A STATEMENT BY YOUNG MUSLIMS

We are concerned citizens of peace, sons and daughters of the Bangsamoro, who inherit one of the longest but forgotten conflicts in the world.

We affirm our identity as Muslims, second generation Moros , who aim to be accepted in national politic and yet assert our right to self-determination. It is in the NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL  INTEREST to accept MORO INTEREST. And without resolution of the Bangsamoro conflict, there would truly be no NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

We acknowledge much of the international donor assistance in our homelands to alleviate the poverty in our homeland.

Yet we are afraid that many of our peace and development initiatives are again hijacked by the kidnapping of peace advocate in Basilan and the humanitarian workers of Red Cross in Sulu.

We call for an addressing of the roots of criminality and conflict in our Southern homeland. Kill the Abu sayyaf, but do you decimate them or breed more of them?

Give the Muslim South books not bullets, teachers not tanks, learning not alienating, real freedom not token freedom. Freedom for us means we are able to access opportunities for us to lead a quality of life like all the rest of the Filipinos.

We fear the negative impact of the high mistrust against renewing the GRP-MILF peace talks with the government .

We deplore  the continuing evacuation of many of our brethren in Maguindanao and Lanao because of sporadic hostilities.

With the SC junking of the MOA on Ancestral Domain, we ask national politicans, LGUs and even presidentiables with national ambitions, what is their agenda for the Bangsamoro, if any?

We would like to appeal for more informed judgements , constructive dialogue, an affirmative reaching out by Manila 's media and politicians to the grassroot populace in the South to understand the search for genuine peace.

Muslims must stand up and rise to condemn violence and aggression on the innocent, We call on our ulama, MNLF, MILF and traditional leaders to help bridge the mistrust by reaching out to our Christian brethren. Be the messengers of messages of non-violence and peace - SALAAM as Khalifas who enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong. Both the AFP and MILF must be held to answer for any atrocities and violations of the rules of war.
 
In these times of hardship, we hold hands as one , with our Christian and Lumad neighbours, in the name of peace, acceptance and justice. We are committed to a democratic and peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Do not be afraid of the Moro assertion for their right to self-determination. Let all stakeholders involve an enlightened discussion of the peace talks.  To the national public, open your hearts to the Moro grievance.



Young Moro Professionals Network c/o  09204345010
ASSALAM Bangsamoro People’s Association     and     Anak Mindanao

Mindanao YSPEAK

What did they have in common?

Love for Mindanao and all the trimmings that come with it. Mindanao which has seen one of the longest conflicts in Asian history between Moro rebels and the government is often ignored for the vast potentials and talent of its very young and mobile populace.

Doing a peace talks of their own to bridge the divide between Manila and Mindanao , Young Muslim Professionals Network (YMPN) will use a different tactic parallel to the peace talks  to help in the peace advocacy.

“We are an untapped sector with so much to tap from because of our education and passion for peace. We explore mainstream medium whether in the form of media advocacy, web (youtube), music, fora, corporate presentation, even a ethnic fashion show in the Metro to get our message across,” said YMPN- Mindanao convenor Samira Gutoc.

"The failure of the MOA-AD is for Manila to rethink what would solve the Moro problem," said Drieza Lininding of the Mindanao Alliance for Peace. He  said the MOA-AD must still be rethought as a solution the Mindanao problem. "It may have been junked but such was the fruit of a mutually agreed process," he said during the Yspeak Press Conference organized by YMPN at Sulo Hotel today.

Rep. Mujiv Hataman of Anak Mindanao affirmed that discrimination in the workplace, housing and even education “will not just go away overnight. Making people aware of this bad experiences against us who have experienced being shunned away and have to change our names to hide our Muslim identity. Thus our advocacy of the Anti-Discrimination Bill now pending in Senate after the Lower Houses' Approval.”

They in a group called the YMPN asserted that they will not wait for the GRP-MILF peacetalks to end for the professionals and young to get involved. “We must walk the peace now,” said Pendatu Disimban, former youth commissioner and president of the ASSALAM Bangsamoro People’s Association.

“We want equal access to opportunities. Just like America, where the blacks were once discriminated, we don’t want discrimination against Muslims to happen here,” said Diether Ocampo, of the KIDS Foundation and  the first celebrity to endorse the peace advocacy of Muslim yuppies in the Metro through YMPN.

Moro fashion advocate Jehanne Mutin, consultant of the Marawi City Government, said media must report and cover not only the  body counts in the Mindanao conflict . “More than combatants, it is women and children who are the biggest casualties and victims of armed conflict.

“Young people want to be heard, they are very much involved in peace,” said Shahana Abdulwahid , the first Muslim woman to be Student Regent of the country’s premier state university, the University of the Philippines .

This March , YMPN in coordination with ASSALAM Bangsamoro People’s Association and Anak Mindanao  announced the launching of a Peace Caravan on March 11-18 to commemorate Bangsamoro Month to culminate in the launching of the Peace Wreath in Corregidor to remember Muslim military recruits who were allegedly massacred in March 1968 in the same province.