Zambo Christians told to fight Muslim ancestral domain deal

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Christian residents in Zamboanga are being agitated to protest the inclusion of several Muslim enclaves here in a proposed Islamic homeland in Mindanao. Local Catholic priests in their homily Sunday also urged residents to join a protest rally on Monday. In their homily, the priests said two villages largely populated by Christians would be included in the proposed Muslim homeland demanded by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila. Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also criticized Manila for including several Muslim villages here to be part of the MILF ancestral domain, including two villages where the century-old City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine are situated. Lobregat, who was invited Saturday night at a Lion's Club convention here, spoke lengthily about his opposition to the ancestral domain and the inclusion of Christian villages in the proposed Muslim homeland. He said residents had twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Muslim autonomous region. Government and rebel peace negotiators have reached a deal on the ancestral domain and would sign the agreement on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, which is brokering the seven-year old talks aimed at ending more than four decades of Muslim secessionist wars in Mindanao. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow referendum on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Esperon also denied Lobregat's claim and said only Sacol Island, about 18 nautical miles, is included in the ancestral domain. "Only Sacol is included in the ancestral domain and islanders would be given a chance whether to be part of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or not," he told GMANews.TV. He said: "Included in the proposed plebiscite are the villages in Sacol Island and none in mainland Zamboanga City. We should hear the voice of the people of Sacol, which is populated by Muslims. Any plebiscite will be pursuant only to an enabling law which will be enacted by Congress." Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for its water and electricity sources, despite the city's more than P2 billion savings in banks. US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been very active in providing Muslim villages in Zamboanga City with various infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes, among others. Cell phone text messages were also spreading about the inclusion of Zamboanga City in the Muslim ancestral domain. One text message urged citizens to resist the ancestral domain and to join Monday's protest rally. Many commercial stores here, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen and supporters of Lobregat, said they will all close at 11 a.m. on Monday to protest the inclusion of the villages to the ancestral domain. Even some journalists, who are supposed to stay neutral, have joined calls to resist the ancestral domain. Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities to the Bangsamoro homeland. However, most of these leaders are also the mayor's allies and supporters. But many Muslims here said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many Muslim residents in Zamboanga City said they are discriminated by Christians. Others claimed many department stores owned by influential Chinese businessmen here do not hire Muslims, but Christians. Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favored the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain is the single most important and, arguably, the thorniest issue before government and rebel peace negotiators can reach a political settlement. Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo. Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain included the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which is comprise of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao, and Maguindanao provinces and Marawi City, and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes; and Palawan Island near Mindanao. The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity will also have sufficient control over economic resources and a structure of governance in all its territories that will allow Muslims to govern themselves in ways that are consonant with their culture and with minimal interference from Manila. Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan City in Lanao province, said he would also hold a protest rally on Monday. Deputy Governor Emmanuel Piñol, of North Cotabato, said he will oppose any attempt to include his province to the Muslim homeland. Piñol has asked the Supreme Court to stop the government and rebel peace negotiators from signing the agreement on the ancestral domain. Lobregat and Cruz said they would also petition the High Court to stop the signing. The MILF on Sunday appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation and not hatred and mistrust. The rebel group previously said it would not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo administration unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral domain deal. Mrs Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord. Peace negotiators last month also signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society. - Al Jacinto