To be in power is destiny, what we do with it is a personal choice. You can choose to follow your personal desire once in power or yield to higher altruism or realize His Plan for you to be a great leader that your people will remember well.
Showing posts with label Moro Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moro Politics. Show all posts
Power and choice
We can plan our future, yes we should. But we should also entertain the possibility of a higher plan reigning over us. We just have to trust in His Power and Grace ...
To be in power is destiny, what we do with it is a personal choice. You can choose to follow your personal desire once in power or yield to higher altruism or realize His Plan for you to be a great leader that your people will remember well.
To be in power is destiny, what we do with it is a personal choice. You can choose to follow your personal desire once in power or yield to higher altruism or realize His Plan for you to be a great leader that your people will remember well.
Culture, common sense and criticality
We love our culture. We are proud to show it. We are so proud about it that it becomes our immediate recess when something new and different is introduced. We cling to it like dear life itself.
"Kasi ganyan na yan", "kasi ganito na talaga sa amin", "eto na ang aming kinagisnan", we become vulnerable to blind adherence.
Don'lt get me wrong, there are a lot of good things in our culture. Yes we should continue them. But for the things that's inconsistent with 21st century enlightenment, we should be critical about them. Do they have a place in our contemporary society?
Shall we continue "rido", thereby threatening the very safety of our own family and public order? Shall we continue to reason for those putting the law into their own hands for vendetta to satisfy their angst but diminishing our rule of law and public safety?
Shall we continue patronizing leaders based on familial and tribal affiliation with total disregard for competence and merit and what they can do for common good?
"Kasi ganyan na yan", "kasi ganito na talaga sa amin", "eto na ang aming kinagisnan", we become vulnerable to blind adherence.
Don'lt get me wrong, there are a lot of good things in our culture. Yes we should continue them. But for the things that's inconsistent with 21st century enlightenment, we should be critical about them. Do they have a place in our contemporary society?
Shall we continue "rido", thereby threatening the very safety of our own family and public order? Shall we continue to reason for those putting the law into their own hands for vendetta to satisfy their angst but diminishing our rule of law and public safety?
Shall we continue patronizing leaders based on familial and tribal affiliation with total disregard for competence and merit and what they can do for common good?
Shall we continue the social divide between blue-blooded and commoners that the latter will have to kowtow to the former all the time?
Shall we continue thinking of public coffer as a familial piggy bank and the institution of public service like a family enterprise?
Shall we continue rationalizing that bureaucrats stealing public funds are engaged in jihad, arguing that while rebels are fighting outside, these bureaucrats are fighting within by weakening government's public service deliveries?
Shall we continue to misuse religion for violence?
Shall we continue victimizing our sisters and daughters to polygamy and pawning them for political ends?
Without critical thought about them, we are doomed.
Shall we continue thinking of public coffer as a familial piggy bank and the institution of public service like a family enterprise?
Shall we continue rationalizing that bureaucrats stealing public funds are engaged in jihad, arguing that while rebels are fighting outside, these bureaucrats are fighting within by weakening government's public service deliveries?
Shall we continue to misuse religion for violence?
Shall we continue victimizing our sisters and daughters to polygamy and pawning them for political ends?
Without critical thought about them, we are doomed.
Kakistocrats in our midst
Terminology to remind us all - "KAKISTOCRACY"
1. "Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens." (The Free Dictionary.com)
2. "Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens." (Wiktionary)
3. "Government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power." (Dictionary.Reference.com)
4. "Government by the worst men." (Merriam-Webster)
and finally,
5. Pronunciation and meaning can be easily associated with a "shitty government", so to speak. American government under the Bush administration portrays a perfect example of a kakistocracy in all its ignorant, trigger happy, private-interest-driven glory. (Urban Dictionary)
1. "Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens." (The Free Dictionary.com)
2. "Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens." (Wiktionary)
3. "Government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power." (Dictionary.Reference.com)
4. "Government by the worst men." (Merriam-Webster)
and finally,
5. Pronunciation and meaning can be easily associated with a "shitty government", so to speak. American government under the Bush administration portrays a perfect example of a kakistocracy in all its ignorant, trigger happy, private-interest-driven glory. (Urban Dictionary)
The middle way
"We have made you a median global community; in order that you may serve as a testimony/example to humanity [Qur'an 2:149]"[1]
"Wasat is the Arabic word for middle, centered, balanced. In Islamic context, it refers to the "middle way", a justly balanced way of life, avoiding extremes and experiencing things in moderation."[2]
"Linguistically, the word "Wasat" means the just, the best (in goodness), the top choice, the finest, the best (in quality), and the most honorable. It was stated in Lisaan Al-Arab: "The most 'Wasat' of a thing is the best of it, the finest of it and the most just of it". Ibn Katheer said: "The 'Wasat' is the top choice and the best quality", as it was said: "Quraysh is the most 'Wasat' of the Arabs in lineage and in quality of living", i.e. the best. And it is said: "Muhammed, the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu 'alayhi wasallam, was the 'Wasat' amongst his people", i.e. the most honorable amongst them in lineage." [3]
"The 'awsat' is the centre most part of anything, the median between extremes. The wise expression documented in the hadith collection of Bayhaqi, we find the best being linked to the centrist rather than the extreme ... The best of affairs are the (awsatuha) middle ones." [4]
"'Wasat' is also synonymous with good merit, virtue, goodness, justice, and balance. "The awsatuhum/ most balanced among them said "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?' " [Qur'an 68:28]" [4]
"Wasat is the Arabic word for middle, centered, balanced. In Islamic context, it refers to the "middle way", a justly balanced way of life, avoiding extremes and experiencing things in moderation."[2]
"Linguistically, the word "Wasat" means the just, the best (in goodness), the top choice, the finest, the best (in quality), and the most honorable. It was stated in Lisaan Al-Arab: "The most 'Wasat' of a thing is the best of it, the finest of it and the most just of it". Ibn Katheer said: "The 'Wasat' is the top choice and the best quality", as it was said: "Quraysh is the most 'Wasat' of the Arabs in lineage and in quality of living", i.e. the best. And it is said: "Muhammed, the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu 'alayhi wasallam, was the 'Wasat' amongst his people", i.e. the most honorable amongst them in lineage." [3]
"The 'awsat' is the centre most part of anything, the median between extremes. The wise expression documented in the hadith collection of Bayhaqi, we find the best being linked to the centrist rather than the extreme ... The best of affairs are the (awsatuha) middle ones." [4]
"'Wasat' is also synonymous with good merit, virtue, goodness, justice, and balance. "The awsatuhum/ most balanced among them said "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?' " [Qur'an 68:28]" [4]
According to Imam Ahmed Saad, "Al-Wasatiyyah" is the Lost Middle Path. "The absence of the concept of Wasatiyyah from the Muslim mind and life has led to Muslims entering an intellectual and practical Diasporas. The absence of this concept gave space to extremism in understanding the truth and contributed to the appearance of many extreme political, intellectual and religious groups that curse one another and brand their opponents unbelievers and claim that they are the only true Muslims." [5]
Further, Imam Ahmed said, "The terminology itself refers to a praised state in which man is kept from falling into extremism. This term of wasatiyyah is as old as history itself and that is why we can find many of its synonyms like moderation, balance, justice and fairness. Therefore, we can say that wasatiyyah is simply: leading a life of balance, leading a life of moderation and leading a life very close to fitrah (primordial innate nature)." [5]
According to Ustadz Maulana Ulbarshah, Lecturer for the Department of Islamic Revealed Knowledge, Human Sciences,International Islamic University Malaysia, "Moderation is an Islamic principle for social life; this wasatiyyah is an antidote to ... ghuluww (excessiveness), tanattu' (harshness), tashaddud (severity), tatarruf (extremism) ... in all its forms. Wasatiyyah should not, however, be misconstrued as compromise on principles or undermining of universal ethics; for what practical, social and ethical value can person of faith have in the absence of principles."[6]
Dr Mohammad Kamal Hassan of IIU Malaysia in his draft paper on the subject listed about eight (8) implications to Al-Wasatiyyah in Muslim society which often caught between immodation and negligence. [7]
The advice of Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim is: "Always encourage people to take a moderate stand, because it will rescue you from transgression. So we find the middle position between two extremes to be the most balanced and just, where a person will find all the benefits and comforts of this worldly life and the Hereafter. Furthermore, even the human body cannot live normally without the benefits of moderation. If a person is moderate when sleeping, waking, eating, drinking, exercising, in staying away or mixing with others, then the body will function properly. However, if a person goes to an extreme in one of these aspects, then the body will not function properly and the person will not live a normal life." [8]
Source:
[1] http://www.islamicity.com/articles/articles.asp?ref=IC1007-4239&p=1#sthash.XGJoaXFo.dpuf
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasat_(Islamic_term)
[3] http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?70255-Ummah-Wasat-So-That-The-Meaning-Is-Not-Lost-In-Translation
[4] http://www.islamicity.com/articles/articles.asp?ref=IC1007-4239&p=1#sthash.XGJoaXFo.dpuf
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasat_(Islamic_term)
[3] http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?70255-Ummah-Wasat-So-That-The-Meaning-Is-Not-Lost-In-Translation
[4] http://www.islamicity.com/articles/articles.asp?ref=IC1007-4239&p=1#sthash.XGJoaXFo.dpuf
Islamic state
We will never attain an Islamic State,
Unless we have an Islamic Society.
We will never attain an Islamic Society,
Unless we have Islamic communities.
We will never have an Islamic community,
Unless we have Islamic neighborhoods.
We will never have an Islamic neighborhood,
Unless we have Islamic households.
We will never have an Islamic household,
Unless we have Islamic selves.
We will never have an Islamic self,
Unless we have an Islamic state of mind and heart.
We will never have an Islamic state of mind and heart,
Unless we have deeply appreciated and lived
The teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah!
Unless we have an Islamic Society.
We will never attain an Islamic Society,
Unless we have Islamic communities.
We will never have an Islamic community,
Unless we have Islamic neighborhoods.
We will never have an Islamic neighborhood,
Unless we have Islamic households.
We will never have an Islamic household,
Unless we have Islamic selves.
We will never have an Islamic self,
Unless we have an Islamic state of mind and heart.
We will never have an Islamic state of mind and heart,
Unless we have deeply appreciated and lived
The teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah!
Free Bangsamoro
A phrase common these days but especially louder whenever there is a ebb in the on-going peace process. "Free Bangsamoro" is a catch-phrase for "right to self-determination" or some form of asymmetrical relationship between the Bangsamoro and the Philippine Government. A substate (though non-existent in the legal dictionary), or anything less than a state but more than autonomy. In short, this catch-phrase is largely a political determination.
Within the political sphere, it is not just a matter of us ruling over our own kind and own homeland, Free Bangsamoro has also to do with movement - from the politics driven by gold, guns and goons towards what type of governance and citizenry?
We need to challenge the exclusive political definition of "Free Bangsamoro", make it more inclusive and holistic. This expansion is in line with a belief that there is more to Bangsamoro than just politics. So we ask a basic question - Freedom from what?
Within the political sphere, it is not just a matter of us ruling over our own kind and own homeland, Free Bangsamoro has also to do with movement - from the politics driven by gold, guns and goons towards what type of governance and citizenry?
We need to challenge the exclusive political definition of "Free Bangsamoro", make it more inclusive and holistic. This expansion is in line with a belief that there is more to Bangsamoro than just politics. So we ask a basic question - Freedom from what?
- How about freedom from Nafs (wants)?
- How about freedom from ethnocentrism and tribalism?
- How about freedom from the culture of rido, impunity, vendetta and vigilante?
- How about freedom from the absence of the Rule of Law?
- How about freedom from social exclusion and minoritization?
- How about freedom from environmental degradation that is now happening at an alarming pace and becoming more frequent and widespread?
- How about freedom from illegal drugs trade and freedom of our youth from this menace?
- How about freedom from preventable and curable diseases and sexually-transmitted diseases, the latter being transmitted by promiscuous husbands to their unsuspecting wives?
- How about freedom from bullies in schools, communities and work places?
- How about freedom from historical and cultural revision and sanitation?
- How about freedom from extremes?
Additionally, we need to ....
- Free and protect women from gender and cultural stereotyping.
- Free and protect our children from an education bureaucracy hijacked by graft and corrupt practices, inefficiency and deadwoods.
- Free and protect our mothers and daughters from preventable health dangers, trafficking and white slavery.
- Free and protect social, cultural and religious minorities.
- Free and protect our elderly and disabled from neglect.
These are some of what it truly means by "Free Bangsamoro". Political freedom is just the beginning, not the solution, a process not the end-game. Let us wake up and face the truth squarely.
On eagles and crocodiles
We often use animals as euphemism. We use "eagle" as figure of speech for someone with "larger perspective" about things, thus "eagle's view" came about. We use "crocodile" or the colloquial "buwaya" for graftors and corrupt especially in government service, thus we refer to "crocodile tear" as pretension with the intent to hide and continue fraud practices.
We use "soaring high like eagles" to mean the determination to move forward and to journey into the future; and "wallowing with crocodiles" to be in cahoots, to participate in graft and corrupt practices in return for grease monies. The protagonists (i.e. eagles) and antagonists (i.e. crocodiles) in the current "PDAF" mess illustrate this issue both ways.
We all want more eagles than crocodiles in government service. The CoA annual and special reports, partly, and the citizens' perception about government agencies (reflected in Transparency International, media and social weather reports) tell us that we have more of the latter.
The funny thing of being eagle and crocodile is it is a matter of personal perception too. As long as we continue to rationalize our acts, we will have crocodiles thinking and behaving like eagles! No matter how hard crocodiles rationalize or hide their nature, they will never soar high like eagles.
We use "soaring high like eagles" to mean the determination to move forward and to journey into the future; and "wallowing with crocodiles" to be in cahoots, to participate in graft and corrupt practices in return for grease monies. The protagonists (i.e. eagles) and antagonists (i.e. crocodiles) in the current "PDAF" mess illustrate this issue both ways.
We all want more eagles than crocodiles in government service. The CoA annual and special reports, partly, and the citizens' perception about government agencies (reflected in Transparency International, media and social weather reports) tell us that we have more of the latter.
The funny thing of being eagle and crocodile is it is a matter of personal perception too. As long as we continue to rationalize our acts, we will have crocodiles thinking and behaving like eagles! No matter how hard crocodiles rationalize or hide their nature, they will never soar high like eagles.
Lighter downunder
Lighter ...
In a dark room, don't curse; instead light a candle. The tangibility of scarcity and abundance begins with a mindset of things we hold close to heart. We can go on through life running away from scarcity and running after abundance or take stock of what we already have and determine their values in our lives. True test of scarcity and abundance is not about what each one of us wants to have, it is what we need to live life fully. Because every thing begins in the mind, it is in the mind that we light our candle.
Downunder ...
We look up and saw ourselves wanting. We see people in power and affluence, thinking we should also be like them. most think this way, turning everyday living into a struggle for power and affluence at any and all cost. When we are finally up there, we realized happiness is fleeting because we have built it on the lives and suffering of other people. People suffers for our selfish, familial and clan happiness.
Better not to look up. Let's look down and realize we are better off than the rest. We also realized that we are in the position to change ourselves and to effect change on others, at the very least, in our own sphere of influence.
In a dark room, don't curse; instead light a candle. The tangibility of scarcity and abundance begins with a mindset of things we hold close to heart. We can go on through life running away from scarcity and running after abundance or take stock of what we already have and determine their values in our lives. True test of scarcity and abundance is not about what each one of us wants to have, it is what we need to live life fully. Because every thing begins in the mind, it is in the mind that we light our candle.
Downunder ...
We look up and saw ourselves wanting. We see people in power and affluence, thinking we should also be like them. most think this way, turning everyday living into a struggle for power and affluence at any and all cost. When we are finally up there, we realized happiness is fleeting because we have built it on the lives and suffering of other people. People suffers for our selfish, familial and clan happiness.
Better not to look up. Let's look down and realize we are better off than the rest. We also realized that we are in the position to change ourselves and to effect change on others, at the very least, in our own sphere of influence.
Thought and action
Rewording Henry Bergson's - Think like a person of action, act like a person of thought.
Everyone can think of many great ideas. Great ideas that could and would change the course of history, the future of civilization. But for the few that walked their thoughts, we remember their deeds - how they change our views about the world, how they made life easy with their inventions and how they provide hope for the future.
A person of thought enjoys in simultaneous sights - hindsight of the past, insight of the present and foresight of the future.
Everyone can think of many great ideas. Great ideas that could and would change the course of history, the future of civilization. But for the few that walked their thoughts, we remember their deeds - how they change our views about the world, how they made life easy with their inventions and how they provide hope for the future.
A person of thought enjoys in simultaneous sights - hindsight of the past, insight of the present and foresight of the future.
On Waqt (Time)
Each one is given time to make a difference.
Some longer, some shorter;
Either way, our time is fixed,
Not a minute longer,
Not a minute shorter.
Let us use it
To make a difference
In the lives of our fellows.
It is not how long or how short our time is,
It is what and how we make use of it.
Action and obstruction
Words do not make the change we need, action will. And if someone volunteers to act on it, give way, do not be the obstacle. History do not judge well the "stumbling block" or the "obstructionist".
Privilege scream
In front of high-ranking officials, a legislator used his privilege as committee member to scream about a low-ranking personnel. Why scream over a low-ranking personnel when you are in front of all senior ranking officials? Why look for him when he is not in the committee agenda?
Why and for what? Because he did not got what he wants and that someone has the ball to stood up to the Rule of Law and Orderly Process over his immoral use of power? Besides, is this how you treat a guest to your house?
If this is the kind of legislators we have in our midst, incapable of being rule abiding and selfless for greater good, what is in store for us?
Why and for what? Because he did not got what he wants and that someone has the ball to stood up to the Rule of Law and Orderly Process over his immoral use of power? Besides, is this how you treat a guest to your house?
If this is the kind of legislators we have in our midst, incapable of being rule abiding and selfless for greater good, what is in store for us?
Representation
We represent our community whether we concur or not.
Be good. Be civil. Be positive. Let us watch our words. Let us watch our actions.
Others may have a false impression about our community because of us.
Be good. Be civil. Be positive. Let us watch our words. Let us watch our actions.
Others may have a false impression about our community because of us.
Culture, common sense and criticality
We love our culture. We are proud to show them. We are so proud about it that it become our immediate recess when something new and different is introduced. We cling to it like dear life itself.
"Kasi ganyan na yan", "kasi ganito na talaga sa amin", "eto na ang aming kinagisnan", we become vulnerable to blind adherence.
There are a lot of good things in our culture. Yes we should continue them. But for the things that's inconsistent with 21st century enlightenment, we should be critical about them. Do they have a place in our contemporary society?
Shall we want to continue "rido", thereby threatening the very safety of our own family and public order?
Shall we continue to reason for those putting the law into their own hands for vendetta to satisfy their angst but diminishing our rule of law and public safety?
Shall we continue patronizing leaders based on familial and tribal affiliation with total disregard for competence and merit and what they can do for common good?
Shall we continue the social divide between blue-blooded and commoners that the latter will have to kowtow to the former all the time?
Shall we continue thinking of public coffer as a familial piggy bank and the institution of public service like a family enterprise?
Shall we continue rationalizing that bureaucrats stealing public funds are engaged in jihad, arguing that while rebels are fighting outside, these bureaucrats are fighting within by weakening government's public service deliveries?
Shall we continue to misuse religion for violence?
Shall we continue victimizing our sisters and daughters to polygamy and pawning them for political ends?
Without critical thought about them, we are doomed.
"Kasi ganyan na yan", "kasi ganito na talaga sa amin", "eto na ang aming kinagisnan", we become vulnerable to blind adherence.
There are a lot of good things in our culture. Yes we should continue them. But for the things that's inconsistent with 21st century enlightenment, we should be critical about them. Do they have a place in our contemporary society?
Shall we want to continue "rido", thereby threatening the very safety of our own family and public order?
Shall we continue to reason for those putting the law into their own hands for vendetta to satisfy their angst but diminishing our rule of law and public safety?
Shall we continue patronizing leaders based on familial and tribal affiliation with total disregard for competence and merit and what they can do for common good?
Shall we continue the social divide between blue-blooded and commoners that the latter will have to kowtow to the former all the time?
Shall we continue thinking of public coffer as a familial piggy bank and the institution of public service like a family enterprise?
Shall we continue rationalizing that bureaucrats stealing public funds are engaged in jihad, arguing that while rebels are fighting outside, these bureaucrats are fighting within by weakening government's public service deliveries?
Shall we continue to misuse religion for violence?
Shall we continue victimizing our sisters and daughters to polygamy and pawning them for political ends?
Without critical thought about them, we are doomed.
Seeing whole
Note: I wrote this article in the context of the "Sabah siege", now it appears relevant to what is going on in "Zambo siege" and what we are and are not doing to ourselves in view of this crisis.
_______________
We blame others for what we have become. We rant on what they did and didn't to make out lives better. We think we are in dire situation because of what they withheld from us. We become miserable because of what they did not allow us to become. Given this is true. Before these rants became "them" we ask, "where was we?", "what have we done to ourselves to make things better?", "Isn't it not our primordial responsibility to better ourselves?", etc._______________
The reality is our lives is now tangled together. The world we live in has become a global village. What happen to us will also hurt them and vice versa. "Them" is half of the coin, half of the truth. "We" are half of the coin, half of the truth. So long as we continue the divide in our mind and use it to continue the division, we will always be divided, hurting each other. The pain will proceed, the hurt will continue until all the blood there is has been spilled and watered the earth.
The pain need not proceed or the hurt to continue. We can start moving forward, together healing each other and making a promise that should we be in a situation of disagreement we prefer to sit around the table of peace to reconcile and resolve, rather than let our angst and pride dictate our action and unleash our fury, and turning our communities into battlefields.
This is the promise of seeing and keeping things whole. By seeing and keeping things whole, we taper our rights with responsibility. we recognize not only our own but also the right of others to live side by side with us. Let us reciprocate good deeds and let us not make violence and vendetta the inheritance of our next generations.
We live our lives fundamentally by our own doing. We are personally responsible. This is the obligation that came with our inherent nature and freewill. Those without are not held liable for any. Those with freewill are accountable for their action. We can not fully enjoy our rights if we do not appreciate well our responsibility. It is not a choice between the two, it is both and both are congruent with each other.
We make each other complete. We make each other whole.
___________________
Former Basilan congressman Gerry Ajul Salapuddin has this to say, "Whatever we planted is what we reap. Whatever befell us is a result of our action. We are responsible for our our fortune or misfortune. And only Allah can get us out of our own mess. All it takes is our strong faith, prayer, zikr and our supplication to Him. Allah is the Most Merciful and Most Forgiving God. While man has limitation on what he can give, Allah has limitless power and bounties."
Former ARMM ORG official Ross Alonto adds, "What went wrong" and "what must be done" are inseparable if we want to move forward and live a better life than we have today. It's "seeing whole" and properly responding to the needs of time. The ball is in our hands.
Here lies ARMM
Those who subscribe to the Bangsamoro roadmap see the demise of ARMM sometime in 2016. If we are to write an epitaph for the 23 years or so of ARMM, how will it be?
Here lies ARMM
Twenty-three years old or so.
Desired the best,
Tried but wanting.
Reformed too late,
Hard lessons learned.
But for her offspring
Hope flickers eternally.
Here lies ARMM
Twenty-three years old or so.
Desired the best,
Tried but wanting.
Reformed too late,
Hard lessons learned.
But for her offspring
Hope flickers eternally.
What is 'Moro'?
'Moro' is a political construct, an identity imposed, shunned and eventually apportioned to ourselves with pride to define our collective resistance to colonialism. It is a powerful construct driving the so-called second longest running conflict in the world!
It is a cultural-religious fiber that unites about 13 ethno-linguistic groups in the Southern Philippines influenced by Islam. Without this unity, these ethno-linguistic groups would have been colonized like most of the Luzon and Visayan cultural groups who succumbed to the influence of Spanish hegemony; or like the indigenous groups who withdrew to the hinterlands and disadvantaged.
Moro is superficial and deep simultaneously. Its superficiality is characterized by how Moros among themselves easily succumb to ethnic comfort. Its depth is defined by how they bond together despite of this superficiality in the face of external threat.
It is a contentious word - those against its use point to its colonial beginning and the stereotypes associated with it. Those for it, point to the sacrifice and the massacres to uphold freedom from oppression.
It is dynamic and evolving ... and continues to this day.
It is a cultural-religious fiber that unites about 13 ethno-linguistic groups in the Southern Philippines influenced by Islam. Without this unity, these ethno-linguistic groups would have been colonized like most of the Luzon and Visayan cultural groups who succumbed to the influence of Spanish hegemony; or like the indigenous groups who withdrew to the hinterlands and disadvantaged.
Moro is superficial and deep simultaneously. Its superficiality is characterized by how Moros among themselves easily succumb to ethnic comfort. Its depth is defined by how they bond together despite of this superficiality in the face of external threat.
It is a contentious word - those against its use point to its colonial beginning and the stereotypes associated with it. Those for it, point to the sacrifice and the massacres to uphold freedom from oppression.
It is dynamic and evolving ... and continues to this day.
What is 'Moro'?
'Moro' is a political construct, an identity imposed, shunned and eventually apportioned to ourselves with pride to define our collective resistance to colonialism. It is a powerful construct driving the so-called second longest running conflict in the world!
It is a cultural-religious fiber that unites about 13 ethno-linguistic groups in the Southern Philippines influenced by Islam. Without this unity, these ethno-linguistic groups would have been colonized like most of the Luzon and Visayan cultural groups who succumbed to the influence of Spanish hegemony; or like the indigenous groups who withdrew to the hinterlands and disadvantaged.
Moro is superficial and deep simultaneously. Its superficiality is characterized by how Moros among themselves easily succumb to ethnic comfort. Its depth is defined by how they bond together despite of this superficiality in the face of external threat.
It is a contentious word - those against its use point to its colonial beginning and the stereotypes associated with it. Those for it, point to the sacrifice and the massacres to uphold freedom from oppression.
It is dynamic and evolving ... and continues to this day.
It is a cultural-religious fiber that unites about 13 ethno-linguistic groups in the Southern Philippines influenced by Islam. Without this unity, these ethno-linguistic groups would have been colonized like most of the Luzon and Visayan cultural groups who succumbed to the influence of Spanish hegemony; or like the indigenous groups who withdrew to the hinterlands and disadvantaged.
Moro is superficial and deep simultaneously. Its superficiality is characterized by how Moros among themselves easily succumb to ethnic comfort. Its depth is defined by how they bond together despite of this superficiality in the face of external threat.
It is a contentious word - those against its use point to its colonial beginning and the stereotypes associated with it. Those for it, point to the sacrifice and the massacres to uphold freedom from oppression.
It is dynamic and evolving ... and continues to this day.
My Bangsamoro 'State'
In the beginning ... T'was an identity of who I am not, imposed by a colonizer envious of my independence, prestige and honor. I was his shadow, forsaken; an enemy thought vanquished, an Iberian nemesis reborn reminiscent of the African Moors. Through the sword and the cross, through words and the pulpit, through every scheme imaginable, I was always the antagonist. Over ages this name remains, reminder of our forebears' sacrifice - Life forsaken, blood spilled, in combat or alone.
As the tide turns against colonialism, so added new meaning, new identity, an empowerment to a long neglected but proud race. Moro - one who fights for his right and land! 13 identities fused by one faith!
These days, a twist is at hand. Bangsamoro, not anymore an identity, not anymore an cultural grouping. The name has evolved from being a pariah into the mainstream consciousness, a political and legal jargon emerging out of the peace process. A apt recognition for an unconquered portion of this republic! There was much brouhaha when ARMM was born and to end as a failed experiment. 22 years of existence gone wrong? What is then our guarantee of this evolving political entity? Will it be just physical changing of the guards or a 'hijrah' from 'jahiliyah' to righteousness? I pray, because as a Moro this is what I do. But I am also reminded by my faith that change will not come unless we change what is in our heart.
In the end, I believe, Bangsamoro is a consciousness, a frame of mind. My body is my Bangsamoro. My family, my home is my Bangsamoro. My neighborhood is my Bangsamoro. What my mind thinks, my heart feels, my hands act on, they all reflect my Moro state. In this intangible world, my Bangsamoro will live forever, uncontrolled, undefined, free from the limitation of legal and political constructs, free from the ethnic and cultural stereotypes and prejudices. In this conscious realm, I can be creative, critical and reflective to my heart's content. In this state, I keep my hindsight about the past unobstructed, my present unhindered and my future infinite. Here lies the true esssence of my Bangsamoro state!
As the tide turns against colonialism, so added new meaning, new identity, an empowerment to a long neglected but proud race. Moro - one who fights for his right and land! 13 identities fused by one faith!
These days, a twist is at hand. Bangsamoro, not anymore an identity, not anymore an cultural grouping. The name has evolved from being a pariah into the mainstream consciousness, a political and legal jargon emerging out of the peace process. A apt recognition for an unconquered portion of this republic! There was much brouhaha when ARMM was born and to end as a failed experiment. 22 years of existence gone wrong? What is then our guarantee of this evolving political entity? Will it be just physical changing of the guards or a 'hijrah' from 'jahiliyah' to righteousness? I pray, because as a Moro this is what I do. But I am also reminded by my faith that change will not come unless we change what is in our heart.
In the end, I believe, Bangsamoro is a consciousness, a frame of mind. My body is my Bangsamoro. My family, my home is my Bangsamoro. My neighborhood is my Bangsamoro. What my mind thinks, my heart feels, my hands act on, they all reflect my Moro state. In this intangible world, my Bangsamoro will live forever, uncontrolled, undefined, free from the limitation of legal and political constructs, free from the ethnic and cultural stereotypes and prejudices. In this conscious realm, I can be creative, critical and reflective to my heart's content. In this state, I keep my hindsight about the past unobstructed, my present unhindered and my future infinite. Here lies the true esssence of my Bangsamoro state!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)