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Muslim-Christian Divide In Mindanao
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, May 25 (IslamOnline) - The recently concluded mid-term elections in the Philippines have produced no clear winners yet, as the vote counting process has dampened enthusiasm in the country.
However, one clear picture could be seen in Mindanao where candidates of the Puwersa Ng Masa (PNM) opposition front of Joseph Estrada, the jailed deposed former president, did very well.
The good showing, however, is reflective of the great divide in the Mindanao provinces, where Muslims have voted massively for candidates of the People Power Coalition (PPC), and Christians for the PNM.
Months before elections in Mindanao, IslamOnline reported that there was a deep divide between the two faiths in Mindanao, to the extent that the Christians were totally opposed to any deals with Muslims.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, however, pressed for resumption of peace talks in the war torn provinces, calling for the nation to heal and live together peacefully.
Christians in Mindanao, supported by former president Estrada, criticized the government for offering its hand to help Muslims in the province. They even suggested that Muslims be sent off to other provinces or countries, Borneo or Indonesia.
The divide has been greater still during the elections and slow creeping results from Mindanao show that senatorial candidates of the PNM performed well in areas dominated by Christians.
Manuel Orig, president of the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), said PNM candidates fared poorly in Moro provinces such as Maguindanao.
In the municipality of Pagalungan, partial unofficial returns from at least 10 precincts showed that the PNM, except for Santanina Rasul and Ombra Tamano, received zero votes each.
Even PNM guest candidate Noli de Castro, who has consistently taken the lead in the senatorial race, received zero votes, the Namfrel said.
Rasul and Tamano, also of the PNM, were voted for because they are Muslims, sources in Mindanao said.
Many Muslims in the area did not vote for any PNM candidate viewed "as the deliverer of unrest".
This was the pattern in most of cities and villages in densely populated Muslim areas.
Muslims said PNM candidates were Estrada associates, and that his supporters thought Muslims were enemies. Left with no choice, Muslims massively supported Arroyo's PPC.
But an anti-PPC vote was noted in areas dominated by Christian settlers.
In Barangay Tunggol in Pagagawan, Maguindanao, non-Moro residents said they voted against the PPC because they feared an eventual resurgence of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under a strong Macapagal administration.
That fear was apparent in the results of the senatorial race in Aleosan, North Cotabato, which is also thickly populated by settlers.
The strong anti-Estrada sentiment among Muslims started when he declared an all-out war against the MILF last year.
In Pagalungan alone, thousands of people were forced to live in evacuation centers as the military, on Estrada's orders, combed their villages for MILF forces.
The Muslims recalled that these were the worst events in their lives, and that they did not experience such cruelty during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos.
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