Kesetiman / Kebengkez brab Kesetobong

Solidarity and Support Message

of

Tuwar’ay Lagay Mohagher Iqbal

Chairman, MILF Peace Panel

Represented by

Amor B. Pendaliday

Formerly: Member of the Technical Committee

and the Technical Working Group

MILF Peace Panel

On the occasion of the

2nd Timfada Limud (2nd Tribal Congress)

of the

Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG) Upi Municipal Gymnasium, Nuro, Upi, Maguindanao

October 2-5, 2010

“Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Kefiyo fedew deb kluhanan deb klohana kuman.  Samong go libun reb do samong go lagey deb Islame,  Fiyo teresang deb beguman klohanan…Good day to all of you.

Brother Mohagher Iqbal, Chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, sincerely expresses his felicitations and congratulations to the Center of Leadership and maginged (citizens) of the Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG) as you hold your 2nd Timfada Limud (Tribal Congress) in these days. He seriously apologizes for not being physically present in your historic gathering today because of prior commitments that he cannot just cancel upon receiving your kind invitation. Rest assured that he has requested me to be his personal representative to deliver before this august assembly—Timfada Limud—his message of support and solidarity.

Brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity, your Titay Bleyen Santos Unsad is a personal friend. We have cultivated this friendship and brotherhood since we met each other in one seminar held in the State of Penang in Malaysia, sometime in September 2007.

Allow me, brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity, to deliver and explain before this august assembly, the four-point message of MILF Peace Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal.

Belew ini iray go ataw basa aku ti ketigani Tuwar’ay Lagay Mohagher Iqbal debe duwao Timfada Limud tuwar’ay Timuay debe Ufi.

Sebaan Point:

I Mamalu eh reb Tabunaway, tidew feganay sebaan say ketufo ruwe.

As to the Mamalu and Tabunaway kinship, they were together throughout history.

Our legal and history scholars believe that the “Bangsamoro people had the consciousness of being a Bangsa (Nation) as early as the 17th century long before the Indios or Christianized natives started to call themselves as Filipino which is traced back to the Filipino revolution against Spain in 1898. Until now the idea of a Filipino national community is still an unfulfilled ideal.”1 They argue that while there may be some variations in cultural patterns among 13 Moro ethno-linguistic groups, they have common cultural and ideological bond under Islam. The Moros and the Indigenous Peoples have also common pre-Islamic culture, history and traditions which are still evident among them.2

Our legal and history scholars further believe that:

Traditionally, the relationship between the Moros and the indigenous peoples claim to have either descended from a common ancestor in the past prior to the arrival of Islam or were bound by an ancient pact or compact of brotherhood, meaning compact brothers by ancestry. The Maguindanao salsila (genealogy) and chroniclers narrate of the compact between two brothers Mamalu and Tabunaway. The younger Mamalu whose followers and kinsmen refused to accept Islam left Maguindanao and resided with his followers in the highlands while the elder Tabunaway who became the first Muslim Moro datu of Maguindanao remained in the town of Maguindanao together with his followers who were converted to Islam by Sharif Kabungsuan.3

Allow me to express furthermore a glimpse of history to clarify the matter. One Magindanaw salsila narrates the coming of Shariff Kabungsuwan to Magindanaw who was received by Tabunaway and Mamalu. Portion of that genealogy states:

Sarip Kabungsuwan anchored at Natubakan, at the mouth of the Rio Grande. Tabunaway and Mamalu directed some people of Magindanao to carry their net for them and went down to the mouth of the river. There they met Sarip Kabungsuwan, and Tabunaway sent Mamalu up the river to bring down all the men of Magindanao. After the arrival of the men Tabunaway invited Kabungsuwan to accompany him to Magindanao. Kabungsuwan refused to accompany them unless they become Moslems. Tabunaway and Mamalu then repeated their invitation and all of them promised to become Moslems. Kabungsuwan insisted that he would not land at all unless they came together then and there and were washed and became Mohammedans. This they did, and on account of bathing at that place they changed its name to Paygwan.

Kabungsuwan then accompanied Tabunaway and Mamalu, and the men towed them up all the way from Tinundan to Magindanao. Thus Kabungsuwan converted to Islam all the people of Magindanao, Matampay, Slangan, Simway, and Katitwan.

Soon after his arrival in Magindanao Sarip Kabungsuwan married Putri Tunina, whom Mamalu found inside a stalk of bamboo. This occurred at the time Tabunaway and Mamalu were cutting bamboo to build their fish corral. As Mamalu, who was felling the bamboo tree returned, Tabunaway inquired whether all the tree was felled or not. Mamalu answered that all the tree was felled except one young stalk. Tabunaway then said, “Finish it all, because it omens ill to our fish corral to leave that one alone.” Mamalu stuck it and it fell down, and there came out of it a child who was called Putri Tunina. Her little finger was wounded, for the bolo had cut through the bamboo.

Some time later Sarip Kabungsuwan and Putri Tunina begot three children—Putri Mamur, Putri Milagandi, and Bay Batula. Putri Mamur married Malang-sa-Ingud, the datu of Bwayan. Malang-sa-Ingud died later, and Pulwa, his brother, came down to Magindanao and married the widow of his elder brother, Putri Mamur.4

The marriage of Shariff Kabungsuwan to Putri Tunina and the brotherhood of Tabunaway and Mamalu were further affirmed by another Magindanaw salsila which states that: “Some time after Sarip Kabungsuwan came to Magindanao and married Putri Tunina, whom

Tabunaway and Mamalu found inside the bamboo. By Putri Tunina he begot Putri Milagandi and Putri Mamur.”5

Another Magindanaw salsila narrates that:

The descendant of the Apostle of God, Sarip Mohamed, came to Juhur and married a woman related to the sultan of Juhur and begot Sarip Kabungsuwan, who came to Mindanao and introduced the religion of Islam.

The ruler of Mindanao then was Raja Tabunaway. Kabungsuwan married Banun, the sister of Raja Tabunaway, who died before any children were born to them. After that Kabungsuwan married Putri Tunina, who became human and was begotten by Mamalu out of the bamboo. Putri Tunina bore three daughters—Putri Milagandi, Putri Mamur, and Putri Batula. Putri Mamur married Pulwa, Raja Bwayan. Putri Milagandi married Malang-sa-Ingud. Putri Batula married Ambang.6

One more Magindanaw salsila speaks of the origin of the rulers of Magindanao:

The first known rulers were Tabunaway and his brother Mamalu. One day they were cutting bamboo to build a fish corral. Mamalu cut down all the trees except one small stalk that was left standing alone. Tabunaway then called to Mamalu, “Finish it up because it omens ill to our fish corral.” Mamalu therefore cut it and found in it a girl whose little finger was slightly cut by a slip of the bolo. He carried the girl to Tabunaway, but Tabunaway told him to keep her and adopt her as his child. This girl was named by Tabunaway Putri Tunina.

On the other hand, there came out from Mecca Sharif Ali Zayna-l-Abidin, who proceeded to Bawangin (Malaysia) and settled at Juhur. Here he married the daughter of Sultan Iskandar Thul-Qarnayn of Juhur, whose name was Jusul Asiqin, and begot Sharif Kabungsuwan. Sharif Kabungsuwan came to Magindanao to the mouth of the Tinunda. There he met Tabunaway and accompanied him to the town of Magindanao. This is Sharif Kabungsuwan, who converted to Islam all the people of Magindanao, Slangan, Matampay, Lusud, Katittwan, and Simway, and who followed by all those who accepted Islam in the land of Magindanao.

And it came to pass that Tabunaway married Sharif Kabungsuwan to the girl that was found inside the bamboo stalk, whose name was Putri Tunina. To them were born three daughters.7

One Magindanaw salsila tells a similar story:

Sitti Paramisuli, the mother of Tabunaway, had asked her son to bury her comb, after her death, underneath her window. This he did. The comb grew and became a large bamboo tree. As Mamalu was cutting the tree one day he found a lady in one of the bamboo joints which he had cut. The blow had reached her little finger and cut it slightly. He took the child to Tabunaway who told Mamalu to adopt her because he had no children. They called her Putri Tunina, because they thought their mother had come to life again. As she was a virgin and of age she was married to Sharif Kabungsuwan and bore three daughters.8

These genealogical accounts established four things:

1) that Tabunaway and Mamalu were blood brothers their mother being Sitti Paramisuli, and, on account of the death of their father, Tabunaway succeeded him as datu of Magindanao before the coming of Sharif Kabungsuwan;

2) the conversion of Tabunaway to Islam signified the acceptance of the people and leaders of Magindanao to Islam as a religion and way of life;

3) the marriage of Sharif Kabungsuwan to Putri Tunina, the adopted daughter of Mamalu, indicated the willingness of the Muslims to intermarry with the Indigenous Peoples who are mostly non-Muslims; and

4) that Mamalu never embraced Islam although he may have consented to the marriage of his adopted daughter Putri Tunina to Sharif Kabungsuwan. We believe that such consent became the time-honored basis of the conversion to Islam of the later generations of Mamalu up to this day.

Your group, the Timuay Justice and Governance (TJG), believes that with the decision of Tabunaway to embrace Islam and the Sultanate system of governance, Mamalu remained faithful to his traditional way of life and system of self-rule but both made a pact or treaty.9 This pact was probably a dyandi or pakang. The TJG further believes that such a pact may have covered the following conditions:

1) Recognition and respect of the territory, system of governance and religious beliefs of each group;

2) The continuing and non-limit circulation of the means of livelihood and “sawit” system or gifts among communities;

3) Unity against the common enemy; and

4) Lifetime treatment as brothers and sisters.10

Your very own leader, Timuay Alim Bandara, stressed that such pact was publicly sworn to by both parties through a ritual which Mamalu and Tabunaway mutually agreed that it must observed by them including the future generations. And then the brothers went their separate ways with their respective followers. The Teduray and Dulangan Manobo followed Mamalu while the Magindanawns followed Tabunaway.11

Such “Recognition and respect of the territory, system of governance and religious beliefs of each group” as embodied in the compact between Tabunaway and Mamalu have never been forgotten by the MILF as evidenced by a statement of Chairman Salamat Hashim, when interviewed by legal scholar and author, Atty. Soliman M. Santos, in February 1999, and I quote:

Matters concerning territory are negotiable. As for non-Muslims and un-Islamized native tribes they will be given many options: (1) Autonomy or federal government with freedom to practice their beliefs and culture; (2) Join the Philippine government and the state will compensate all their legally possessed properties that will be left behind including piece of land; and (3) to remain under the state and be its citizens. In this case the would-be state ensures its citizens—Muslims and non-Muslims—full freedom, justice, and equality and democracy and their human rights are protected and promoted.12

In an interview in 2001 by Mindanao Crescent, Chairman Salamat Hashim reiterated the MILF’s position recognizing and supporting the same inherent right of the indigenous peoples to self-determination. The Chairman said and I quote:

As Muslims, Islam prohibits us from imposing our will or our deen (Islamic way of life) on other peoples. Islamic justice, based on the Qur‟anic principle of „commanding what is right and good and prohibiting evil,‟ is at the very heart of our vision for peace in Mindanao. In this context, we recognize the tri-nation character of the Mindanao populace today, Highlander communities, and the Christian settler people. While we struggle for the restoration of the Bangsamoro people‟s right to self-determination and independence, we also recognize and support the same inherent right of the indigenous Highlander communities and the Christian settler people in Mindanao who are likewise being oppressed and exploited by the political and economic elites in Manila.

If the indigenous Highlander communities and Christian settler people each want to have their own separate independent states, then we shall support this. If they will federate with the Bangsamoro Islamic State, we shall also respect this decision.

What is important is that the right of the peoples of Mindanao to self-determination—this inherent right to chart their own future is accepted, recognized and respected by the Manila government. Thus insofar as the Bangsamoro people are concerned, our message is: Give us back the freedom and independence which were forcibly usurped from our people and there will be lasting peace in Mindanao, Insha’ Allah. It is as simple as that.13

Meanwhile, the eminent Arab-American surgeon-historian Dr. Najeeb Mitry Saleeby elaborated that:

The inhabitants of Slangan, Magindanao, Katitwan, and those of all the other settlements of the valley were pagans and were very similar to the present Tirurays in language and worship. Those who adopted the new religion remained in the rich lowlands of the valley, but those who refused fled to the mountains and have stayed away ever since. Those who wavered in accepting the new terms of submission and who were later suffered to stay in the neighboring hills were called Tiruray. Those who refused to submit, fled to more distant places, and kept up their enmity and opposition were called Manobos. The pagans who are thus spoken of as related to the Moros of Mindanao in origin, besides the above, are the Bilans, the Tagabilis, and the Subanons.14

While the two brothers and their succeeding generations parted ways on matters of faith and governance, they never abandoned their blood relations. They respected each other’s territories. They intermarried with each other. And they supported each other against the common enemy: the colonizers. Notable of the descendants of Sharif Kabungsuwan by Putri Tunina was Raja Sirungan, the first raja of Bwayan in whose reign and kingdom met the bloody death of Spanish conquistador Capitan Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa under the hands of Datu Ubal, an uncle and great commander of Raja Silongan, on April 25, 1596. Raja Sirungan was a son of Pulwa and Putri Mamur, one of the daughters of Sharif Kabungsuwan by Putri Tunina.

Here are some of the instances of intermarriage of the Islamized people and rulers of Magindanaw with that of the un-Islamized people:

1) Sharif Maka-alang, son of Sharif Kabungsuwan by Angintabu, married Buli, a Bilan woman who was found by Parasab, a Bilan chief, in a crow’s egg;15 and

2) Sultan Dundang Tidulay, son of the illustrious Moro hero and Sultan, Muhammad Dipatuan Qudarat, married Paramata Asiya, a Bitalan lady, and begot Putri Gunung Lidang, who was the first Bayalabi of Magindanao and who had no offspring.16

The eminent Muslim historian Dr. Cesar Majul explained that after the death of Sultan Qudarat, he “was succeeded by his son Dundang Tidulay whose regnal title was Seif ud-Din. The new Sultan must have been quite old when he started his reign; in any case, he had a short reign.”17

Duwo Point:

Problema e lufa gamitet tomi andang adat tomi tindeg setiman ideng

That land issues are to be handled using

age-old principle of brotherhood.

The MILF does not recognize the Philippine Constitution as binding to itself. The MILF “is the only true and real revolutionary and mass organization in the Bangsamoro homeland that partakes the nature of a parallel government.”18 The MILF is a national liberation movement that is fighting for the liberation of the Bangsamoro people from Philippine colonialism.19 Being a “shadow government” of the Bangsamoro people, the MILF believes that issues and concerns pertaining to ancestral domain of the Bangsamoro and Indigenous Peoples have to be settled in accordance with the age-old principle of brotherhood as stated in various compacts, dyandi, pakang, and other indigenous methods that are still being practiced and observed by them until today.

Atty. Musib M. Buat, legal scholar and former Member of the MILF Peace Panel, elaborated that the common ancestors of Moros and Indigenous Peoples “had entered into pacts and alliances known as the diandi, tampuda-sa-balagen and kalkas-kaluang and became compact brothers.”20 Buat further explained that the territorial domains of the Moros and Indigenous Peoples appear overlapping but based on ancient compacts or pacts of their ancestors their territorial domains were delimited. For example, “the highlands, tablelands and plateaus were the exclusive domains of the non-Islamized tribal peoples while the valleys, coastal plains, lakeshores and river valleys were the exclusive domains of the Islamized Moros, including the inland waters and the maritime domains adjacent to it.”21

Furthermore, Buat narrated a compact known as tampuda between the early Maranaws and the indigenous people of Bukidnon, thus:

The early Maranaos and the tribal peoples of Bukidnun had entered into a compact known as Tampuda in Talakag, Bukidnun. The old Durian tree that was planted at the site of the compact ceremony still exists. The ancient ceremony was witnessed by the presence of the Sultans of Bayabao and Maguindanao and datus coming from North Borneo and Sarawak (presumably Iranun datus). The compact was entered by the Maranaw and Bukidnuns to renew their ancient kinship ties somewhere in the mid 18th century.

The Tampuda (compact) ceremony is celebrated annually by the natives of Bukidnun with merry-making and feasting lasting for several days. Bukidnun earlier fell under the sphere of influence of the Taulan people, an authocthonous people of central Mindanao who ruled over the indigenous tribal peoples. They are believed to be of Manobo origin that co-opted and were mainstreamed into the Buayan and Maguindanao societies of the upper Cotabato River Valley, through the inter-marriages of their aristocrats with the Buayan princesses.22

Atty. Buat also mentioned that the Bla’an tribes recount of a diandi (compact) they had with the Moros residing in Kolon-nadal (Koronadal) area to become compact brothers. Likewise, the Manobos of Arakan valley narrated of the “Pact of Gubatan” entered by their ancestors with Moros in the upper valley of Cotabato to end their feud and bury down their spears and swords at a place known as “gubatan” and sealed this peace pact by becoming compact brothers.23 Buat elaborated furthermore that these ancient compacts like those of the Indian treaties with the early European settlers of the American continent should allay fears from the tribal peoples that the Moros are out to appropriate their lands upon entrenchment of a Bangsamoro juridical entity.24

Buat observed that there is hardly any report of an incident or proof where the Moros have usurped or encroached upon the traditional ancestral lands of the indigenous tribal peoples. Ironically it is the elite Filipino migrant-settlers, logging magnates and pasture land operators who have been encroaching over native ancestral lands.25

The way you value your land is worth-respecting as you say: “I fantade bken sa segetewi gefe ede ke bken fara be ky kluhanane, klohana tm de dmeyaga.” (Land is not owned by individual or private property. Land is owned by all people in the community just because this is a sacred trust. Only God owns the land.)

We seriously lament that the Bangsamoro people and the Indigenous Peoples to include the Teduray-Lambangian, were “dispossessed of their ancestral domains and ancestral lands through the machinations of government officials which up to this day have not been rectified or corrected by the national government.”26 Our legal and history scholars believe that:

The ancestral lands of the Bangsamoro people do not constitute as part of jura regalia because they were never subjects of the Spanish monarchy. The ancestral domains and ancestral lands of the Bangsamoro people constitute as pusaka lands and kawarisan (native titles) under Moro and Malay adat (customary) laws. Their right to own land and have an independent homeland of their own is a vested right based on treaty-based entrenched rights. It therefore a vested right long before the Philippine Constitution was adopted and long before a Filipino Nation was born. Anti-Moro land laws and policies under various Philippine statutes are still extant in Philippine statute books which were never repealed by the Congress of the Philippine. While it is true that there are Muslim Moro representatives in Congress, they are either dumb or blind  or helpless in the face of the non-Moro dominant Christian Filipino elite majority in Congress.27

Telaw Point:

Keseberehi GRP reb MILF tanan tom beken ini renawun sena.

That the MILF-GRP peace talks are inclusive and not exclusive.

The GRP-MILF peace talks are not exclusive to the Bangsamoro Muslims alone. Ever since the peace talks officially started in 1997, the Indigenous Peoples especially the Teduray-Lambangian people, are part and parcel of the MILF negotiating team. In fact, one of your respected religious leaders and an influential MILF leader, too, in the person of almarhum Shaykh Abuhalil Yahya, was always present in the domestic stage of the GRP-MILF peace talks. He signed as witness to the agreements and saw to it that the interest of the Indigenous Peoples, including the Teduray-Lambangian people were also recognized and protected.

Brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity, the MILF leadership sincerely listens, recognizes and respects the sentiments of the Indigenous Peoples. As a former member of the MILF negotiating team, I can bear witness to this fact. The records and minutes of meetings of all the GRP-MILF peace engagements both during the domestic and diplomatic stage of the peace talks, can also bear witness that the Moros, especially the MILF Peace Panel, did not fail to listen, recognize and respect the sentiments of the Indigenous Peoples. Nor did we ignore or disregard their clamour for self-determination as unique and distinct peoples within the Bangsamoro nation. The initialled MOA-AD can stand as the most authoritative document ever crafted between the Moros and the government which speaks not only of the Moros but of the Indigenous Peoples as well.

The Terms of Reference of the MOA-AD included RA 6734, as amended by RA 9054 which recognizes the Indigenous Peoples. On top of this, the MOA-AD recognized ILO Convention No. 169, in correlation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, and RA 8371 (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997), the United Nations Charter, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, and internationally recognized human rights instruments, all of which recognized, in one way or another, the Indigenous Peoples.

Aside from the Terms of Reference abovementioned, the MOA-AD also recognized, first and foremost, in the Concepts and Principles of which I was a part of this technical working group, the Moros as well as the Indigenous Peoples. The very first consensus point reached by the MILF and the GRP, as written in the MOA-AD (Concepts and Principles, Paragraph 1), provides for the recognition of and respect of freedom of choice of the Indigenous Peoples, as such:

1. It is the birthright of all Moros and Indigenous Peoples of Mindanao to identify themselves and be accepted as “Bangsamoros”. The Bangsamoro people refers to those who are natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and its adjacent islands including Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago at the time of conquest or colonization and their descendants whether mixed or of full native blood. Spouses and their descendants are classified as Bangsamoro. The freedom of choice of the Indigenous People shall be respected. (Emphasis supplied)

The “freedom of choice” clause has been reiterated in the second paragraph of the Governance consensus of the MOA-AD, thus:

2. The ultimate objective of entrenching the Bangsamoro homeland as a territorial space is to secure their identity and posterity, to protect their property rights and resources as well as to establish a system of governance suitable and acceptable to them as a distinct dominant people. The Parties respect the freedom of choice of the indigenous peoples. (Emphasis supplied)

Such “freedom of choice” of the Indigenous Peoples has been reinforced under the Declaration of Continuity for Peace Negotiation signed by the GRP and MILF negotiators on June 3, 2010 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which provides for their protection and enjoyment of rights similar to those enjoyed by the Moros, and I quote:

“In reframing the consensus points of Ancestral Domain, respect the existing property and community rights taking into account in particular the rights of indigenous people in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;”

“As a general principle indigenous peoples who originally inhabit particular constituent units shall receive protection and enjoy equal rights similar to those enjoyed by the Moro‟s taking into account in addition to economic and geographical criteria, their individual and communal property rights, cultural integrity, customary beliefs, historical and community traditions.”

Besides, the MILF negotiating team is composed of representatives of the Moros and Indigenous Peoples from all over the Bangsamoro homeland. And that includes the representation of the Indigenous Peoples in the person of Datu Antonio Kinoc, a B’laan whom the MILF Central Committee announced recently as Alternate Member of the reconstituted MILF Peace Panel. Former Upi Mayor Ramon Piang, in whose veins run Magindanawn and Teduray bloods, has been appointed by the Philippine government as a Member of the GRP Peace Panel. With this strong representation of the Indigenous Peoples in both the GRP and MILF peace panels, it signifies the determination of both sides not to leave behind their brothers and sisters from the Indigenous Peoples.

Even at the start of the domestic stage of the GRP-MILF peace negotiations in 1997, the MILF leadership has already emphasized that it is struggling for the restoration of the legitimate rights to freedom and self-determination of the Bangsamoro and Indigenous Peoples who were then popularly known as “highlanders” and “native inhabitants.” Part of a policy statement crafted by the MILF Central Committee which was signed, sealed and read by not less than Chairman Salamat Hashim rahimahullah, provides that:

The MILF believes that there is no viable and lasting solution to the centuries-old conflict between the Bangsamoro people and their persecutors except to give way to the aspirations of the native inhabitants of the area—the Bangsamoro and the highlanders, and this is no other than the restoration of their usurped legitimate rights to freedom and self-determination.

Continued suppression of the quest of the native inhabitants for freedom and self-determination will prolong the turmoil in the areas dominated by them as well as the rest of Mindanao. It may even escalate in Luzon and the Visayas. The Bangsamoro people are determined as ever to fight along with the MILF to the end until victory is finally achieved.28

Fot Point:

Teduray reb Lambangian tuwao ka’atagan umfungan MILF kamal.

The Teduray-Lambangian people and the Indigenous Peoples as a whole are part of the MILF leadership.

We wish to emphasize and remind this august assembly that the MILF counts Teduray-Lambangian people and the Indigenous Peoples in general as part of its leadership. Amuk lukes tomi, Shaykh Abuhalil Yahya rahimahullah, renigo brab saksi deba ketalima i MILF ini debe “highlander” deb “native inhabitants” kefed menuyut tanan tomi tagafeda nin umfungan tom MILF. One of your respected leaders, Shaykh Abuhalil Yahya rahimahullah, became a legendary symbol and testimony to the MILF’s unquestionable acceptance of the Teduray-

We Lambangian people and the Indigenous Peoples as a whole to become part and parcel of the MILF leadership.

Shaykh Abuhalil Yahya was a long time classmate, associate and colleague of Chairman Salamat Hashim, now both passed away and may Allahu Ta’ala have mercy on them. He was one of those students, along with Ustaz Salamat Hashim, who planted the early seeds of the struggle for self-determination while they were students in Cairo, Egypt. He was one of the leading figures of the then MNLF’s Kutawato Regional Committee (KRC), the New MNLF Leadership, and then the present MILF.

Shaykh Abuhalil rose to ranks and prominence within the MILF leadership by holding important and sensitive positions including adviser to the MILF Peace Panel and Speaker of the Majlis ash-Shura, the MILF’s consultative and legislative body. He was also a member of the MILF Central Committee. Chairman Salamat Hashim rahimahullah briefly explained in a major policy statement read in December 1997 on how the struggle was conceived by the students in Cairo to include Shaykh Abuhalil and others, some of them now dead:

The MILF is not a new organization. It is the realization of the ideas, efforts and sacrifices of the Bangsamoro students in the Middle East who in 1962, fired and united by the common feeling of oppression, bonded together and urged their Bangsamoro youth counterparts in the homeland to join them in their pledge to undertake the struggle for freedom. This happened sixteen years after the final illegal annexation of the Bangsamoro Homeland to the newly created Republic of the Philippines.29

Several MILF field commanders are also from your community. These field commanders from your own ranks have been defending your communities since the onslaught of Ilaga terrorism in the 1960s. And they are continuously doing their assigned functions in defense of the Moro and Indigenous Peoples and as a continuation of our legitimate struggle for self-determination.

In conclusion, we wish to congratulate the Timuay Justice and Governance for the holding of this very important and historic Timfada Limud. We wish to further supplement the message of brother Mohagher Iqbal, Chairman of the MILF Peace Panel and Chairman of Central Committee’s Information Committee, the message of Allahu Subhanahu wa Ta’ala in the Holy Qur’an, as addressed to the entire humanity, not just the Muslims, which we hope to serve as guiding principles in our relations as peoples of Earth. Wun benereh tulus tomi debe Qur’an:

13. “O klohnan ni tulus tomi renigo lagay (Adam) brab libun (Hawa), Wun bangsa tom brab tribu, amuk getewa gomi. Tiwuni fengkatan tulus tomi debe wuni felityaan ni tulusi.” 30

13. “O mankind! We created

You from a single (pair)

Of a male and a female,

And made you into

Nations and tribes, that

Ye may know each other.

(Not that ye may despise

Each other.) Verily

The most honored of you

In the sight of Allah

Is the most

Righteous of you.” 31

Panginsalamat tomi tulus tom ini debe kalilimud wun iniray bager lawas tomi ti kefiyo kefamikir.

Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

———————————————————————————————-

1 Quoted in Atty. Musib M. Buat, Peace Advocacy Campaign on the GRP-MILF Peace Process. Paper presented before the Zamboanga City Forum on Peace Advocacy, hosted by the Bangsamoro People’s Solidarity Alliance of Zamboanga City, held on January 5-6, 2008.

2 Cited in ibid.

3 Quoted in Atty. Mohd. Musib M. Buat and Maulana Robert M. Alonto. Implications of Geopolitics on the Demography and Ancestral Territory of the Bangsamoro People. (Background paper for the MILF Technical Working Group Seminar-Workshop in July 2005)

4 Quoted in Najeeb M. Saleeby, Studies in Moro History, Law and Religion. Manila: Department of the Interior, (Ethnological Survey Publications, Volume IV, Part I, Bureau of Printing), 1905, p.24.

5 Quoted in ibid., p.26.

6 Quoted in ibid., p.34.

7 Quoted in ibid., p.37.

8 Quoted in ibid., p.31.

9 Timuay Alim Bandara, “Timuay Justice and Governance,” in Insights on Referendum, Ancestral Domain and the Right to Self-determination. Midsayap: CEREA Division of Southern Christian College, 2007, p.45.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 Quoted in Salamat Hashim, The Bangsamoro People’s Struggle Against Oppression and Colonialism. Camp Abubakre As-Siddique: Agency for Youth Affairs—MILF, 2001, p.96.

13 Quoted in ibid., p.47.

14 Quoted in Saleeby, Studies in Moro History, Law and Religion, op. cit., pp.55-56.

15 Cited in ibid., p.34, p.37, and p.57.

16 Cited in ibid., p.38.

17 Quoted in Cesar Adib Majul, Muslims in the Philippines. Quezon city: University of the Philippines Press, 1999 edition, p.196.

18 Quoted in Salamat Hashim, The Bangsamoro People’s Struggle Against Oppression and Colonialism, op. cit., p.52.

19 Cited in Salamat Hashim, We Must Win the Struggle! Camp Abubakre As-Siddique: Agency for Youth Affairs—MILF, 2004, p.x.

20 Quoted in Atty. Musib M. Buat, Peace Advocacy Campaign on the GRP-MILF Peace Process, op. cit.

21 Quoted in ibid.

22 Quoted in Atty. Mohd. Musib M. Buat, The Acehnese and Tamil Conflicts and Peace Process and its Implications for Peace Building in Mindanao. A Revised and Expanded Version of the Author’s original Paper on the Comparative Framework on the GRP-MILF Peace Process and the Acehnese Conflict, presented during the Symposium and Film Showing on the Acehnese Conflict, held on April 10, 2007, Bulwagang Sala’am, Romulo Hall, Asian Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

23 Quoted in Buat and Alonto. Implications of Geopolitics on the Demography and Ancestral Territory of the Bangsamoro People, op. cit.

24 Quoted in ibid.

25 Quoted in ibid.

26 Quoted in Atty. Musib M. Buat, Bangsamoro Human Rights Situation under the Arroyo Regime and the GRP-MILF Peace Talks in Perspective: Impact and Implications on their Right to Self-Determination. A paper presented during the Muslim-Christian Forum on “The Bangsamoro Human Rights Situation and the continuing presence of U.S. Troops: Its implications to the peace question in Mindanao, sponsored by the Moro-Christian People’s Alliance, held on February 7, 2008 at the University Hotel, University of the Philippines campus, Diliman, Quezon City.

27 Quoted in ibid.

28 See full text of the policy statement in Salamat Hashim, The Bangsamoro People’s Struggle Against Oppression and Colonialism, op. cit., p.85.

29 Quoted in ibid., pp.84-85.

30 Holy Qur’an, Surah al-Hujurat, verse 13. (Teduray translation provided by brother Akas Parending)

31 Holy Qur’an, Surah al-Hujurat, verse 13.