Right after the Pacific War, when the Americans fashioned the Third Republic and installed a “democratic” government caricatured after their legal system, a home-grown insurgency grew out of the ashes of the war. American-recognized independence brought back to power the “ilustrado” class whom they co-opted from the Spanish colonizers.
The “indios” once again felt cheated. Their fathers and brothers were cannon fodder during the war. And now they inherit nothing. When their forefathers tore their cedulas and fought against Spain, their dream of liberation against the bondage of poverty was hijacked by the Americans and their elite conspirators among the ilustrados. Now that the Japanese were defeated and after so much of the indios’ blood was sacrificed at the altar of war, they were still in bondage. Thus the Hukbalahap movement.
Their leaders tried the parliamentary struggle. They won a few seats in Central Luzon, borne upon the shoulders of the lumpen who thought they would at least have a voice in the new republic’s legislature. They were immediately disappointed. The new masters rejected their parliamentary victory. The few representatives they elected were denied their seats. Thus did the grievances of the Left fester. And erupted into armed struggle.
Ramon Magsaysay “crushed” the back of the insurgency and arrested the Politburo. But the grievances merely simmered. The few who were fortunate enough to get homesteads in Mindanao were somewhat mollified, and the central government in Manila thought the problems were over. But not for very long.
Meanwhile, the central government also co-opted the Muslim royals by granting them economic concessions along with some participation in the political class dominated again by the ruling elite. Those who resisted were subdued, with the 45 caliber pistol and a phalanx of military expeditions. And they thought repression plus co-optation of the royals meant submission. Peace at a time, perhaps. But not for very long.
Soon enough, by the late sixties, secessionism reared its head among many Muslim tribes, whether in the islands or in central Mindanao.
Then, Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. The pretext was the lawlessness caused by the rebellion of the Left, exacerbated by secessionist movements in Mindanao.
For a full decade, with news blackouts as a result of the denial of free speech and free press, an uneasy “peace” seemed to calm the nerves of Luzon and the Visayas. Only because the truth was hidden from them. The painful truth was that the Muslim secessionist movement was not stilled, even if the war of attrition cost so many lives, both of Muslim rebels and the soldiers of the central government.
Neither was the fight against the rebellious Left stilled. In the mountains of Mindanao, in the hamlets of Negros and Panay, in Samar, and even in the Sierra Madre, they grew stronger.
We had become a conflicted nation, where brother fought brother in internecine struggles.
Liberation from Marcos brought a resurgence of hope. Cory Aquino freed the political prisoners from the Left. She started negotiating with Nur Misuari and the MNLF. But once again, conflicts were not stilled.
Joseph Estrada tried to decimate the Muslim secessionists and got chucked victories in the battlefield, but instant gratification turned pyrrhic. The same victory turned into ouster a few months later, roiled by public anger against of all things—jueteng payola.
The stalemate persisted throughout the Arroyo reign. Peace talks were initiated, but no conclusive denouement. And then came Benigno S. Aquino III.
Peace talks once more, with more concessions added to what Arroyo offered the Muslim secessionists. It produced the Bangsamoro Basic Law, but even with his control of both houses of Congress, Aquino failed to stem the tide of objections that came like a political tsunami after the ill-fated Mamasapano adventure.
Now comes Rodrigo Roa Duterte of Davao, the first president from Mindanao, the worst battleground of all these conflicts. A man determined to cut the Gordian knot of the rebellion that has bloodied his Mindanao. And who has decidedly shown sympathy towards the grievances of the Left, even identifying himself with their causes.
He cannot fail. These conflicts must come to an end. And Duterte is determined to do it within his time.
But there is another looming conflict, this time external—our relations with China over the South China Sea (or West Philippine Sea) waters. It may be tricky, involving once again the mighty imperial United States of America.
How will Rodrigo Roa Duterte resolve these three major conflicts, all at the same time? Vamos a ver.
This much we can be certain of: If anyone can do it, it has to be Duterte.