Philippines * War continues in Mindanao WHILE the hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf group have still not been freed, the Philippine army is pursuing its offensive in Mindanao against the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front - see IV 321, May 2000). According to local sources, several hundred thousand people have been made refugees in the central region of Mindanao following this brutal offensive. Bases of the Revolutionary Workers' Party of the Philippines RPMP - an organisation which has observer status in the Fourth International) located in the centre of Mindanao are also directly threatened by the army and are having to cope with influxes of refugees. The sections of the Fourth International have launched a fund drive to aid the RPMP in its attempts to protect the civilian population and help the refugees. Send contributions to the IRF (mention "Philippines fund"), account number 630-0113884-65 at the Caisse Privée Banque, place Champs de Mars 2, Brussels, Belgium. We print here an analysis of the Mindanao conflict based on RPMP documents. * issue of the so-called Muslim-Christian conflict. In this context, the AFP justified its offensive against the MILF and has tried to get the support of the media, Congress, the local populace and the international community.
### Afghan origins
The Abu Sayyaf group originated among Moro people in the Southern Philippines that were trained in Afghanistan by the United States to fight against the Russian military forces. Almonte, the former military adviser of Fidel Ramos, who is connected to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was responsible for forming this group. Edwin Angeles, the former tactician of the Abu Sayyaf who was killed in his house with his family after his release from jail, was a military agent. The other leaders of this group were confirmed as military agents, one is an army captain and the other two are military sergeants.
Janjalani Khadaffi, one of the known leaders who escaped from his cell last year in dubious circumstances, had frequently been seen meeting with General Panfilo Lacson, the new National Police chief. It is reported that a certain army general is the handler of commander Robot, one of the military leaders of Abu Sayyaf who kidnapped the foreign tourists.
After the killing of the Abu Sayyaf founder-leader Abdul Rajak Janjanlani and the killing of other leaders by the military this group was silent. The AFP declared last year that the group was finished. But surprisingly in the first quarter of this year Abu Sayyaf reemerged with more kidnapping and terrorist activities that victimize both Moro and Christian innocent civilians alike. The terrorist activities of the group fueled anew the so-called MuslimChristian conflict.
This has been used by the military as a pretext to reestablish the dreaded fanatical and armed vigilante groups throughout Mindanao to fight against the Moro rebels and the Bangsamoro.
### Economic interests
Mindanao's development framework is anchored to the globalization program especially in relation to the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, PhilippinesEast Asian Growth Area and the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). These are manifested in the following development projects: the 25,000 hectares sugar plantation and sugar central at Maguindanao; the 100,000 hectares palm-
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International Viewpoint #323 July-August 2000
* Philippines oil plantation at Lanao and oil basins in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and South and North Cotabato; and hundreds of thousands of hectares of gold and copper mining in the Western Mindanao region and elsewhere. Not to mention the remaining vast hectares of fertile agricultural lands, forest and seashores. Moreover, all development aid to Mindanao is directed to pave the way for foreign investors and to facilitate the massive integration of the island in the global economy.
The integration of Mindanao in the neo-liberal globalization process is the priority for the ruling class and key to the economic development of the Philippine nation, especially the BIMP-EAGA and its strategic role in the comprehensive economic-political interest of the US and big capitalist states in the Asia-Pacific.
So, in order to effectively and systematically implement the program of globalization, it needs to destroy and to smash all forces that impede it. The areas where the economic projects are located and subject to foreign capitalist exploitation are areas where the revolutionary armed forces are basing and operating, such as the MILF, the New Peoples Army (NPA), or the RPA-ABB.
Oppression and exploitation
The problem of Mindanao is mainly based on a long history of oppression and exploitation by the imperialist nations, using the Philippine state against the Moro people as well as the Filipino and Lumad peoples. History has shown, especially during the time of the Marcos dictatorship, that the military solution is not the answer to the Mindanao problem. Even the AFP have stated that military means are not the main answer to solve the insurgency problem; the socio-economic problems of the people must be addressed. Needless to say, the Estrada regime is expected to blindly continue with its all out military solution to the Mindanao problem.
History shows that while both the colonial and neo-colonial states have failed to address the basic problems and issues of Mindanao, the armed and non-armed struggles of the three peoples (Moro, Lumad and Filipino) have continued to persist. The Estrada regime has been trying to solve the problem through economic means, for example the "angat pinoy" program, but failed since it has no clear cut 32 International Viewpoint #323 July-August 2000
NEWS FROM THE RPMP RECENT reports from the Revolutionary Workers' Party of the Philippines (RPMP) indicate that military operations in different areas of Mindanao are still intensifying. The AFP's objective is to capture more MILF camps to project a picture of military victory but at the same time to prepare for the impending ceasefire that might result because of the pressures on the Estrada administration from all sides. So if there is a ceasefire tomorrow, the AFP will be in the positions previously held by the MILF. However, the MILF has not been following the conventional/positional warfare. They have shown that they can tactically abandon their camps and reclaim them later. The MILF has strongly suggested also that the next talks with the government will be in July. So what will happen to the June
30 deadline set for the peace talks by the Estrada government? The influential Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Business Group have been pressing the Estrada government to extend the deadline. The OIC (Organisation of Islamic Congress) met in Kuala Lumpur and the Mindanao crisis and the MILF position were discussed. The so-called internal conflicts will be internationalized. The MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) through Nur Misuari (and with the blessing of the government) has tried to sabotage the MILF international offensive but without success. Misuari has tried to block the entry of the MILF as an observer in the OIC but appears to have failed in this goal. The RPMP is currently involved in the second round of peace talks with the government.
The talks are sponsored by religious groups. During the May 1 (Labor Day) Celebration the RPMP was able to initiate the broadest mobilizations composed of the five biggest coalitions of labor in the history of the country (including a progressive section of the TUCP), of around seventy thousand (70,000) workers. The party has also launched a National Congress of the Rural Poor and next month is launching a National
Machinery for Electoral and Parliamentary Struggle.
The RPMP has also recently concluded the fifth plenum of its 1st party Congress. Among the items discussed were the peace talks and the situation in Mindanao. A document is to be produced containing a new analysis of the national situation with the Mindanao crisis as the main consideration. * economic development program and economic and political structures are defective and biased to foreign capitalists. When Estrada's popularity dived sharply he easily gave in to the dictats of the militarist people surrounding him. Now, the military solution became a key factor and a short cut towards developing Mindanao and forcibly integrating it to the global economy.
### Teaching a lesson
Even though the Estrada regime knows that all out war is not the right solution to the Mindanao problem it continues implementing it because it wants to teach a lesson to all armed revolutionary groups. If the government, for example, could pin down and crush the MILF, this will serve as a message to other revolutionary forces that want to topple the administration.
But in the long and rich history of the revolutionary struggle throughout the world, the military approach has always failed to stop the mass struggle of the people.
Never in history have the revolutionary forces born out of the oppression and exploitation of the masses stopped because of all out military war waged by the state. Only solving the basic problems of the people and putting an end to the oppression and exploitation of the masses can create a situation where genuine revolutionary forces and mass struggle fade away and lose their grounds of existence. *
India *