MILF on Muslims-Christians relations

MILF keeps relations of
Muslim-Christian intact

SULTAN KUDARAT, MAGUINDANAO—After an improvised explosive devised (IED) exploded last Sunday, July 5, in front of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City, the military said that the attack was being directed to the worshippers by suspected members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
Such statement, as a result, arouses suspicions from churchgoers that the violence in the region is now being directed to the matters of faith.

Reacting on this, MILF spokesperson Eid Kabalu said that the statement issued by the military is purely a harassment and “accusing the MILF as responsible for the bombing and saying that it is directed to the church or churchgoers is a very strong statement that might send a wrong notion to the public.”

“We are not responsible for the bombing, that’s plain and simple. We joined the Catholic bishops in condemning all the attacks which took place in front of the cathedral [in time of the holy mass]. We have a policy against violence and we are clear on that,” Kabalu said.

Archbishop of Cotabato Orlando Quevedo said that to say that the attack was intended against the Cathedral and against churchgoers would be stretching the facts to the limit.

Kabalu also commended the statement of Quevedo saying, “The MILF is never in time infusing a Muslim-Christian conflict in Mindanao. That’s not our cause, we respect our brothers in the Christian faith and we don’t even tolerate violence that will eventually brew Muslim-Christian hatred.”

He said that the MILF leadership continues to have a good and harmonious relationship with Catholic bishops and other Christian religious leaders in the region.

“Why would we allow Muslim-Christian conflict here? We have so many friends in the Catholic faith, one is Fr. Jun Mercado who helped us a lot in our early stage in the peace process,” he said.

Kabalu also corrected the statement that the MILF is behind the bombing and is directed at the cathedral or the churchgoers.

“That is a very irresponsible statement [out to ferment confusion and discredit the MILF]” Kabalu said in vernacular.

Meanwhile, a priest who refused to be named for lack of authority also appealed to the government not to immediately issue statements without further investigations.

He said “accusing the MILF rebels of being behind the explosion is also unfair. We have been working for inter-religious dialogue here in Mindanao. Some of our ulamas are also helping us including leaders of the MILF, so it is not healthy to easily blame the rebels for any violence.”

“The statement of the good Archbishop Quevedo is right that to say that the attack was intended against the Cathedral and against churchgoers would be stretching the facts to the limit. People of good will like our Muslim brothers who want peace in Mindanao will not in anyway support such a ruthless activity,” he added.

The on-going atrocities in Mindanao cannot be denied to be rooted in the century old Mindanao conflict. The 12,000–strong forces of the MILF to date continue with its fundamental cause related to ancestral lands and historic rights versus to what they called as “the imperial national government’s democracy.” (Mark S. Ventura)