War and cultural sensitivity

By Antonio J. Montalvan

THERE are many faces of cultural insensitivity and one of them is immediately pinning the blame for the Davao blast on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front even before any investigation has begun. If outrage was the reaction to the initial news over the blast, there was even more outrage when a mere 3.5 hours after the blast, the military leaders went on air to say that the suspects were members of the MILF. What unbelievable intelligence! Not only does it imply a seeming failure of intelligence, it appears to be the usual shameful amateurishness and sloppy police work of our security establishment.

Even as we are outraged at the scenes of tragedy and death, there is even more outrage that this has turned out to be a witch hunt against the Moros. That it has even degenerated into stopping buses at checkpoints and asking which passengers are Muslims is the height of cultural arrogance.

If the root cause of the Mindanao problem is, as what a television editorial rightly said, the perceived shabby treatment of Moro Filipinos by the mainstream, pointing a finger rashly at the Moros is no solution. Perpetuating our biases against the Moro people is a sure fodder for the perpetuation of this war. I disagree that the root cause of the Mindanao problem remains obscure. For us in Mindanao, no, it is not obscure. Manila-clouded perception only makes it obscure. Come to Mindanao and interact with the Moros. I cannot keep count of the number of Moro friends I have, and I am proud to say that I am not at war with any of them.

I vehemently disagree with opinions espoused by some fellow columnists that Davao City, like it or not, has become part of the war zone. When commuters die bloody deaths in LRT coaches, was Manila said to be a war zone? When motorists kill each other over mere traffic altercations (and which do not happen in Mindanao), was it said that Manila has become the most unsafe place to live in? When Makati cowered under bomb scares, did the newspapers rush to declare it a war zone? Won't Manila be the hottest war zone when a terrorist fire on the Pandacan oil depot sends a scampering Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her First Family out on foot from Malacañang Palace, a full two kilometers away because air and sea rescue will be rendered impossible?

It does not help, either, that Rodrigo Duterte outrightly calls for martial law in Mindanao. Excuse us, mayor, but you certainly do not speak for the rest of us.

The day after the Davao blast, when a relative in Manila called up to express concern that the MILF is said to be in our place by now, I could not help but laugh over the misperceived notion. The MILF or the Abu Sayyaf can even be in Manila right this very minute. Hamsiraji Sali has even said so. So why single out Mindanao as a war zone? Manila may be as much of a war zone as some parts of Mindanao are.

Misperception and ignorance continue to feed Manila's cultural insensitivity to Mindanao. It therefore came as a surprise when Sen. Ralph Recto, finally speaking like the great Claro, was quoted to have said that sending American troops to Sulu is like sending Japanese troops to Bataan. History, after all, should not be an academic ivory tower. President Macapagal, and all Philippine presidents for that matter, must first learn the ABCs of the Battle of Bud Daho, if they have not yet read Noralyn Mustafa's fine historiography on the front page of the Inquirer.

In the meantime, our hearts grieve for the fall guys who immediately were branded by the military as MILF members. I wonder, is there a membership card that MILF followers carry that identifies them instantly as MILF combatants? Poor Montasser Sudang, may Allah bless his soul. Before he could even answer allegations, the newspapers all over now say that he was the bomb-carrying culprit. Is naming suspects part of a pattern of simply covering up for military or police ineptitude?

No, this is no longer the age of the "them and us." But for as long as we cling to our past misculturations, this war is here to stay. Why, even an Inquirer correspondent in the Metro section continues to classify Ateneo law graduate Jay Llamas' alleged killer as "Muslim." Mind you, there are more Christian kawatan and Christian murderers out there, many of whom are right in your Manila doorsteps.

No, this war is not in Mindanao but in our mistakenly acculturated minds and hearts.

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