By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
People from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds gathered across the Philippines on Friday to launch an "All-Out Peace” campaign on the 40th day anniversary of a fatal raid that left 44 police commandos dead.
In a statement, organizers led by Gus Miclat said the campaign is a “call for peace” aimed at mobilizing all Filipinos on the major islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
“In our culture as Muslims and Christians, [on] the 40th day we commemorate the death and we feel this is a time for healing,” Miclat said.
“War should never be an option,” he added, calling on all the parties involved in peace talks in the country’s south to return to the negotiating table and discuss how to prevent incidents such as the violence in Mamasapano township, Maguindanao province, from happening again.
During the Jan. 25 operation, around 400 commandos descended on Mamasapano to capture Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir -- alias Marwan – only to run into members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its breakaway group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
In addition to the 44 Special Action Force troops, 18 MILF members and five civilians lost their lives.
The suspected involvement of the MILF -- which signed a peace deal with the government in March last year -- in the raid had threatened to derail the peace process.
Miclat stressed Friday the need to stop the “demonization” found in the media following the incident and said, “The prevalent discourse in the media have been calls for all-out war and the demonization of Muslims in general, the MILF in particular and the Moro people.”
The activities in support of peace began with the Muslim call to the morning prayer, followed by participants from the Islamic, Christian, native lumad and other faiths ringing bells at 6 a.m.
The ritual was repeated at 12.30 p.m. during the call for the Islamic Friday prayer.
The day was culminated with an interfaith prayer in the evening.
Miclan said that the re-emergence of prejudices against Muslims in the wake of the Mamasapano tragedy showed the fragile state of social and religious tolerance in the Philippines.
"We are at a crucial crossroads for us to break free from this cycle of violence and armed conflict,” he added. “It only takes a national political will to turn the tide and bring back the trust."
