dangerous device, when the intent of the crime is determined to be the endangerment of public safety or substantial property damage rather than for "mere personal monetary gain." If we go back and re-examine the activities of political parties and their means of employing violence and insurgency in order to show their grievance and cause, then they could also be tagged as terrorists. Though, I have to admit however that it depends on the kind of definition being used, and who uses this particular definition. There is therefore an issue whether "violence" and "insurgency" would really be tantamount to terrorism when some governments do support and employ the use of violence and terrorism to maintain and support its cause. Sadly, the Philippines has not yet come up with clear definitions as to the concept of "terrorism." Bills have been pending the Senate and the House of Representatives to counter terrorism in the country. Although, President Arroyo said activities like the blowing up of transmission lines and towers and harassment on civilians only bolster the argument made by more and more people that the MILF is not a political organization but a terrorist group. There are even growing speculations that both the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf belonged to the same organization. This is a serious allegation since the United States and the Philippine governments have already considered the Abu Sayyaf a terrorist group. House national defense committee chairperson Congressman Prospero Pichay said peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are proving futile and the government should finally decide on branding the Muslim secessionist group as a terrorist organization. He said "all indications" showed the MILF, which had been embroiled in intense fighting with government troops since Feb.11, are "terrorists." The documents seized form a fallen rebel camp in Pikit, North Cotabato showed the MILF was "definitely strengthening their arsenal" by buying mortars and rocket propelled grenades, Pichay said. He also accused the MILF of receiving funding from Osama Bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network. The MILF group's employment of violence and terror in the Philippines reflects not only its growing anxiety to destabilize the government in order to achieve its objective of an Islamic state in Mindanao. In whatever sense, violence could never justify a noble political objective, especially when they could include innocent civilians and exacerbate political tensions and economic underdevelopment. With these things I have in mind, who could blame me for taking part in the speculations of my fellow "Dabawenyos" that, indeed the MILF is after just another terror group? About the Author Currently a Monbukagakusho (Japanese government) scholar; about to finish his second masters degree in International Relations (IR) in Japan. His first masters degree program was on public administration (MPA) focusing on the area of Social Capital Formation of the Families of Overseas Filipino Workers. He hopes to achieve a greater understanding on international labor migration in particular, taking into consideration an assessment of Philippine Labor Migration. His current thesis is on the socio-economic security of Overseas Filipina workers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and Singapore. His current courses in the International University of Japan (IUJ) prompted him to have a better understanding and perspective on the diverse issues in the field of peace, security, and international relations.