Unsung heroism of the BangsaBae

“Transformation of the Muslim women could be attributed largely to the dynamic leadership of its president, Commissioner Norhatta Macatbar Alonto.

“Unheralded heroism of the BangsaBae is as much significant as those fighting with guns.

Any narrative about the pyrrhic struggle for self-determination, a euphemism for independence

— Malays call it merdeka — will be incomplete if it will not mention the contribution of the BangsaBae. They have to this day remained anonymous to many. Except in local folktales, their sacrifices and pains are hardly heard of, nay, recorded in history books. This is not surprising in an alpha-male dominated society.

The word “BangsaBae” is a portmanteau of the word “bangsa” meaning nation and “bae,” a Moro woman. This was coined amid the Moro women carving their own name in the struggle of the Bangsamoro. The word was trending during the 1970s and martial law regime when the war of Muslims against seeming ethnic cleansing and injustice was fiercest. This was popular in the Lanao region, but the same patriotic fervor prevailed over other Moro tribes but with a different name.

The unheralded heroism of the BangsaBae is as much significant as those fighting with guns. The agony was felt more by the BangsaBae than the mujahideens. The languor and anxiety of one waiting for a loved one, unsure if he will return from the battlefield in one piece or brought home in a sling bag, were unbearable. The melancholy of tending to their children who could be orphaned anytime was telling. The fear that they, women, will face the future alone without the guiding hands of their husbands was nothing less than agonizing. In my book, they are no less heroes.

Their participation in the struggle was more pronounced when families evacuated from place to place looking for sanctuary from the ravages of war. They became the breadwinners tending to the family needs.

The president of the Philippine Muslim Women’s Council (PMWC) personally felt the travail and pain, being a widow of a departed mujahid. She sacrificed the comfort of modern life and trod roads less travelled to join her man in the boondocks exposed to risk.

In fact, some BangsaBae broke away from their traditional role as housekeeper and joined the rebel camps, preparing food and doing menial works. They provide inspiration and will power to the fighters, at times encouraging them not to give up and keep fighting the “domestic colonizers” not necessarily to free themselves, but to secure the future generation of Moros a better “place in the sun.”

These memories cascade through my mind recently when I was invited to speak before a digital forum sponsored by the PMWC held last weekend. This was the seventh of such webinar sponsored by the activist women who are revolutionizing Moro society with their active involvement on political and social issues affecting their life. They are drawing waves of attention. The transformation of the Muslim women could be attributed largely to the dynamic leadership of its president, Commissioner Norhatta Macatbar Alonto, supported by leading personalities, Executive Judge Bai-a-labe Wendy Balt Papandayan and the youthful Bai Ayesha Merdeka (the name gives away the family’s revolutionary DNA) Alonto and other prominent leaders.

The webinar was very timely and relevant to the present-day boiling political issue, which has bifurcated Moros. The theme “Extension or Election? Quo Vadis Bangsamoro” capsulized the schism and dilemma of stakeholders. This badly needs discussion in a public forum and the PMWC filled this void by crystallizing and synthesizing the issue for the better understanding of stakeholders. In the invitation-post of Executive Judge Papandayan, she marketed the webinar to tackle “one of the hottest… topics that will shape the future of the Bangsamoro.”

I was merely asked to speak about the dynamics of the bid for postponement of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao election. I discussed the pros and cons and the latest status of the draft bill now pending in Congress, including efforts of the President to mediate. I refused to be dragged into siding with any of the contending parties. I merely reechoed my sentiment that whatever decision Congress will arrive at will hopefully promote the greater interest of the majority of Moro stakeholders and not merely the elite power holders and power brokers.

This column doffs its hat to the PMWC. They are torch bearers of Moro patriotism, present-day political activists, BangsaBae.