The Davao-Butuan-Cagayan road are the most practical choice for us.  And coming from Kidapawan, we would travel by bus going to Davao. It passes through about four towns before it reaches  Davao. The town of Digos is the most economically progressive among the four towns. After Davao, Tagum is the progressive town then Butuan City, then Cagayan de Oro.

Today Digos, Tagum and my home t0wn Kidapawan are small cities. Tagum is the most progressive of the three but not by a mile. The commericialism in these small cities are almost thesame, but they have left behind by miles the other nearby towns. Tagum is now as big and progressive (if not more) as Butuan City. A quick glance would even dictate a better Tagum. The roads are wider, the buildings are taller, Malls are more prominent, and the cars the roams the streets tells something about the economy of the place. In fact Tagum City is one of the most competitive small city in the Philippines.

Kidapawan is more laid back, but the local economy is equally booming. In fact, it has the lowest poverty incidence in entire Mindanao. Davao City is only ranked fourth (in 2009 survey). Digos is the newest city of the three, but was already looking like a small city even before it was finally categorize as a city.

Our second route choice, which is via General Santos City, has experienced the most rapid economic development of all the the regions of Mindanao. Even the once dreaded Barangay Paglas, is now more progressive than its older neighbohr-the town of Buluan. Unfortunately, Buluan looks thesame. There are still fish vendors along the national highway, and people are still chatting along the roads. Passing that town seems going back in time. It did not changed so much.

The road, however have improve a lot. Its all concrete now, and some portion have four lanes. The most dramatic improvement is in the Tacurong City and Koronadal City. (Koronadal was also ranked first once, as most competitive in the country). I would go to Koronadal quiet often (a three hour ride by car from my place), and I can hardly see the old Koronadal. It is far, far different today. And the most telling difference is that from Koronadal going to General Santos, there are already signs of economic activity along the road. It has somehow have been connected by just many kinds of business and people that inhabits the place.

And General Santos City. It is a different animal now. So much different than the Dadiangas (the old name of General Santos City) that I used to see back then. And the concrete surrounding have made it much hotter. One must place for investors to visit.

Going to Silliman University from my hometown, the travel distance is considerable.  I have to travel by land for about 10 hours, then by boat  for about 8 hours. That is the shortest route. Sometimes due the inability of boat (airplane is possible, but is not really cost efficient.  there was only the Philippine Airlines-then a monopoly), we have to find other ways, and those alternative route were longer. We always do some sort of a travel tour around Mindanao and Visayas, but the youth in us never complains. On the other hand, we enjoy those long trips that practically  allowed us some very important travel time.

My first year in college was in 1981, the roads then were generally dusty but the major highways were already concreted, many parts though needed some major repair. The easiest route is via Cagayan de Oro which is at the northern part of Mindanao. We have to travel to Davao , travel time is about 3 hours, then to Cagayan via Butuan which is about 8 to 10 hours ride. There are some portion along the towns of Prosperidad in Agusan that have to be rehabilitated. That was the only bumpy part. However, if the only available boat ride is in General Santos City, then we have to travel for 5 hours going to GenSan, the roads are 90 percent rough. It was really rough that two hour of ride feels like eternity, and after every travel, I can recall some friend promising not to pass that road again. If we choose not to suffer the bumps, we would travel via Cotabato City, which is just about 2 to 3 hours ride depending on the means of transportation, then by a small boat going to Pagadian then we would travel by land going to Dipolog. Since the boats were small, the waves would throw it up and down that one can’t help but throw out everything from your stomach. By the time we reach Dumaguete, most are already dehydrated and dead tired. It would take me about two days to feel normal again.

The condition of Mindanao’s road was despicable, and there are but a few available routes.  Some  buses were already airconditioned, but the one in Zamboanga Peninsula were  mostly non aircon. Many boats are in very bad shape that it is not uncommon to hear capsized boats. Airlines are very limited.

The towns going to General Santos City were basically in typical provincial setting. How I wish I had a DCLR camera then. The towns of Buluan was the only Moro town which were noticeably economically active. People could be seen mingling along the road. Fishes for sale are displayed at the road side. Then we would pass by the town of Tacurong which is a bit bigger than Buluan. Going to Marbel or Koronadal, there were other small towns that looked like villages. I can’t really remember how those towns appeared then, perhaps the dust were obscuring my memory or the travel exhaustion totally blurred my vision.

Koronadal was a bit bigger than Tacurong. When the jeepney would stop for a meal, we would hurry to the nearest carenderia which were housed in wooden structured buildings. Some carenderia still serve their food in sartin plates (it is made of coated tin) which are mostly painted in white with blue edging. Softdrinks or water were normally poured in those thick drinking glass.  Most buildings then were made of wood. Concrete buildings can only be seen in big cities like Davao, Cagayan de Oro or in General Santos.        (to be continued)

How can we eat under such situation is not much to us, we grew up under extreme condition, and those kind of skirmishes is nothing new to our psyche. This is a common scene in the 1970′s. I grew up with a bang. literally. I saw dead bodies lined in the highways, I’ve heard of killings and massacre just about everywhere.  One time we were travelling (we are on board a jeepney, that is our major means of transportation then though my father owned a beat up Honda 50 motorcycle.) to a nearby town, I saw dead bodies, men, women and children, hundreds of them, I’ve heard stories that they were victims of a village massacre.

Every night, the men in our baranggay would be on guard, they were on rotation. They are guarding our place for possible attacks from Black Shirts (the rebel group that are fighting for secession of Mindanao. This is actually the armed group that came out of the Mindanao Independent Movememnt). Almost all household owns a gun then, not just one, but perhaps several guns. It was under this condition when I learned to cock a gun, when I tried to mimick the movie heroes quick shooting from the hips. I was only about eight years old then.

During my high school days, classes would sometimes be interrupted because of occasional battles between the rebel and the Philippine Army. Students would sometimes go to the site of the battle to watch the gunfight, as if it was a movie. We have grown oblivious to the dangers of the gun. Just like the moros, the christians have learned to live with the guns.

To hear cannons, to see tanks, for seven year olds to know the difference between M-14 and M-16, to automatically know the guns used by the the empty shells left behind, is the way of life in the 1970′s. When I was still in my youth, I already knew how powerful AK-47 is, I knew that Thompson riffle would overheat, I knew the knocking power of a caliber 45 pistol, I knew that you can hit a person a km away using a Garrand riffle.

This explosive place, this burning thing made our young minds. What we lack in toys, we have more in guns. We learned how to survive, we learned how to fight back, we learned how not to be afraid. After all, we are bitten by the same mosquitos, we eat the same lanzones, we all live by the fishes of Liguasan Marsh. This mentality is unique to those who were made, molded, nurtured under fire.

But that was then.

I was born in mid 1960′s when the land of my birth was still the back waters of the country. Trees were tall in as far as you can see. I remember going inside this jungle, and it was dark in there, my skin were protected from the rays of the sky by the thick leaves and green plants that abound all over. I can hear insects whistling, birds singing. The roar of the wild boar makes me tremble with fear, but then I was always amaze with those white monkeys jumping from trees to trees, kept my young mind wondering how they could hide their color in this darkness.

Every morning, I would remember the fogs coming down to the ground. It was so thick, and so cold, but it feels really good. In the evening, the cricket sound is heard from everywhere, also were the birds  howling .

Me and my younger brother would often go to the nearest river for a swim, go inside the forest to set our trap for birds, turtles or whatever that our traps might get. Most often, none. We would always bring home some birds, not from our trap, but from our slingshot. It is so easy to hit those birds then, for they don’t fly so high in those days. There are no airplanes to compete with, that’s why.

In the 1970′s, that’s when  peace was broken. My troubled youth begun. (Next; My Troubled Homeland)

There is another royal blood in Cotabato who settled in Kidapawan. They are of the Kiram Family, thesame Kiram of the Sultanate of Sulu. It is unfortunate that the one who live in Kidapawan lost their way. Most of their properties are now beyond their control, although large tracts of lands are still left specially in Lanao Provinces. It is very sad to see the once considered land mark of Kidapawan lost to economic invasion. Their once prominent house known to Cotabatenyos as the house of Sultan Omar Kiram is now replace by the building of a hardware store.

And where are they now? It is nice that the wife of the Sultan is still allive, a healthy 92 years old. She came home from Australia to find the ancestral home of her children now torn into pieces. Her children are now all over the globe, it is sad the she now has nowhere to live.

Of course she can stay all her live in a hotel, but a hotel is not a home. Every descent filipinos would like to live in a home. Not a home for the aged, but a home where children laughs, where young children cry, where children sleep and dream of big things to come. This is perhaps the very reason why she choose to stay in somebody’s house, where she could here kids giggling, laughing, and shouting.

But it is still a sad sight to see the once proud mother, now old and homeless.

Who are giving legal advice to P-noy? He is getting one reprieve after another from the Supreme Court. This is pathetic. Will this kind of legal ineptness provide a sound solution to the age old Mindanao problem? I hope the  brilliance of Marvic Leonen will be the saving grace here.

ARMM governance is know for corrupt practices, and the we all know about it. It only shows that something is sooooooooooooooo wrong with this system. It is now up to Congress to review it.  (And this is not only endemic in ARMM but likewise in many other impoverish regions or localities.)

One bug came out during one of the many discussion regarding the moro problem. We all know, and most will agree that the federal structure will answer the demands of the moro group as well as the prayers of the non moros from Mindanao.  But this will never come into reality because negotiators from  Luzon will never allow it to happen. “What will happen to Luzon? We can not allow Luzon and the rest of the country to go hungry?”  So Mindanao will forever be doomed, to be the milking cow of politicians, the milking cow of Metro Manila, the bread winner for Luzon, or worst, the medal giver for our brave soldiers.

Why don’t we asked the Mindanao leaders how they would solve the problem?  The government negotiators keep on saying that they are in constant contact with the different sectors that are affected with this problem, so this is why comments coming from Lobregats, and other Cruzes of Mindanao are labelled as peace spoilers.

Mindanao problem is a political problem so it  needs a political solution, like dividing ARMM in two. One to be governed by the MNLF, and the other by MILF.  (Umbra Kato will also asked for his share so we national government are obliged to give in and give him Liguasan Marsh. Funny but it is pretty obvious that the MNLF will be left behind in this approach, and more funnny for Leonen and company to think that they can have their way without the other group arming themselves to gain political leverage. This has happened before, and it will happen again if the P-noy administration will resort to that kind of political arm twisting. They should not underestimate these moro intellectual who they think are a bunch of idiots leaving in Liguasan Marsh. These peole are educated in the best schools not just in the country but in the best universities around the globe.  Perhaps some of the minds behind the P-noy admin is so familiar with Harvard, but we can always asked Adel Tamano if he knows a Mindanaoan moro studying in Columbia University or Harvard U. He can definitely tell.

I can fully understand why the MILF will reject such proposal, and I can only agree. Although there are also some points that I don’t agree with them. One of those is the EXCLUSIVITY that they are asking for. When a peace accord is reach, always attached to it, is a clause that allows a moro EXCLUSIVE right to govern. This is the goat that gets the bile of the christians. For it is pretty clear as midday that most christians  will never allow their future to be manage by moros. This distrust should be address by the negotiators for the simple reason that there are areas dominated by christians but are included in the demanded domain. This is a cultural problem unique in Mindanao, and never undestood by those from Luzon. Mindanao christians don’t hate their muslim brothers, they’re just quarelling. People here in Mindanao settle our differences the hard way, is that difficult to understand?

The economic carrot that is attached with the 3 n 1 proposal is bogus, for how in the world can this bankrupt government finance economic undertakings in Mindanao? If they plan to borrow money to finance it, then by all means arm the Mindanaoan leaders the personality and legal means to negotiate for loan and other financial assistance from more affluent countries. Another thing. Even with the pittance that this Manila centric government  have provided Mindanao, progress is coming, and is coming strong. The Mindanao economy is now strong that it no longer needs the assistance of Manila to progress.  ARMM and some other region may be poor, but other regions can compensate for that. The economy of Davao, Bukidnon, Zamboanga, Soccsargen are more than enough to stimulate growth in Mindanao. This is something that Mindanaoans is now realizing, and they are now  slowly believing in themselves.

As a Mindanaoan am I disheartened that no peace accord is reach yet? No. As long as Mindanao keeps on improving, with or with out the peace document, it is OK.

Before I go into my favorite topic, Mindanao, let me explaim my absence. (to justify my writing it here).

Last January 3, I suffered a heart attack, and for several month, I have to struggle to regain my strength. luckily I did. the last two or three months, I slowly regained my desire to write again, not unlike during the first three month of my illness when all I could do was watch tv, surf the net, but do nothing which needs effort, for nothing interest me. I really do not have the desire.

Now I could write again, but I have to watch my vital signs, I have to watch my blood pressure, I have to watch my heart rate. I have to avoid activities that would cause me so much distress. I have to exercise religiously,

Am I half dis abled? no. I don’t feel I am. But I have to be on guard. Be defensive all the time. No more alcoholic drinks, no more excessive fatigue, no more late nights, I even have to give up my biking. (I do walking instead, as my form of exercise). Most importantly, I have to learn to love resting, doing nothing but let the days pass and enjoy the coming of every bright morning.

Now I am starting to enjoy what they called life.

The search for peace in Mindanao has taken many turns. Approaches came in many colors and designs, but still nothing, nada.

We almost have it during the time of Misuari and the Ramos administration, with the creation of ARMM. But then it only solve half of the problem. It turned out, to Manilan’s dismay, that the hydra is a two headed monster, and that cutting off one head only resulted to the metamorphosis of a bigger, more united and determined group. We have it again during Arroyo’s time, but then the people of Mindanao, not the muslim group, shouted to high heavens, and the Supreme Court listened.

The moro group have already have proven their mettle. Niloko ni Marcos, Pinulbos na ni Erap, at tinapos  ni Gloria, and still they are here in our midst demanding for fare shake. So this is perhaps the predicate of the Marvic Leonen statement.

Let’s talk peace, they say that is the way forward. But some people are wary that another Memorandum of Agreement might result to a chorus of angry men. Balkanization of the country might be the end cost, and Philippines (reads; ignorant oligarchs from Manila) can not afford a country divided. Let the Philippines remain united yet poor and undeveloped amidst the wranggling from the south (the cousins of Marx, not Grouko, and all the sons and daughters of Mao with their bleeding heart, included).

Let there be peace at all cost, and if it needs amendment to the constitution, so be it. But please let us have peace not in the midst of fire and exploding bombs. Let us have peace with houses intact, not churches and mosques in tatters.

Some group may bring peace through the gates of the white house, but let us not forget the Iraq devastation. They brought peace and damage the whole country.

Let us have peace at all cost, but please let not Mindanao be another Afghanistan.

In America, unlike in some poor countries like the Philippines where the wealth of the rich (including their haciendas) are perpetually transferred to their children, and children’s children, they find the passing of wealth unconscionable as experience by Cornelius Vanderbilt when he left all his wealth to his son William. He was “cursed as an aristocratic ingrate who gave nothing back to the people whose sweat had built….his fortune.” How could he be so greedy?

Well, the poor will never understand how difficult it is to become enourmously rich, and how difficult it is to let go of those tons of gold dust they have gathered over time. If it is difficult to become rich, it is even more difficult to hold on to it. In business as in sports, the one on top will eventually be vanquished. So their maxim is to have more to hedge themselve for the time of their fall. This is their perpetual stuggle.

How did they? The first trick is to raise the prices as much as they can for the same product. If there are competitors, they talk…they formed a cartel to control the price. When cartel was disallowed by the govenment, they formed a trust (and eventually become the monoplies that controlled everything). And when the anti-trust law was passed, they side step it by forming a holding company……… The cycle will go on forever. On the positive side, they form philantrophic arms, that are still under their control.

Which ever way people go, the rich and the powerful could find a way to protect themselves.