The conflict on the island of Mindanao started in the early
1960s when a Muslim minority group, also known as the Moros, started an armed struggle for their ancestral homeland and a
campaign for self determination in the South. This was not the only uprising
in Mindanao, there has also been a long Maoist insurgency, violence linked to militant Islamist groups, clan wars, bloody
ethnic vendettas and banditry. These conflicts are not a
matter of religion that is the root of the violence in Mindanao. Muslims and Christians have always lived in peace and harmony.
For all of them it is a struggle of a people desiring the right to
be subjects of their own land. The present and ongoing armed conflict in Mindanao is the continuation of a long history of
struggles against all forms of subjugation, corruption and colonialism.
But the common people don't want this war, there are only relatively small groups on the island, who realise
that they cannot get sufficient popular support for their own cause so they will resort to methods of violence. The vast majority
of people living in Mindanao actively rejects the use of violence and armed struggle to protest their current situation. They
are peace loving and moderate, they know that their cultures have
more in common than than they have differences. Peace is the aspiration and common desire of most Mindanaoans, regardless
culture, religion or political persuasion, they believe that tolerance, dignity and mutual respect for their cultural and religious diversity and
each others unique differences are the universal powers that unite them
in similar
dreams of peace and plenty.
There is much poverty in Mindanao that can lead to political unrest and is increasingly a feeding ground
for violence, crime,
religious fundamentalism, racism and terrorism.
Despite the fact that the poverty and inequality for
many people living in Mindanao has many ugly effect and faces, they
are just some of the common dominators for many Mindanaons, it is also the key for a strong community
and the reason why the spirit of helping each other out in many ways
is strong and alive. This community has a hope for peace, stability, freedom and prosperity, they are praying and working
for peace in Mindanao, not a Mindanao in pieces.
