A special Report by ICC
11/24/2013 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – After a violent three-week standoff between government forces and Muslim rebels, testimonies of surviving hostages reveal that Christians were specifically targeted for persecution during the armed conflict.
Standoff Between Government Troops and Muslim Rebels
On Sep. 9, after Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels tried to force their way into Zamboanga city, in the southern Philippines, to hoist their flag at city hall. After being blocked by troops and policemen who discovered their plan, they entered five coastal communities and took residents hostage, many of whom were Christians.
What followed was a three-week battle between the Muslim rebels and government troops that took the lives of more than 200 people, including 166 rebels. The gunbattles, including exchanges of grenade and mortar fire, forced more than 100,000 residents, nearly 10 percent of the population of Zamboanga city, to flee their homes and seek refuge in emergency shelters. Thousands of houses were destroyed in the fighting. It was one of the longest and most violent attacks by a Muslim group in the south, according to Al Jazeera.
Following an offensive ordered by President Benigno Aquino III, the violence concluded with all of the captives safe, leading Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to tell Associated Press, “I can say that the crisis is over. We have accomplished the mission.”
The Testimonies of Christian Hostages
After the brutal conflict, however, stories began to emerge that revealed the religious motives behind the selection of some of the political hostages taken by the MNLF.
On Sep. 9, a family of three were in their home on Lustre Street, in Zamboanga City, when they heard gunshots. “We didn’t get out of the house until my uncle told me moments later that we are evacuating,” Michelle Candido, the wife in the family, told Human Rights Watch.
They sought refuge at a Christian church down the street but were intercepted by the rebels. The rebels herded them into the church where they were joined by more than 50 other residents, six of them Michelle’s relatives. All were Christians as the rebels had freed those who were Muslim, according to The Rappler. During the conflict, the Muslim rebels even used Christian hostages as human shields.
Also on Sep. 9, an armed MNLF fighter in combat uniform knocked on the door of Juan Santander Morte, a Christian who 45 years ago fought against the MNLF during its struggle for independence in the 1960s.
The MNLF fighter asked whether Santander was Christian or Muslim. When he answered, “Christian,” the fighter said, “Then you better come with me.” Santander was taken hostage but was able to escape from captivity during fighting that broke out in one of the villages, where he was being held.
However, despite the threat to his life and the reasons for being taken hostage, he expressed no bitterness toward his captors. “We are all victims of circumstance, Jamela. For what good will hate bring me? So best to just accept it. This is Zamboanga – I was born here. We are used to armed conflict,” he said, while speaking to Al Jazeera correspondent, Jamela Alindogan. His comments reveal a tragic sense of resignation to a religio-political conflict that does not seem to have an end in sight, leaving Christians in the region with the constant threat of persecution hanging over their head.
Safety of Christians Clearly Threatened by Political Conflict
Most attacks against Christians in Philippines are at the hands of Muslim terror groups, like the MNLF, but these testimonies are particularly disturbing because of the clearly expressed intent behind the armed fighters’ selection of hostages. It reveals the persisting blend of religious and political motivations that drive the MNLF’s stubborn resistance to the government, as well as its religious ambitions of establishing an Islamic state.
The religious and political prejudice of Muslim terror groups in the Philippines cannot be divorced from each other any longer, so that any government effort to bring peace should be married to an effort to ensure the provision of religious freedom and the safety of Christians.
As Ryan Morgan, International Christian Concern’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, says, “As stories emerge from the chaos of the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) attack on Zamboanga City in September, we are once again reminded of the religious dimension of this long running conflict. Dozens of Christians were taken hostage and reports indicated that some were violently pressured to renounce their faith and convert to Islam. It’s also being revealed that hostages were chosen on the basis of their Christian faith. Such blatant discrimination and persecution should be a wake-up call to anyone under the impression that unrest in the Southern Philippines is purely an issue of politics. The Philippine government must do everything possible to ensure that Christians are carefully protected under type of peace arrangement that is agreed upon.”