Mideast OFWs: Don’t ruin Muslim brotherhood for power

Calling the Maguindanao massacre “barbaric," several overseas Filipino worker (OFW) groups in the Middle East reminded their fellow Muslim brothers to not let political ambitions destroy their unity. “Muslim brotherhood, faith and unity should not be destroyed by one’s thirst for power and political ambitions," Binang Jiliano, a Saudi-based Muslim welfare case officer of the Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangang (KGS), said in an email sent to GMANews.TV. Jiliano urged the Philippine government to provide swift action to bring justice to the victims. He also asked his brothers not be controlled by the present administration, whom he suspects, is dividing the Muslims in Mindanao by using them against each other and easily rule them. Migrante International chapters in the Middle East also condemned the massacre of 46 civilians, including women and 12 journalists, in Maguindanao on Nov. 23. John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator said their group along with KGS will hold interfaith prayers for the victims and their relatives on Friday. “It is really a sad moment for our fellow OFW-Muslim brothers and sisters that during Eid Al-adha this horrible crime had happened, worst as those involved were from two warring Muslims clans in Maguindanao," Monterona added. At least four survivors have tagged the powerful Ampatuan clan as the brains behind the atrocity in Maguindanao province. The survivors overheard Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. say he was acting on the orders of his father and older brother. Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Datu Ismail "Toto" Mangudadatu, whose family is the Ampatuans’ political rival, said the survivors claimed Ampatuan clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. and son Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Ampatuan ordered the massacre. “The Arroyo government must put an end to the prevailing culture of impunity which flourished under her regime as numerous cases of political killings and disappearances in the country have been recorded," Monterona said. There are more than two million Filipinos working and living in the Middle East. - GMANews.TV