Peace advocates turned away in Zamboanga, but huge rally in Marawi City

From the Mindanao Examiner BlogSpot site (Feb 10): Peace advocates turned away in Zamboanga, but huge rally in Marawi City



Peace rally in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province. (Photos courtesy of Najib Zacaria) 

Security forces stopped Tuesday a convoy of vehicles carrying peace advocates campaigning for the passage of a proposed draft law in Congress that would create a new autonomy for Muslims in southern Philippines, organizers said.

Dr. Abdulmanan Gayak, National Chairman of the Mindanao Alliance for Peace, said some 100 vehicles were stopped by soldiers manning a road block at the boundary of Zamboanga City and Zamboanga Sibugay province.

He said the peace advocates were supposed to hold a rally in Zamboanga City. “Our group was stopped at the checkpoint and not allowed in Zamboanga City where are supposed to hold a peaceful rally and talked about the Bangsamoro Basic Law and its importance to the peace process. But the Mayor of Zamboanga (Maria Isabelle Salazar) did not allow us. She did not give us the permit to hold the peaceful rally in Zamboanga,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.

Salazar said the rally had no permit.

“The City Government of Zamboanga implements the legal mandate of no permit, no rally/caravan within the territorial jurisdiction of the city. This is in response to the planned caravan in Zamboanga City of a group of civil society organizations supporting the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The public is advised to stay calm but remain vigilant. Our police and military forces as well as the local government are on top of the situation. We are firm in our resolve to ensure the security, peace and order and tranquillity of the city,” she said.

Troops in trucks and two armoured vehicles were spotted in downtown Zamboanga and some students were sent home by their teachers, saying, the city is in red alert status.

The local police chief Angelito Casimiro did not give a statement, but an army spokesman, Captain Franco Suelto, said the convoy, which came from the province of Lanao del Norte, was stopped at the village of Licomo in Zamboanga City.

“As far as we know may permission naman sa CCCH yun activity at saka wala naman baril yung mga MILF, pero wala silang rally permit sa Zamboanga,” Suelto said in a separate interview.

CCCH refers to the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities of the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front which signed a peace deal last year.

Gayak said some 3,000 Muslims and peace advocates also held a pro-BBL rally in Isabela City in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region. He said the peace rally was part of a nationwide campaign by MAP and other civil society groups.

But the peace rally in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province was attended by thousands of Muslims who were calling for the immediate passage of BBL. They also gathered cash donations for a campaign dubbed as “Peso for Bangsamoro Injustices.” The peaceful rally also coincided with the Bangsamoro National Day of Mourning and Prayer for those who perished in the war and violence in the restive region.

Those who attended the rally also carried streamers supporting peace in Mindanao, but what stood out from the rest were placards that showed the horned picture of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, who has repeatedly urged the Aquino government to finish off the MILF and terrorists it is allegedly coddling.

Aquino signed the BBL only last year after a long delay and revision and submitted to Congress for ratification before it can be decided on a plebiscite in Muslim areas in southern Philippines that would make up the new Bangsamoro autonomous region and replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that has suffered from decades of poverty, corruption, and conflict.

But the House of Representatives suspended the BBL after deadly fighting erupted between police commandos and MILF members in Maguindanao’s Mamasapano town on January 25 in what the government and leaders of the former rebel group claimed was a mis-encounter. The commandos were in a secret operation deep inside the MILF territory that killed Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir. Police said 44 commandos and at least 250 MILF and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were also slain in the clashes.

Police and military said the MILF was coddling Zulkifli, also known as Marwan. The fate of the BBL now lies in the hands of mostly Christian lawmakers.

http://www.mindanaoexaminer.net/2015/02/peace-advocates-turned-away-in.html