THE REAL BANGSAMORO STORY

(The Real Story Behind the Struggle)

By Amilpasa T. Bandaying

In these times of very dramatic upheavals in our land of Mindanao, I feel that it is the right
moment to be reminded of history by going back in time and relay the story of the
Bangsamoro Struggle that seemingly to this day remains a long journey that is yet to find its
destination.

I had been part of this very long journey and I feel that I have the appropriate memory to
retell the story of this endless struggle to which until now, at present, is yet to find its own
destination.

In 1968, the Jabidah Massacre instigated the Muslim rebellion when the military massacred
68 young Muslims recruits who were being trained in Corregidor Island with the aim of
reclaiming Sabah from Malaysia. These violent deaths instigated sympathy and debacle
among Muslims throughout the country that the most boisterous amongst them is from
former University Professor (UP) Nur Misuari when he formed the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1969 as an offshoot organization Mindanao Independence
Movement (MIM) which was formed earlier in 1968 by Datu Udtog Matalam, former
governor of Cotabato Province - with an aspiration for an independent Muslim state in
Mindanao.

In these turbulent years, the Muslims have increasingly felt disenchantment and
deprivation of rights and dignity that a fierce craving for recognition has ensued, giving rise
to the “Bangsamoro Movement”. Eventually an armed struggle took root, desiring to end
long period of oppression, exploitation, neglect and discrimination that was the mark of
Philippine policy at that time.

I was among the first recruits of MNLF as I felt then for enduring desire to see our own
homeland, a Moro homeland that could be called to be our own, as I felt then a patriotic
cause for self-determination for our people, for the creation of the land Bangsamoro. Prior
to becoming the main secessionist entity in Mindanao, It was a initially an underground
movement in the youth sector of the Muslim Independence Movement (MIM) to which I
have enlisted as a founding member.

Bangsamoro is a termed coined thru the interplay of two very evocative words, the word
“Bangsa” is a Muslim term for nation and then “Moro”, a word used in vilification for its
negative connotation, used by Spanish colonizers to refer to Muslim population in the
conquered Philippines, but to which Prof. Misuari opted to use in order to emphasize his
love and sympathy for the Muslims in Mindanao.

Mindanao had been wrought by tumult since time immemorial - from the time European
colonizers have arrived on our shores, the double pronged conquest of America and

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towards the fierce occupation of Imperial Forces of Japan. It had seemed that Mindanao had
been an unfortunate child of war, even to this day.

The Moro Struggle began in the years leading to the very gruelling decade of the 1970’s, in
the path towards the spectre of Martial Law declared by then President Ferdinand E.
Marcos.

I was then a young Muslim student at University of the East (UE) taking up law with an
enduring ambition for the legal profession.

In 1967, I graduated my A.B. Political Science degree from the Zamboanga Arturo Estaquiao
College (ZAEC) and immediately I departed towards Manila to pursue a lifelong aspiration
to be a lawyer. As a Commission on National Integration (CNI) scholar, I enrolled in the
University of Manila. There I have dedicated myself to gain higher education in law and
excelled well as I have performed consistently with my examinations, finishing in the Top 5
almost all the time.

I have all too suddenly felt that my prowess in legal principles have sharpened steadily that
I have gradually felt that I need to channel this more suitably. And so after a semester, I
transferred to Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) law school in Padre Faura. The moment
I stepped into the hallowed ground of the Ateneo campus, I was awed to no end with the
grandness and splendor of the place. It was a completely new experience for me, where
everything looks new and grand.

Immediately, I went to tackle the rigorous lessons of law there. In fact, the level of teaching
there had been so different than in the previous law school that I have attended that there
was great challenge and a very high level of difficulty. In Ateneo, we were made to study
stacks and stacks of cases and digest them on a very frequent basis that it was almost
smothering me and had tested my will to earn a law degree in a venerated institution as
Ateneo de Manila Law School.

I was just one of two Muslims enrolled there and in the few months that I was there I was
recruited by Aquila Legis Law Fraternity and became its member while my other Muslim
companion decided to join Utopia, a rival law fraternity.

On one sunny Sunday morning, as I vaguely remember now, a muslim boarding house mate
of mine has called out my attention loudly and asked if I wanted to go with him to a
convention.

“Where are we going?” I asked in Tausug.

“There’s a convention of members of Kabataang Makabayan (KM) at the National Library.

Maybe you would like to come” he answered.

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I was then interested with ideas of political liberalism and activism and I thought I would
not pass up to an opportunity to be with like-minded persons.

When we arrived, I saw for the first time Professor Nur Misuari who I have learned then to
be one of KM’s top leaders, especially as a committee chairman.

Moments after we arrived, we were offered seats as we surreptitiously sat down. A thin and
gangly man, with spectacles that surrounded his slit eyes, suddenly stood up and took to
the podium. He introduced himself as Jose Maria Sison and his voice was thin but it
reverberated through the hall of the National Museum, speaking in deep Tagalog with a
nasal sound and heavy provincial accent and tone.

My companion spoke to me in a hush tone and I was informed then that Prof. Misuari and
several other KM members were planning to overthrow the leadership of Joma Sison, and
upon learning about this, the atmosphere inside the museum suddenly turned stone cold
and silent, as if a giant rock thudded into the middle of the museum.

then as one of their member and committee chairman. Also, speaking before the proud was
the leader then of the KM, who was Joma Sison.

There were turgid discussions at that convention I remember so well and I realized
thereafter that Prof. Misuari was part of a breakaway group aiming to seize power and
leadership of the KM. But after the convention meeting, it was Joma Sison who won the
election. After the meeting , I saw the group of Professor Misuari regrouped outside the
halls of the National Library and they held an impromptu meeting wherein they formed and
established another group they called SADEKA.

Afterwards, we continue to gather at the streets of Manila to voice out our protestations.
One time, we were at the Senate when the issue of the Jabidah Massacre were being
investigated and we proceeded to the Old National Legislative Building in Padre Burgos
Avenue. We came in full force as we sat in the seating venue of the building. When the late
Senator Ninoy Aquino Jr. was on the plenary hall, taking on the speaker stand and speaking
about the issue of the Jabidah massacre, some of our companion then had become unruly,
shouting protestations while the senate was in session.

It was just minutes after that a number of soldiers entered the Senate hall, I think almost
about fifty soldiers who suddenly appeared and stationed where we were seating. Of
course, we were told to cease from disrupting the senate session then.

In the weeks after, we continued our protests in the streets of Manila. We have a secret
hideout in Quiapo, near the Golden Mosque where we held our meetings in order to plan
our actions. I remember that Lanao Congressman Alonto who were supportive of our group
and provided us with food and money. In the streets, the soldiers and police were always on
the lookout for our group, that there were violent dispersals where several of our
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companions gained physical harmed, particularly from the fierce members of the military
group known then as ATO.

We always have a course of action ready, a contingency whenever these dispersals becomes
violent. We have assigned a meeting point at the flagpole of the old Manila Interattional
Airport at Pasay City, where we meet each afternoon, especially if we scamper into different
directions after each encounter with the military group that often prevented us from
conducting protest actions in the streets of Mendiola.

The dispersals have become so violent as each weeks passes that some of us were arrested
by the Army and detained, receiving serious physical harm. One afternoon, Congressman
Alonto gathered us at the flag pole of the old Manila International Airport. He made a sullen
speech wherein he suggested that we bring our fight for freedom and justice in Mindanao to
another level. He identified twenty of us to travel back to Mindanao and become the first
group to be trained in a foreign country that is sympathetic of our cause. In the days to
come, we headed to Zamboanga City in order to begin our journey to another country.

While in Zamboanga City, we continue to meet at Pasonanca Park while waiting for further
orders. It was in Pasonanca Park that we have signed a “Manifesto”, pledging our
commitment to fight and struggle for our oppressed people and homeland.

While we were there, then President Ferdinand E. Marcos was expected to arrive in the city
and speak before the public. A local supporter of us in the person of Hadji Camlian provided
us a four-wheel vehicle that while President Marcos was speaking to a crowd at a place in
from of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), our vehicle suddenly arrived and
immediately we took several posters and we stood on the vehicle and displayed the
banners in front of the late President. The banners read “Justice” and “Freedom” for
Mindanao.

Then Mayor Suarez called our attention and asked in a loud voice “Kosa Ba Ese! Pwede se
kita man kwento na meeting se kosa ustedes kiere akabar el rally de Presidente!”

However, this meeting did not materialize since we hurriedly left the rally.

+++

Along with fellow recruits, I journeyed towards the faraway land of Sabah, Malaysia to train
in combat. At first, we did not really have an exact idea of our journey, its cloudy aim, as we
were initially apprised then, is for us to be educated in a foreign land, with full financial
support from a foreign government. I was thinking that I would continue my law education
there and come back as a full pledge person of laws, the others to pursue engineering and
medicines, to come back to our war

In truth, our journey to a foreign land is clouded in uncertainty and vagueness, as we were
told that we will be sent to pursue different professional paths in a foreign university, such
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as to pursue courses in medicine and law, funded by a foreign scholarship fund. As for
myself, I was keen on pursuing my law degree, and that in noted foreign university, under
expert tutelage and with ample monetary support, I was primed to pursue a successful
career in law and in my return to Mindanao, I would be of help to my fellow Muslims. Such
were also the aspirations of my other companions.

I remember now that fateful day that me and about twenty fellow recruits boarded a
wooden ship the locals call a “Tempel”, at near midnight, we headed to a small port at
Lower Calarian, where our contact person was awaiting.

We have received instruction to board the unnamed Tempel to a destination that was still
mostly unknown to us at that time although we were aware that it was a transit point to
Sabah, Malaysia, our final destination.

In the morning, we found ourselves arriving at Kalinga Caluang municipality and at dawn,
while there was still no one around, we were herded to a house which belonged to the
mayor of the place, Mayor Al Caluang. There we were put on a single bedroom and all
twenty of us were cramped in the place that it was very difficult for us to move around. We
were not allowed to go outside or just even peek through the window to avoid being
observed by the locals who might take exceptions of new faces in the areas.

For almost a week, we stayed there, our food just being delivered to our room, until our
scheduled trip to Sabah, I remember it to be on December 25, 1969.

At near midnight, when almost all the locals of Kalinga Caluang were already inside their
houses, we packed our bags and boarded a midsize “Tempel”.

Since I was the assigned leader of the group, I was the one who talked to the captain of the
boat and I asked him the details of our trip.

“How many hours will we be arriving at Sabah”, I asked the man whose name I had not
bothered to asked.

He answered, “If the weather is good, we will be there before the dusk breaks into sunrise”.

I said “That’s good” and I relayed this information to my companions.

I remember so well the fears and anxieties in he faces of my companions. I remember the
young Abdul Khayer Alonto, who was so thin and frail, with features of a rich boy as he was
from a rich and powerful political clan in Lanao del Sur, where he came from. He was not so
well-built but he showed string will and determination.

++++++

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I was among the 1st group called as “Batch 90” who was sent off to Tawau, Sabah aboard a
wooden ship called “Tempel”, from Jolo Sulu, arriving on New Year’s Day, until we reached
the secluded island of Pangkor Island.

Along with me in this initial batch was Sali Wali, Jamil “Jimmy” Lucman, Hundan “Haj”
Abubakar, Dimasangkay “Dimas” Pundato, Sabturaji “Ji” Salmadan, Alver “Boy” Alonto,
Abdul “Bobby” Alonto, Mike “Japanasi” Madarang, Cesar Cana, Ali “Clay” Sansalana, George
Enampadan, Manran, Ramit “Daddy” Hassan, Abubakar “Bakkaa” Juli, Asamli Amil, Akmad
Sumandal and Bian Lay Lim.

It was only months after that Prof. Misuari arrived at Pangkor Island along with the group
called 2nd Batch and there, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was formally
organized as an armed rebellion where Prof Misuari was elected as the Chairman of the
Central Committee while Abdul Khayer Alonto was the Vice-Chairman. I was a member of
this committee along with Sali Wali, Jimmy Lucman, Utoh Salahuddin and Ramit Hassan.
As a member of the Central Committee, it was our main duty to look after the welfare of the
recruits, whom we called then as “Boys in the Camp” and to be spokesperson between the
instructors and trainees.

Often, we call our group as the “Central Committee of 7” and in secrecy and stealth, we have
held our meetings in a beach where a big rock dramatically lies. We call this rock the
“Matalam Rock” in honor of Old Man Matalam, the founder of the MIM.

The first trainees at Pangkor Island was then on called as “Group of 90” and after a year of
training, we have been sent back to Mindanao and spread out towards our respective
provinces and locales, with the task of recruiting secretly young Muslims into the fold of the
armed struggle and then to train them in armed combat.

The following formed part of the original “Batch 90” Commandoes of the MNLF Central
Committee who were trained abroad:

CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Nur Misuari - Chairman

Salamat Hasim - Vice Chairman for Foreign Relations
Abdul Khayer Alonto - Vice Chairman for Military Operations
Abdul Baki Abubakar - Secretary General
Judge Hamid Lucman - Legal Adviser
Al Hussein Caluang - Field Marshall

RANKING FIELD COMMANDERS

Commander Sali Wali (Zone III) ZRC, Alicia, Zamboanga del Sur
‘ Commander Amilpasa Bandaying, Intelligence Officer, Olutanga, Zamboanga del Sur
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 Commander Nur Maldisa
Commander Hussin Loong
Commander Hadji Camlian
Commander Rasul Abdullah
Commander Jamil “Jimmy” Lucman
Commander Amelil “Ronnie” Malagiok

In 1971, the “Group of 300” was sent for training in another neighbouring country that
when Martial Law was declared on September 21, 1972, our movement remained largely
underground due to intensified government operations. During these times of laying low,
we were to await the return of “Group of 300” in order to resume our armed struggle. As
soon as the new trainees have arrived, most of them were assigned as Field Commanders to
lead their men in their respective area of operations.

For myself, I was assigned as Commander and Propaganda and Intelligence Officer with ten
(10) foreign-trained members from the “Group of 300”.

As the recruitment for new members has intensified, our ranks grew an army of 16,000
men and the rebel force was then termed as the Bangsa Moro Army.

In the years of intense fighting and conflict, just ahead of the declaration of Martial Law, the
membership of Central Committee have expanded to include Ahmad “Bon” Sumandal, Ali
“Clay” Sansaluna, Amelil “Ronnie” Malagiok, Dimasangkay “Dimas” Pundato, Salamat
Hashim and Bian Lay Li, who later became the Chief of the MNLF “Strike Forces” in Jolo,
Sulu.

The Moro armed struggle has posed a relentless threat to the government, gaining foothold
as a very formidable force. However, in the attack of Jolo in 1973, the MNLF have sustained
innumerable losses on their sides, with large number of casualties. The Basilan bombings
have also led to sizable casualties, many among them were civilians.

In 1973, the government adopted a reconciliatory approach to end the war in Mindanao
thru the “Policy of Attraction”, which begun a period of pacification, reconciliation and
amnesty.

Through a series of negotiation and dialogues, a number of MNLF armed combatants

returned to the fold of the government and embraced the offer of peace and reconciliation
as well as the promise of rehabilitation and resettlement – in line with the main promise of
ending decades long of oppression and discrimination against Muslims and Lumads in
Mindanao. Central to this campaign of reconciliation was Rear Admiral Romulo M.
Espaldon, a native of Taw-Tawi, tasked to dialogue with the MNLF in the thrust for finding a
lasting peace in Mindanao.

To strengthen the cause of peace, the government agreed to sign the Tripoli Agreement on
December 23, 1976 granting political autonomy to the Bangsamoro in Mindanao. And with
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this agreement, the long quest for peace took root and thereafter sowed the seed of peace,
despite that such road was so arduous and difficult – that even towards this very day, after
the grant of autonomy and self-dete, the road to peace remains endless and foreboding.