All out war, again?

The deposed and ousted President Joseph “Erap” Estrada is again harping on same tune about his style to win the war in Mindanao. He tried it, yet he failed. True, he captured the camp at Muslim-dominated areas (Camp Abubakr, in particular) but it did not kill all the moro rebels to say the least. His pupulbusin (to pulverize) tactics could be this day a funny antics anchored only on hatred towards the Filipino-moro rebels. We cannot blame Erap for this. During his term, he got also the worst of the situation, pinching him inch by inch until he had to make a bold decision: all-out war in Mindanao!

His being commander-in-chief in the armed forces had carried with it the pride, that government should not knell before state enemies. As standard bearer then of Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) he took his oath of office under historic undertones, seemingly playing into his mind that being president, it carries simply a position of an anointed hero the Filipinos have long waited since it has to be held at the Barasoain Church, in Malolos Bulacan. He addressed subsequently before a huge crowd of supporters at Quirino Grandstand conveying his promise to bring “peace to the people and harmony to the society”.

His Erap para sa mahirap campaign slogan earned him pogi points. By all means, street folks and slum dwellers took him seriously. His pro-poor Justice, Economy, Environment, & Peace or JEEP in brevity is a pro-poor program tossed him to the remote areas for political advantage, until it got the worst on him being accused of corruption. Erap was then the modern-day robinhood, who was accused of stealing money for the poor. With that accusation, he was tossed outside Malacanang and it is the people’s representatives, through the impeachment court who spoke with finality. Erap got the best of “eraption” joke as we knew, it fell on him at the end. We thought the eraption joke is over. Here’s one for our new compilation. He said, we cannot trust MILF or MNLF, so he should already resort to all-out war.

Who are the victims in all out war? That is even very unfair to tag all out war in Mindanao. The whole island shares the agony. During the time of Erap, Germany and US repeatedly issued travel ban advisories to some parts in Mindanao. Again, the whole island posed to suffer by such pronouncement. That is how Mindanaoans are unfairly treated. The government a long time ago, should have known the bottom of this. When Erap during his regime launched offensives in that infamous taskforce comet, many civilians were driven out from their homes. When he declared war, it was like burning the house to kill the termites. The national government then, with the likes of common mentality from those who live in Manila could easily dispel statements like the word war. That is very insensitive of them.

For centuries, muslim Mindanao has not shared defeat when Spanish colonization was very imminent and in fact, it is where we can consider the roots of true Filipino identity. We, who understood this should allow our muslim brothers to take this issue with grace and let them lay their cards. It is not for us to pulverize them, absolutely disallowing to take the pride of the one who take the highest post. Remember,  we owe our muslim our identity. Islam means submission to the will and it means peace. We can still give peace a chance but we can only have it under a new set up of government. Let Erap seal his lips to this issue so that we cannot ignite more unfriendly fire. He should give great respect to the lives of the Special Actions Force (SAF) lost in this needless battle. Let people should be wise this time. We know, only Rodrigo Duterte of Davao has the ability to mend the broken hearts of our soldiers. Let him deliver his ways. Let all prepare the way.