Mindanao is one part of the country that I may visit next time I come home. When I was still young, ( and even when I was already about to leave our native land ) there were lots of stories I heard about it..
They say that new Army recruits are always sent there. It is like a death sentence to them, they said. Many came home in a wooden box. Bodies are mutilated.
Then there are the "Juramentados". They would shave their heads, take out their long bolos ( like the ones used to behead one of the hostages ) and they would start chopping off heads of anybody they meet on the street.
Then there is the story re: American General (?) Pershing who was assigned to Mindanao to keep peace and order and to "subdue" the Muslims..When some captives did not cooperate, he threatened to shoot them with bullets dipped in pig's blood.He knew that if there is an animal they abhor, it is Porky Pig.
It is so easy to stereo type people as "good" or "bad." Toddlers or Kindergarten kids do not do that ..not yet at that stage anyway. Then as they grow up, they learn..As one song from SOUTH PACIFIC goes: "you got to be taught to be afraid, of people whose skin have a different shade...you've got to be carefully taught.."
Yes, you are right: a mini version of the current Middle east crisis is going on in Mindanao and the government seems not to be able to do something about it. Some "experts" on the matter say: "It is not a matter of Religion: it is a matter of land and money.."
Then they continue discussing the matter until the cows come home. In the meantime, bullets fly, bombs explode and the body count keeps on getting higher...
1 comment:
Yes, you should visit Mindanao sometime, it's a fertile area. I heard about the huramentados, it is said that the .45 caliber was invented that time, because the service revolver.38 didnt pack stopping power enough to down a rushing Moro, and many,so it goes, were hacked before a Moro came down dead.
New recruits go there, because mindanao has got 3 rebel groups. PMA grads who want faster promotion go to combat there. those who dont want to risk, marry after graduation and use it as an excuse to get a job in Luzon.
The boyfriend of my 1st girlfriend's roommate,back in college, did just that.
By the way, I was born in that area of Mindanao immortalized in the Asin song " Timog Cotabato", funny that the lead singer Saro banares met his death there, a victim of senseless murder, long after the Moro-Christian wars ended.
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