I recall the telephone ringing very early in the morning. I picked up the phone and it was my sister on the line. She asked me if I was watching the news. I replied that I wasn’t that we were asleep. She told me to go and watch because there were airplanes which rammed into the Twin Towers in New York City!
At this time I lived on the small Pacific island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia where there was NO live television. But thank goodness for small favors, we had very good internet access. So, I went on the BBC website and the CNN website and sure enough the two airplanes that flew into the twin towers was front and center news with live video streaming of the top floor of the building in flames. And then the Twin Towers collapsed. That was September 11, 2001.
Al-Qaeda was said to be responsible for this series of coordinated suicide attacks on the United States. The terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jets, 2 of which crashed into the Twin Towers. The third airplane crashed into The Pentagon in Arlington, VA and the fourth crashed into a field near Shanksville, PA which was thought to target either the Capitol Building or the White House in nearby Washington DC. There were no survivors. A professor from my college was on one of the flights from Boston, MA that crashed into the twin towers. This was a very sad day which shocked the entire world and prompted for a man-hunt for Osama bin Laden who was the No. 1 on the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.
Fast forward to 1 May, 2011. Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda organization, was shot and killed on a raid in a secure, private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in a covert operation authorized by the US President Barack Obama. Whilst this is indeed good news, I believe that this was too easy a death for a man purported to be responsible for a total of between 80,000 and 1.2 million civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia between 2001 and 2007. (Wikipedia) In any which case, I do hope that his soul burns in hell for all the misery he has caused in this world.
Bin Laden’s death is a major event which may yet prompt some cataclysmic events worldwide. All the nations are increasing their vigilance. Even here in the Philippines there have been a lot of troop movements and security to all public places has been increased.
Unbeknownst to many people, the Philippines are home to 3 terrorist alliances- the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Raja Solaiman Movement (RSM). RSM is the radical fringe of the Balik-Islam movement, which literally means “return to Islam”. Members call themselves “reverts” and not “converts” for 2 reasons. First, they maintain that all humans are born free of sin into Islam, but misled by parents or guardians they may be brought up in other traditions. When they revert to Islam, they are cleansed of sin. Secondly, they argue that Islam is the Philippines original religion which was reversed by the Spanish colonialism.
So how do the Philippines become associated with terrorism? Well, the Philippines are the world’s top exporter of labor with Saudi Arabia as the number one destination. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) went into construction jobs in the Middle East. From 10% in 1975, the region absorbed 70% of OFW in 1977 and 90% in 1981. By the end of 2001, there were 915, 239 Filipinos in Saudi Arabia and about 1.5 million throughout the region. (ICG) Many of these workers either hail from the Muslim religion and some non-Muslims have been converted as there are incentives given by the Saudi government if they convert.
In 1990 a group of Filipinos based in Saudi Arabia established the Islamic Studies Call and Guidance (ISCAG). Its stated objectives were to solicit Saudi donations (Zakaf) for the publication of missionary materials and to establish charitable institutions and Islamic centers in the Philippines. ISCAG’s key patron is Saudi Sheikh Hamoud Muhammad al-Lahim, who works closely with its Balik-Islam founding president, Bienvenido “Kahlid” Evaristo, to produce a steady stream of Islamic tracts in English and Tagalog. (ICG) The materials are printed in Saudi Arabia and are distributed free of charge here in the Philippines. It is the main source of Islamic literature in the country.
Evaristo’s strong personal ties with the Saudi establishment ensure that the ISCAG is the best-endowed convert organization in the Philippines today and the motivational force of the Balik-Islam movement. ISCAG promotes a minimalist form of salafi Islam, defined most powerfully by what it is not, including NOT tolerant of Christianity, Western Materialist lifestyles, and local Islamic cultural practices.
A prominent figure in the Balik-Islam movement and the head of the RJS movement is Ahmed Islam Santos. In 1999 Santos went to Mecca for the Hajj and consolidated his Arab connections. He became associated with Mohammad Jamal Khalifa (brother in law of Osama bin Laden) which boosted his stature and access to funds. Santos is behind some of the terrorist training camps in Mindanao. After a series of bombings and other acts of terrorism, Santos was arrested. However, his movement continues and is considered to be dangerous.
The Philippines needs to continue to monitor the movement of these groups. Killing the leader of the most prominent group of terrorism may give rise to another group taking over and performing vengeance. The government has taken steps to improve the safety of its citizens but this is not enough. The government needs to institute anti-terrorism laws which will reduce law-enforcement shortcuts and incidences of false arrests and bail-jumping which are so common in this country. The Judicial process also need to be accelerated and ensure that the trials are transparent and the evidence made public. The country has taken some steps but need to act further to help stop these acts of violence by terrorist groups.
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