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The Zamboanga Crisis: Effects and Responses

What impact does it have?

What are the effects?

What should we do?

All shal l be answered here.

ByKousukeAbe

JustinCanonizado

JuanDizon

and

JosiahUy

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Overview of the ZamboangaCrisis

Theevents that started thebuild‐up thatwould lead to the Zamboanga Crisisstarted last August 4, 2011. At this time,PresidentNoynoyAquinostartedholdingsecretpeacetalkswiththeMILFchairmanEbrahiminJapan.Eventually,thesepeacetalksleadtoadealwiththeMILFwhereinthe government would make a newautonomouspoliticalregioninMindanao,inexchangeforpeacewiththeMILF.Thedeal was announced to the public onOctober7,2012.

In the followingyear2013, in themonthofAugust, thegovernmentandtheMNLFcoordinate toworkout thedetails of thekeyparts of the finalpeace treaty.Whilethis is happening, MNLF chairman NurMisuari states that the deal between thegovernment and the MILF violates thedealthegovernmentmadewiththeMNLFin 1996. He then declares independenceofthesouthernpartsofthecountryunderthe Bangsamoro Republik. He also askshisfollowerstotakecontrolofimportantcities and towns of the parts of thecountry he stated to be part of theBangsamoro Republik. Please note thatthe Bangsamoro Republik is anunrecognizedbreakawayterritory.

A month after this, the Armed Forces ofthe Philippines notices and starts tomonitor MNLF members that enterZamboanga City, despite them beingweaponless. Eventually, three days later,on September 9, the military encounterand engage the MNLF in Barangay RioHondo.Citizensstarttofleeandevacuateto safer areas, while the city mayorsuspendsworkandclasses in thecity. Inthefollowingdays,therebelsstarttousehostages as human shields andreinforcementsfortheMNLFarriveinthecity. The fighting continues for severaldays, and eventually Vice‐PresidentJejomarBinaytodiscussatrucebetweenthe government and the MNLF. This isunsuccessful, however, and the fightingcontinues with the Military Air Forcelaunching an offensive on the MNLFtroops in Zamboanga City. While on theother hand, fighting also erupts inLamitan City, Basilan, caused by MNLFrebelswhowerejoinedbytheAbuSayyafand Bangsamoro Islamic FreedomFighters. Eventually, the siege onZamboanga City and Lamitan City havebeen thwarted and declared to haveended on September 28, 2013. Thegovernment then begins clearingoperationsthedayafter.

The amount of casualties during theZamboangacrisisaddsuptoaboutatotalof 232, with 12 civilians and 103 rebelsfound dead. Over 100,000 people havebeendisplacedas a result of the conflict,andmore than 10,000 houses have beenburntdownordestroyed.

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The Zamboanga crisis has caused uprisings in places in Basilan such as Lamintan City, which shook the political stability of those places in Mindanao, if not the Mindanao as a whole.

The public is doubting the national government; there have been speculations as to why President Noynoy responded to the crisis by military force instead of offering peace, and the actions of other politicans.

Despite the government

assuring the public that the economy of the region would not be affected, the damages inflicted by the Zamboanga crisis has cost the economy of the Zamboanga regions a total of 6.62-billion pesos.

This includes the damages inflicted on several of the livelihoods, the one most affected being agriculture, forestry, and fishing.

Economy

The Effects of the Zamboanga Crisis on Politics and Economy

Politics

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Due to the Zamboanga Crisis, a number of Muslims, both teenagers and adults have been detained in a jail for being suspected as a potential MNLF member, violating international humanitarian law.

As of October 5, 2013, around 117,000 people remain displaced as a result of the Zamboanga Crisis, and there have been reports of abuse inflicted on women and children in evacuation centers.

Due to the events of the Zamboanga crisis, several festivals held annually in the city have been toned down and buffed up with security. An example of this is the Feast of the Lady of Pilar otherwise known as the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival, which was held last October 12, 2013.

Picturetotheright:TheZamboangaCityHalldecoratedfortheZamboangaHermosaFestival.TakenfromtheFacebookpageofMayorBengClimaco.

The effects of the Zamboanga Crisis on Society and Culture

Society

Culture

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Source:http://www.thestar.com/my/News/Nation/2013/09/12/MNLF‐Basilan‐Attack.aspx

Senior Superintendent Mario Dapilloza was quoted from the Philippine Media that Barangay Campo Uno was attacked at 8:50 am in Limintan City, Basilan Island, and Dapilloza said to pursuit operations against the rebels attacking the city.

City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay mentioned that after, in the predominantly Christian city, 5 people were reported missing.

The problem here is that when the rebels attacked the city, there would be chaos and the people would panic and start to get separated from their families.

In order to solve this is to cooperate with each other because it's lacking it, and instead of having war, why not just cooperate and just figure out how to organize the religions. Religions are not there to make your better but Religions help your life to be better.

The site is designed to make the reader read on of the reports from other reports which can be found at the side if the reader wants to read other reports.

The readers had more information on what’s happening in some places in Zamboanga, and so that they have more updates on how Zamboanga is living on that day.

- Justin Canonizado

Some things we can do about the situation as Filipinos and as students is that we can give donations in cash or canned goods and join relief operations since we cannot go to Zamboanga because it is unsafe. We can also offer our prayers for the evacuees and especially the hostages that they will be safe from harm and be supplied with food for the duration of the crisis.

The Government can also help the situation by formulating peace talks with the MNLF or try and talk things over and also lead in relief operations for the evacuees and especially the victims

- Juan Dizon

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FromAllPerspectivesByJosiahUy

NumerouspeoplehavebeenpinningtheblameontheMNLF,saying that they were the ones who started the fight byoversteppingtheirboundariesandgoingintoZamboangaCitywith weapons. However, there are also others who state itwasthegovernment’sfaultastheydidnotgiveprecedencetothefirstagreement,theTripoliAgreement,butinsteadtothesecond agreement (the Framework Agreement ofBangsamoro), and that it was the military who started thefight by shooting at the MNLF members, who entered withpeacefulintentions.

WiththenumerouspossiblecausesfortheZamboangaCrisis,it’sdifficulttofindthereasonbehindallofthis.However,thereason is actually quite simple. It’s all because thegovernment and the MNLF refuse to see eye‐to‐eye, andcontinuetoworkfortheirownagendas.

ThiscanbeseeninhowtheMNLFstatedthattheZamboangacrisiscouldhavebeenavoidedhadtheAquinoadministrationexercised “even elementary courtesy respecting theSeptember 2, 1996 MNLF‐OIC‐GRP Jakarta PeaceAgreements”butinsteadpushedthroughandreplaceditwiththe Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro as seen in theeditorial lastSeptember26,2013ofmnlfnet.com, theofficialwebsiteoftheMNLF.ItcanalsobeseeninhowthePresidentsaidinapressbriefinglastSeptember15,2013“itwassimplyintolerable that the MNLF assembled in Zamboanga City intheformofa“peacefulrally”,whereastheybroughtarmsintothecity(whichwasanon‐ARMMterritory)”.

Fromthesetwoclashingviewpoints,wecanseethatthetwoleadersofthetwoopposingsidesrefusetolookatthematterin the viewpoint of the opposing side. Even if PresidentAquino says that it is intolerable that the MNLF stride intoZamboanga City with guns, yet say that they are having apeaceful rally, has it ever occurred to him that the MNLFmaybedidn’twant to attackbut themilitary engaged them?Andas for theMNLF,even if theysay that itwasunfair thattheagreementtheymadebetweenthemandthegovernment

was replaced by another without proper courtesy, did theytrytolookatwhythegovernmentdidthis,insteadofmovingoutofangerofthegovernment’s“lackofrespect”towardsthepreviousagreementmade?Howcanournationstayunitedifitsownpeopleandgovernmentrefusetocooperatewithoneanother and continue to disrupt internal sovereignty, claimterritory, and mess around in political affairs without fullyunderstandingthebigpicture?

The solution to this problem is to have the government andtheMNLFinitiatepeacetalkswitheachother.Thisissothatthe government and the MNLF will start seeing eye‐to‐eyeand clear up any issues they have hadwith each other overthecourseofseveraldecades.Thiscangetbothsidestostartcooperating oncemorewith one another, and start toworktogether to solve the problems of internal sovereignty, andsettle issues regarding territoryandgovernmentalaffairs. Inthismanner,theelementsthatmakeupanation‐statecanberebuiltandpushthenationtobecomemoreunified.

Asforus,aspeople,weshouldstoptakingsidesandinsteadlook at the big picture, because enclosing ourminds to oneperspective will never solve anything. Therefore, by seeingthingsfromallperspectives,wecanformasolutionthatwillequally favor both sides and all third parties involved. Bydoingthis,wecanstartformingralliesormovementscallingforthatsolutionsothatthegovernmentmighthopefullycarryitout.Orevenbysimplylookingatthebigpicture,wecangetthe government to catch on and start seeing things thewaywedo.

Meanwhile,forstudentslikeme,weknowthatwecan’tdoasmuchas thepeople inpower.However, thatdoesn’t stopusfrommaking a difference. Aside from simply looking thingsfrommorethanjustoneperspective,weshouldvoiceoutouropinions on the matter, our views, and what we can dowhenever we can. Whether it be through the school paper,blogs,socialnetworks,orevensimplyconversingwithotherpeople,we should give our ideas on thematter at hand andthrough this help others and ourselves gain a betterunderstanding of it. Eventually, this understanding gainedwill start to spread from one person to another, until itreaches togovernmentorpeoplewith thecapability tostartmovements,andthingswillkickofffromthere.

Byseeingthingsfromallanglesandmakingthetwosidesseeeye‐to‐eye we can solve the conflict and rebuild our nationanduniteourpeopleandgovernment.

Sources:http://nick‐ian.deviantart.com/art/Zamboanga‐City‐Crisis‐403300420?q=favby%3Aeneere%2F12033122&qo=27

http://www.gov.ph/2013/09/19/press‐briefing‐by‐president‐aquino‐on‐zamboanga‐city‐september‐19‐2013/

http://mnlfnet.com/Articles/Editorial_26Sept2013_Aquino%20Govt%20Have%20Chosen%20War%20Not%20Peace.htm

http://www.rappler.com/nation/38476‐timeline‐zamboanga‐standoff‐mnlf‐security‐forces

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Things a student or young men can do in order to help is:

1. Organize a group for donating 2. Give donation 3. Donation should be used for rebuilding and army stuff This is one of the least things that a student can do Concrete Way 1. Get volunteers for supervising of the money 2. Advertise that we need money or donations 3. Grab donations and compile 4. Donate to Government or the Group for rebuilding with note that only use momey for building 5. Redo steps 1-4

Or.... 1.Organize a group to help in the rebuilding 2. Help rebuild I got this idea from an event in the Philippines where in young men would go to this camp then build houses.

Concrete Way 1. Get a group of volunteers who would want to fund and supervise a camp 2. Recruit volunteers for the rebuilding of houses 3. Get their parents permission (Reply Slip) 4. Briefing 5. Dry run 6. Actual building of houses 7. Redo steps 1-6 after every one month

In this, we will help Zamboanga and every city that has a problem rise and as we do that, the country may also rise from poverty. Since there are people who really care why, not do this? C’mon! Let us rise ourselves from problems and do what we have to do.

-Kousuke Abe

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Sources used: http://m.inquirer.net/newsinfo/?id=501169

http://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2013/10/the-2013-zamboanga-crisis-a-case-of-shock-doctrine-application/

http://bulatlat.com/main/2013/10/05/probe-military-abuses-of-zambo-detainees-including-children-rights-groups-demand/

http://www.bcbpkapatiran.com/amidst-the-crisis/

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/328566/opinion/zamboanga-city-crisis-the-winners-and-losers

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/10/11/1244098/zamboanga-gears-festivals-grand-procession-amid-threats

http://www.solarnews.ph/news/regional/2013/09/30/some-zambo-residents-doubt-if-siege-really-over#.UlzzDIU1ZDc

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/72669/p6-62-billion-thats-how-much-govt-should-bill-misuari-for-zambo-crisis

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/09/17/1222321/govt-dismisses-impact-zamboanga-crisis-overall-economy

http://www.kilusangmayouno.org/news/2013/09/zambo-diversionary-tactic-will-boomerang-noynoy-%E2%80%93-kmu

http://www.voxbikol.com/article/zamboanga-city-crisis-politics-philippine-style

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/09/12/MNLF-Basilan-Attack.aspx

https://www.facebook.com/bengclimaco

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/70650/timeline--the-zamboanga-crisis-and-what-went-before

http://www.mb.com.ph/zamboanga-crisis-timeline/

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/08/15/1094161/nur-declares-independence-bangsamoro-republik

And Google Images