New underground Moro group vows to recruit more Moros to the NPA

July 12, 2005

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) has announced the re-establishment of the Moro revolutionary group that would banner the struggle and aspirations of the Bangsamoro people. Called the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization (MRLO), the group is the 16th allied organization of the NDFP.

The timing of its founding congress was historic in the light of the current raging struggle against GRP president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. MRLO’s precursor, the Moro Revolutionary Organization was established in the 1980s at the height of the broad anti-Marcos dictatorship movement.

Twenty-five (25) delegates representing the 13 (thirteen) ethno-linguistic groups that form the Bangsamoro were represented in the week-long congress held in June somewhere in Central Mindanao. These ethno-linguistic groups are the Tausug, Maguindanao, Maranao, Yakan, Iranun, Kalagan, Sangil, Samal, Pullun/Jama Mapun, Kalibugan, Badjao, Molbuganon, and Palawani.

The underground MRLO vowed "to continue waging the armed struggle against the oppressive system." Its establishment would bolster the secessionist armed struggle for the Bangsamoro’s right to self-determination being waged by Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front.

"We declare our unity under the flag of the Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization," MRLO congress delegates said in a manifesto. "We are united in continuing our struggle for our basic rights to self-determination and to fight for the democratic rights of our people, rights that are continually being abused by the reactionary Philippine state and its master, the imperialist United States."

Hassan Al-Banna, a Maguindanaon who was chosen MRLO chairperson, said the formation of the MRLO was a milestone, saying that their aim is to ensure that the peasant masses have lands to own and till, genuine nationalist industrialization, and freedom from bureaucrat capitalism.

MRLO, according to Al-Banna, would aim to unite the broadest number of the Moro people for the national democratic revolution through alliances with progressive organizations and other Moro revolutionary groups.

In the past, the Moro Revolutionary Organization was beset with problems. Leaders of the MRLO vowed that, this time around, they would do painstaking organizing work among the ranks of the Bangsamoro. They would recruit Moros for the New People's Army and help establish guerrilla fronts in areas where there are no existing Moro revolutionary organizations.

In its manifesto, MRLO, bewailed the continuing injustice being committed against the Bangsamoro. "Colonizers and the local reactionary government have betrayed and abused the Bangsamoro. Some of our Bangsamoro brothers also betrayed us as they protected their selfish or clan interests," the manifesto said.

The MRLO organizers bewailed such deceptive and exploitative treaties like the Kiram-Bates Treaty during the American occupation and the GRP-MNLF Tripoli Agreement that the state imposed on the Bangsamoro.

They also recalled the countless atrocities committed against the Bangsamoro, such as the massacre at Bud Dahu in Jolo during the U.S. occupation, the Jabidah and the Buldon massacres during the Marcos regime, and the burning and destruction by the fascist U.S.-Estrada regime of Moro communities and mosques.

The MRLO leaders note that the discrimination and the atrocities against the Bangsamoro are pervasive. "The present all-out war launched by the U.S.-Arroyo regime against the Bangsamoro only shows how atrociously we are being treated by the country's ruling elite," the manifesto said.

The U.S.-Arroyo regime, it said, does not respect the culture and tradition of Filipino Muslims, who have also been labeled as terrorists and have been victimized by state-sponsored terrorism.

"The imperialist U.S. is using the war against terror in order to heighten their presence in Mindanao, particularly in Moro areas, so that it can strengthen its neocolonial grip in the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia," they added.

Now is the time, they said, that the Bangsamoro people are united in the struggle for self-determination. "We will fight to defend our rights against discrimination, chauvinism, tyranny and oppression," they said.

They added that they would use legal and extra-legal means to advance the struggle of the Bangsamoro, open or underground activities, and diplomatic or undiplomatic initiatives in order to achieve their noble objectives.

"But we must be clear at the outset that we can only achieve all these through revolutionary struggle," the organization said. "History has shown us that only through revolutionary struggle can the Bangsamoro protect their homeland, earn the respect of other peoples, and successfully establish political power.

"Now is the time to fight until the last drop of our blood," the MRLO said. #

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553

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