Jolo, Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, OMI

A brass plate embedded on the pavements fronting the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo town is the bitter reminder of where the well-loved Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, OMI, fell after being shot by three men on February 4, 1997.

It was early morning, the shopswere already open, a few meters away the commercialphotographers converged, awaiting possible clients.
There were certainly witnesses to the murder. But we
were told later, "In Jolo there is this culture of
silence."
"Bishop Ben", as he is better known in the Vicariate,
was a well-loved man, who stood firmly behind the
inter-religious dialogue in this predominant Muslim
province. He poured his heart out to the Badjao people,
the marginalized indigenous group of the south.
Despite all, he was violated by men who, to this day,
still roam around the province.

Live normally?

Four years earlier, two Spanish sisters were taken hostage
by the dreaded kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf Group. A
year later, Father Clarence Bertlesmann was abducted
by the same group while saying Mass in one of the
three churches in the town. Several grenades were
hurled at the Cathedral's grounds. A day after
Christmas last year, two home-made bombs were planted
on the road leading to the Notre Dame College.
Three years ago, there was a move among the Church
people to "live normally" - meaning move around the
town without any security men. Consequently, Father
Benjamin Innocencio, the Vicariate's Chancellor, while
shopping for his post-Christmas gifts, was gunned down
by a man who jumped behind his vehicle, killing the
priest instantly and wounding the driver in the head.

Notorious

The Vicariate of Jolo consists of two provinces, Sulu
and Tawi-Tawi, with a population of about 800,000, 3
percent of whom are Christians. Despite the beauty of
the islands, this part of the country was a feared
destination because of the numerous bloody family
feuds and men walking around with their guns. There is
a saying here: "You can find
another wife but it is very difficult to find another
arm (gun) if it is lost."
For the past years, Jolo attained international
notoriety when the Abu Sayyaf Group took hostage several
Caucasian tourists.

Looking at the background

To properly understand the "state of Jolo", one should
look into the region's historical background, says
Oblate Father Angelito Lampon. For centuries, the
provinces were often prey to pirates. To fend them
off, its residents have armed themselves.
In the 17th - 18th century, the Spaniards tried to
colonize them, including forcing them into embracing
the western-induced Catholic religion. (In the 14th
century the first Islamic missionaries came to the
region and converted the inhabitants into the Islamic
religion.) In the late 19th century, American troops
arrived, "to colonize and to bring the people to their
kind of thinking."
When the Philippine government was established,
migrants from other parts of the country came. Again
this was perceived as trying to lord over the region.
On top of this was the presence (and abuses) of
government forces while the country was under martial
rule in the 1970s.

Loose arms

In the past years, there has been the global Islamic
renewal, whereby many young men were sent to the
Middle East for training, either in the madrasas
(Islamic schools) or for their Islamic military forces.
New leaders from Islamic military groups who pursued
to establish an independent Islamic State then slowly
edged out the traditional leaders. Added to this is
the presence of loose arms, a status symbol among the
men.
"Taking these into consideration, including the
sporadic conflicts, vis-à-vis the all-out military
operations or attacks of the rebels in Jolo, it is
relatively peaceful here," says the bishop. "Although
we still cannot go to any place we want because of
certain small minorities, extremists in their thinking, there is always this lurking danger behind.
But otherwise, there are a lot of good, nice people both in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. We can attest to this with our experiences, our dealing with them, our working
out with them, despite the mixed communities."

Unity needed

What is unfortunate, says Sr. Marlibeth Gabuyo of the
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, is that
media, which is primarily owned by Christians living
in Manila, over emphasizes the mistakes of Muslims.
Unbalanced, biased reportage on the conflicts in Jolo
has caused more harm than good to the region and to
the Muslim-Christian relationship.
Jolo needs not only peace but also unity in diversity,
she says. "This is because the culture of the Muslims
is very diverse, the same for the Christians. What is
imperative here is the enhancement of both the good of
the Christians and the good of the Muslims. What we
really need is unity, not only peace."<WM