Is the war really over?

Struggle to find peace in ZamboangaBeyond the Surge

Zamboanga CrisisNEWS DAY

In Our Culture:

What are the effects of the Zamboanga crisis to our culture? Well I can say that there’s none, because this didn’t change anything in the Filipinos. It only brought harm to the people living in Zamboanga City. Why did the MNLF attack Zamboanga City? Its because the MNLF is demanding for independence, and it is shown in the news that the Muslims in the city are saying they are not terrorists, why? Because the Moro National Liberation Front ( MNLF ) are composed of Muslim people. What’s with Muslims? There’s nothing wrong with them, they just wanted independence I can say that this has nothing to do with there culture, because in there religion there aren’t any rules about independence, read more about Muslim culture here: http://islamiclearningmaterials.com/muslim-culture/ Why do the Muslims want there own country? From what I know It is that the issue of the crisis in Zamboanga is all about religion, they wanted to separate Mindanao from the Philippines due to religion they want to have their own Muslim country, also clearly stated that the Muslims are greedy, they don’t want Christians in Mindanao, that explains the MILF groups in Mindanao. But! The main question here is about the effect of our Philippine culture. From what I know the zamboanga crisis had nothing to do with the culture of the Filipinos. That’s my answer to this question, What are the effects of the Zamboanga crisis to our culture?

- Jave Ong

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE ZAMBOANGA CRISIS TO

OUR COUNTRY?

In Our Society:

In the 1970s the MNLF started its armed campaign against our national government. They caused chaos to some places in our country so that their needs will be acknowledged by the government. They usually take hostages and involve innocent people with their constant struggle to gain independence from the Philippines and to create their own nation. I think this is very selfish of them considering that they too are Filipinos and we share the same blood. To resolve the conflict and tension between the two sides, the government initiated in peace treaties with the MNLF in Mindanao. For years, no fighting between the government and the MNLF occured, until September.9, 2013 the MNLF broke their silence and attacked Zamboanga city. Our Philippine society is greatly affected by this ongoing crisis. We are affected in a lot of ways like, first our country often experience natural disasters that leads to plenty of casualties as well as destruction of properties. These calamities greatly affects the lives of the filipino people. Second our country is having financial problems because of corrupt and greedy government officials, because of this the government fails to address the needs of the people. We are already facing a lot of problems but yet some people still add to it. The Zamboanga crisis not only affects the people in Zamboanga but the whole Philippines. People in Zamboanga were forced to flee from their homes. Also, the children living there are traumatized in what they are seeing and it is not healthy for their young minds. After the three week long crisis the people of Zamboanga city are still kept in evacuation centers not knowing the conditions of some of their relatives and their properties. People are still suffering even after the crisis. This crisis greatly affects of Filipinos not only in Zamboanga but in the whole country because all of us feel threatened when something like this happens. Like in Egypt and Syria their supposed to be protest or rally turned into a war of the people versus the government and we do not want that to happen to us knowing the our country can't handle that kind of conflict. I hope that our country will be united and instead of going against each other, lets all work together, solve our problems and create a better nation. - Matthew Son

In Our Politics:

The problem with our country we don't have unity with each other. We have problems with government we have problems with each other the problem is we don't unite. As a country, we should unite as one and support our leaders and our fellow Filipino's. The problem with the government they don't ask the people for suggestions or anything thing they just think without minding how the people thinks about how will it affect he country. They should focus in the people since the people were the ones who chose them to lead and guide them to a better nation. To be able to create peace the government and the people should have an understanding on the decisions of the political heads. Another problem is it's not only the people and the government that don't have unity. Recently, P-Noy and Binay the Governments biggest heads are fighting over the decision of the Zamboanga Crisis. Vice President Binay Wanted the crisis to be solved peacefully while President P-Noy wanted to finish this crisis and end it with an army. Causing more conflict and chaos between the Government and the MNLF. As a student, I cannot do anything grand and stop all fighting and unite the whole country but I will start small. Since, Today social networking is one of the most powerful things to move people. I will try to give shout outs saying stop the war our country has too many problems already. With my shout out I'm sure somewhere out there will also try to somehow do the same and slowly we can spread our voices. One of the ideal movements is Kony 2013 it is one famous video on YouTube to aim peace for the children in Uganda. Adding more people aware about what is happening and making Joseph Kony get into international pressure so he has nowhere to go.

- Drei Buhain

In Our Economy:

The Philippine’s economy has its ups and downs. It is like a roller coaster. The happenings in Zamboanga was just another downhill in our economy. It affected the tourism in the province. It affected the lives of the normal people. It even affected President Aquino’s votes in the annual Pulse Asia Survey. Zamboanga is still recovering from tragic events that occurred there. Let us just hope for the best for all the Zamboangenios that were heavily affected by the rebels.

- Shaun Lee

In society, the Zamboanga crisis affected the society through the form of war, so basically the Zamboanga crisis between the AFP and the MNLF caused major casualties in Zamboanga, making the society, making the people traumatized, scared and were asked to flee from their homes to evacuation centers, basically the lives of the zamboangenios became hard. In culture, I can say that the Zamboanga crisis I can say that there's none because it Involves religion, because the war involves separation of Mindanao from the Philippines to start their own Muslim country. So culture doesn't have anything to do with it. Knowing these things we can rebuild our Philippine culture through making the government itself a better government, like taking out corrupt leaders, abolish corruption and every issue that has been happening now to our country like the Zamboanga crisis and the pork barrel issue. But these are big things we could do for our country. In the same thing we could also help by doing small things like voting for our leaders wisely, make sure we trust the one we elect as a public official, impeach corrupt officials for the benefit of everyone in the society, these are small things we Filipinos can do for the government so it will also benefit the poor people not just the rich. For me as a student I can help the government by doing simple acts as helping the the government by conserving the environment. Basically that's what I can think of. For me I think there are many more things we can do to help and make the government have better rule and leadership over us. But for now that's all that I can think of. - Jave Ong

The Voices of the Youth

The Zamboanga crisis has brought nothing but trouble to our country but we can still solve this problem as long as we have hope. This issue is not just a simple conflict between two parties. The whole Philippines is very much involved and affected. Since the whole Philippines is affected this means that we too should take part in trying to solve this problem. We can solve this problem first by: instead of rallying and protesting against the government we should just support them and have faith in them. Knowing that we, the people of the Philippines are supporting them there will be a higher chance that they will perform better therefore being able to solve the Zamboanga issue and as well as other problems that our country is facing. Also as citizens of the Philippine we should help our fellow Filipinos. In the context of religion we can pray for the good and welfare of the people while we can also donate and help them physically. As for the government they should at least try to stop graft and corruption and prove the protesters wrong. They should use our country's money not for their own good but use it to improve and rebuild our nation. As a student we too can help solve this problem. We do not need to use our allowance or donate millions worth of goods but we can help in our own simple way. Like here in Xavier School, as part of the Xavier community students gather and spend time packing goods that will be delivered to Zamboanga, also students and teachers gather together to celebrate mass for the people of Zamboanga, also since more of the youth today have acces to social networking they can spread and inspire more youths like them to take part in solving the problems of our country. - Matthew Son

The Philippines is experiencing many internal issues. Not only does the Philippines get affected from the pork barrel issue. Recently, Zamboanga is experiencing war. Usually, wars affect the economy and socially. However, the government is having issues with decisions to the issues. The Vice President and the president are having different point of views in confronting the issues. The president would want it solved through war and the use of artillery. The Vice President wants to solve it peacefully. Binay implied, it's a pity that the president is not for peace. What's worse is that Binay had a truce with NurMisuari without the consolidation with the president. When the president found out he did not accept the proposal of Binay. - Drei Buhain

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamboanga_City_crisis

http://therockofmysalvation.org/josephfeeding/2013/09/21/zamboanga-relief/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/492187/rights-worker-decries-treatment-of-children-in-zamboanga-crisis

http://bongmendoza.wordpress.com/category/mnlf/

What do you think the Government should do?

Should they give Nur Misuari a another chance?

1.The Filipino people can help rebuild the nation by cooperating with each others.So that we can better nation like the people power revolution. They used cooperation and determination to succeed there goal. This made us realize that we can change something without killing people. The religion also affect on changing the nation cause people respect and love their religion and they follow there religion.

2.In the government people should avoid being corrupt so that they would put the money in good hands.Today we are facing or fixing one of the most popular problem in every government:corruption.They should also remove people that abuse there power cause they might change our country neither for the better world or the worse.

3. As a student I should always follow the rules of the school cause the school symbolizes the nation and we symbolizes the people of the nation. I should also prioritize my studies and avoid going to bad stuff. -Shaun Lee