Don’t forget: ML is a drastic, special tool

E did not have a negative opinion against the declaration of martial law in Marawi City after it was taken over by the renegade and insurgent so- called “Islamic State ( IS).” We rejoiced when government forces and the area’s local governments regained Marawi from the rebels.

We agree that IS and other anti- government and anti- public order forces, including terrorists, are at work in other parts of Mindanao. And it is also known that the IS and other insurgent separatist groups have been forming or trying to form chapters in the Muslim- majority provinces and in the Muslimpopulated barangay of non- Muslim- majority provinces. This is why we basically agree that martial law should be imposed in the whole of Mindanao until the end of 2018.

However, we wish to make sure that government know what their mission is. And never forget that martial law is a drastic special tool for them to re- establish peace and good governance as quickly as possible.

In the President’s letter sent to Congress, he said the extension of martial law in the whole of Mindanao was recommended by security officials in an effort to ensure the eradication of terrorist groups, armed lawless groups and communist terrorists.

This is a huge undertaking. Security officials in previous administrations also faced this continuing challenge to the authority of the government and the sovereignty of the Philippine Republic. This challenge has not been won because the government has always mainly faced it as a matter of military victory over the rebels.

Only lip service has been paid to the need to go to the roots of the problem. We say “roots” to stress, against the thinking of many policymakers, that it is wrong to hold the false notion that the single root of the problem is the failure to recognize the desire of the Muslim Moro majority to have their rightful share in dominating Mindanao. That indeed is one of the basic problems in Mindanao. But also of equal importance is the poverty of the majority in the Muslim-dominated provinces and the poverty of most of the minority who are Muslims in Christian- dominated areas.

The ethnic dimension of the Mindanao population could also pose another problem that many do not seem to realize when they insist that giving Muslims the larger say in the leadership and control of the region will be the solution.

In fact, giving dominance over a Unified Muslim- Mindanao Region to a Muslim would only exacerbate the problem if a Tausug, a Maranaw, or a Maguindanaon becomes the sole - versally held in high esteem by nearly all Muslims.

We believe a Unified Muslim Mindanao, if and when it materializes, should be most properly served if it had a revolving leadership, as in the Malaysian Federation where a working prime minister holds office and the nation’s highest position of honor and authority is held in turn by the separate Malay states’ individual monarchs. forces