My Mindanao

 In the past months, Mindanao has been the core talk-about of national news telling bitter stories of war and conflict. The current mass media exposes evidently polarized situation of the ‘war on Mindanao’ as a conflict between Muslims and Christians. But is it really a conflict between the two diverse religions or a product of exemplified particularities of individuals?

The contemporary Philippine History has not been very placid in telling the story of the Filipino Muslims. For many years, typecasted reactions and dogmatized impressions have been preserved. Muslims have been treated as pirates, war freaks, barbarians, Christian-killers, etc. Witnessed over is the fact that, War on Mindanao is definitely a Moro’s claim on sovereignty and independence.

            As history suggests, the arrival of the Spaniards and the introduction of the Christian religion sharply divided what was once a country united with different practices and beliefs. Here, exist the aggression between Christians and Muslim Filipinos, exemplified even more by the teachings of the Spaniards who identified Muslims as non-believers and enemies. This dogmatized belief, created the notion of Moro Wars pointing to Moro attacks on Christian territories and the like.

            With the advent of war, nothing seems beneficial. It did not just brought out a tormented society but also a torn dignity and misunderstanding towards each other. With the clashes of both left and right, peace becomes tough and treacherous. Countless pitfalls may be encountered before our country can finally achieve the dream of perpetual peace in Mindanao. All stakeholders, that is everyone of us must put in extra effort or hence travel the extra mile to contribute our own share for peace”. Christian and non-Christians must get rid of thy prejudices and biases against the Muslims. Each and everyone of us must hurdle thy differences and focus on mutual aspirations. And lastly, we must also be keen knower of history to better understand the Moro view of their history and culture.