CIVIL WAR ZZamboanga crisis

V.S.The Philippine army

The Moro National Liberation Front(MNLF)

Economy :The Zamboanga crisis has not much impact on the overall economy of the Philippines, but there was an impact on the businesses in Zamboanga. Commercial businesses in Zaboanga closed for several days due to the fights caused by the armed members of the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) headed by Nur Misuari, who have been holding civilian hostages and engaging in a standoff with government troops for nine days. This resulted in an income loss for the companies. Even if this crisis happened, the government are still expecting a 6-7% increase of the overall economy of the Philippines by the end of this year.

Politics :The peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was useless not only because it was unacceptable to the original Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front, it was also upsetting to the latter because its leader, Nur Misuari, was left out of the conversation. He calls members of the MILF traitors since he is still waiting for the continuation of talks to fix out some issues he has with the 1996 peace agreement he signed with former President Fidel Ramos. Aquino arrived in Zamboanga on Friday, Sept. 13 and was in the evacuation centers then was never seen again, in spite if the fact that his assistant said that he was still in Zamboanga the whole week. In his position, Mar was in the troubled city and was trying to have an agreement with the acknowledged leader of the MNLF group, Habier Malik, that laid siege on the city. Five days has passed and nothing was still heard from PNoy, Mar was being asked about where Noynoy really is and for the reason for his long absence from public view. On Thursday, Noynoy reappeared and Mar seems to have slowly disappeared from view. Both of them in one image might be Mar is covering something uninviting than Noynoy's disappearance to be secured from the MNLF's rebellion.

Society :The attack of the MNLF has caused a lot of destruction is the city of Zamboanga especially to the people living there. Zamboangeños lost a lot of loved ones and a lot of people were badly injured due to the attack of the Armed forces of the Philippines against the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) with the with firearms and swords...; they had the lost of livelihood and jobs because the closure of businesses for days, houses and properties were destroyed and burnt by the MNLF. After the siege ended, though some people are still traumatized of what has happened to the city and business are opened.

Zamboanga city has a very diverse and interesting culture-- based on the influence of the neighboring countries. Religious influence has had one of the largest impacts on Zamboanga, affecting their ways of life, and the things they do. However, with this war, we will begin to see less of the Christian and foreign influences, since the MNLF are planning to make it into an independent nation. Right now, the percentage of the indigenous people that still exist from 1880-2013 dropped from 64% to 33%, and now we only have a mere 14%. If this war will continue, more and more lives will be lost, and the Zamboangan/ Mindanao culture will slowly fade. Despite all this, we can still relive their culture by learning their insturments and their local culture.

Chain reaction By Ryann Ang People say that the Filipinos are one of the kindest people, and this is true. We Filipinos are a good example of a nation because a nation has to be people who can share their pain with each other and be in solidarity with their fellow people. But that is not the current state of the nations in the world. We have people dying and not being mourned, people getting sick and we just don't care and people having troubles but no one to listen to them. No matter how much I don't want this, this is the reality of us. We have created jets to fly like a bird, we have created ships to swim like the fishes but we have yet to live like humans with each other. We have yet to build our nation. In order to rebuild our broken nations we must first destroy the past hate and anger and then we can start fresh and new. We must build our concept and principles that will guide us to be different from the past. We Filipinos have already done this with our po and opo and our respect for the elderly. Just by simply doing small deeds such as greeting people with a smile can help build our ideal nation. But just by doing small deeds isn't enough though, we have to have a leader who can lead us to be better a good government results to a good nation. The government can do actions that can help the people like giving free medicine annually to help the people who are getting hit by typhoons and other incidents. They can implement laws that will give people justice to express themselves and laws. That can ensure peace and safety of the nation. I have seen a similar example of person who sacrificed everything in order to have peace and order in the world. It was an anime series called: Code Geas. The protagonist conquered the whole world using his nobility as king attacking all countries. The world hated him and resented him.But his plan was different from what they expected, he asked his friend to dress up as a mysterious person wearing a mask to kill him so that the protagonist will die along with the worlds hate and anger. It resulted to peace throughout the whole world. What I am saying is that in order to have peace in our "nation" we must first get rid of the past. Removing all of the anger and hate that we experience everyday. You can do this by just simply being happy and trying to love everyone like Jesus did. As a student like me there are a ton of ways to help build our ideal nation. I am always jolly, I try not to lie and do all sorts of activities to help people like playing football with my friends to help them be better at football or help people review for the upcoming long test. Like what my classmate always says "you help 1 person and you help the whole class, and when you help the class you help the whole school" that saying really made us laugh because of its sillyness but then when I thought about it hardly I came to understand that it is actually a pretty good example of rebuilding our nation. We should put all our hope on the youth that can still make insights like this and when he comes of age we might be a better nation. Rebuilding a nation will take lots of time because of all the greed in our world. It would be hard because no matter how much we try we are still made of greed and that is where God comes in, he can rid all the evil and suffering in this world and let his kingdom be fully realized.

Let's rebuild our nation

Gavin Uy As Filipinos, we must stand up to this crisis, and move as one country. Us, the Filipinos, can show our support by donating canned goods, and create websites, and through social media, for people of other countries to be aware of what is going on in the Philippines, and to be able to support us in the endeavor against the crisis. Our government on the other hand, should just not keep fighting back using armed weapons, they should instead communicate with them in court or hold an official meeting, just so that there will be less violence and bloodshed. The government should also be able to not only do EVERYTHING by themselves, they should also ask help from the local Filipinos and neighboring countries for help and support, such as volunteer programs and support groups that help with the psychological effect on the people that were affected. Although, if the MNLF really want the land, we should give them a little bit, but they shall be ruled as an imperialist land influenced by the Philippine government, just like how the Americans treated us, then grant them independence once they deserve it. As students, we have the most limited things to do, although I do believe that we will be able to make a change by making student-based support groups by:

1. Advertising to join said group using social media and by giving out flyers.

2. Giving out circulars to the parents regarding this matter.

3. Have students come up with videos and make write-ups to tell the whole Filipino community that we are here.

4. Once the student groups gain enough profits, we can start sending relief goods and groups of students to represent XS in talking with the affected people.

Solidarity is Key Article by Darren Flores The Zamboanga crisis has caused several casualties to the Filipino people. Filipinos lost money due to the closing down of their businesses because of the troubles caused by the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front). The Filipinos should do their best in bouncing back from the casualties and just move on with their lives. They can continue their everyday work and routines and continue to earn back their losses. The Filipinos should also cooperate with each other, especially the government in rebuilding the nation. The Filipinos should be in solidarity with each other in helping each other to rebuild the country. Whenever the Filipinos have problems, misunderstandings or if they don't like what the government is doing they should contact the government and talk about it peacefully. They should not violently rebel against the government when they don't like what the government is doing. They should follow the good example of the EDSA revolution when the people revolted peacefully against the dictatorship government of former President Ferdinand Marcos. During that revolution, there were astonishingly no major fatalities caused. That truly set a great example for the people today to follow to work in solidarity and unity to rebuild the nation. It is also a great example for the people to follow when they have problems with the government and want to start a revolution. The people should not only think about themselves but for others as well, they should help each other whenever they can to rebuild the nation and to strengthen the nation as a whole. To rebuild the nation, the Philippine government should talk with the MNLF and make peace already. They should talk about what they want and resolve it peacefully, violence is never the answer.They should make an agreement for peace so that there won't be fights anymore. They should make decisions that would satisfy each party. The government should work faster next time to prevent the MNLF or other rebellious groups from taking hostages and fighting. They should enforce the laws harder and make commands to the military and police faster to prevent the casualties. The government should enforce harder the necessary laws to prevent these casualties from happening. A possible law could be not allowing the citizens to carry or own guns and weapons, only the police and military should be allowed. This is to prevent the gun fights and other things that put people in danger. The police and military should only be allowed to carry weapons when they are working. They should be required to leave all weapons in the workplace when they don't have work. These should be done to prevent danger from happening. The government should also see if the needs of the people are satisfied and make the necessary changes right away to prevent revolts by the people. As a student, I can donate to the organizations helping the people affected by the casualties in Zamboanga. Other students should also donate to help the people in the calamities. Steps that students could follow are: first setting a target amount to save, second saving a portion of allowance everyday, and third donating it to an organization to help the people affected. I can become more obedient to the laws and influence others to be obedient as well. This is important so that when we grow older we may be able to continue following all the laws of the government in order to make peace and prevent misunderstandings and fights. The youth should grow up to become good law-abiding citizens so that the casualties happening now would be prevented from happening in the future. As a student, I (and also other people) can pray for peace in the Philippines and for the people affected to have the necessary support and help they need. We should all be in solidarity and include the people affected by the Zamboanga crisis in our prayers. We should: have cooperation and solidarity among the Filipino people, strive for peace, a more functional and stricter government, and a more law-abiding country as a whole. These would make it easier to rebuild and improve. The Philippines is working in progress, and these are stepping stones for the Philippines in rebuilding and strengthening the nation, and in working towards a better nation state.

More than 100,000 people were displaced, several barangays have been occupied by the rebels, deaths many civilians, wounded people everywhere, houses and properties were destroyed and burnt and the slowdown of economic activity in Zamboanga City. These were all caused by the siege of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The crisis erupted on September 9, 2013 when this MNLF faction attempted to raise the flag of the self-proclaimed Bangsamoro Republik at Zamboanga City Hall, which had earlier declared its independence on August 12, 2013 in Talipao, Sulu. This armed invasion has been met by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, which seeks to free the hostages and get rid of the MNLF from the city. The standoff has degenerated into urban warfare, and has brought the city under standstill for days... The person we can control the most is ourselves. As Filipinos, we must try to prevent these wars from happening again to our country to maintain peace among ourselves. We may all have our wants but war isn't the answer, it's irrational and selfish of one to begin a siege or a fight. To rebuild our nation, each and every one of us must do something to keep everything in order. A way to keep this all from happening again is to be selfless, if we are not selfish, we won't be tempted to start wars for something. Another is to be obedient to the laws and what our government tells us to do, by doing this, we could maintain peace in our country. The government should also listen to the needs of some if the people especially those in the provinces (who are far from the central Government) who need support in their livelihood, those who don't have electricity, etc. the government must do something about those problems (even the littlest ones) so that the people wouldn't complain and start rebellions, wars, sieges just to get what the NEED, not want. They government should be also not selfish, they shouldn't be corrupt. Some are intentionally trying to be blind and not see the poor people around them and they just be corrupt for theirselves. If the government does these things to help the people, the country would be in good shape in their hands. One of the members of the Philippines that can truly rebuild our nation to be one is the children; the students. "Ang kabataan ay ang pag-asa ng bayan", Jose Rizal once said. As students, we can rebuild our nation by doing simple things that can influence others to become citizens of the Philippines. By being good role models to the younger children can help rebuild our nation because those people younger than us could be influenced to become better people for the future, they could shape the society to be a peaceful and organized society. Another way is to support those who are in need especially when there are calamities and crises, we could donate money and food to the people affected to bring hope to them and we children/students can bring hope to the country. If the citizens and the government work together, that will form a very great nation state because all are united. Many people can do many things to help the country' state. And we are one of them. So, let us puts some of our nonsense behind and take a step forward and do something that could change the future of a lot of people. "Though we may come from different places, and speak in different tongues. Our hearts beat as one." —Albus Dumbledore, The Goblet of Fire.

Solidarity is Key Article by Darren Flores The Zamboanga crisis has caused several casualties to the Filipino people. Filipinos lost money due to the closing down of their businesses because of the troubles caused by the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front). The Filipinos should do their best in bouncing back from the casualties and just move on with their lives. They can continue their everyday work and routines and continue to earn back their losses. The Filipinos should also cooperate with each other, especially the government in rebuilding the nation. The Filipinos should be in solidarity with each other in helping each other to rebuild the country. Whenever the Filipinos have problems, misunderstandings or if they don't like what the government is doing they should contact the government and talk about it peacefully. They should not violently rebel against the government when they don't like what the government is doing. They should follow the good example of the EDSA revolution when the people revolted peacefully against the dictatorship government of former President Ferdinand Marcos. During that revolution, there were astonishingly no major fatalities caused. That truly set a great example for the people today to follow to work in solidarity and unity to rebuild the nation. It is also a great example for the people to follow when they have problems with the government and want to start a revolution. The people should not only think about themselves but for others as well, they should help each other whenever they can to rebuild the nation and to strengthen the nation as a whole. To rebuild the nation, the Philippine government should talk with the MNLF and make peace already. They should talk about what they want and resolve it peacefully, violence is never the answer.They should make an agreement for peace so that there won't be fights anymore. They should make decisions that would satisfy each party. The government should work faster next time to prevent the MNLF or other rebellious groups from taking hostages and fighting. They should enforce the laws harder and make commands to the military and police faster to prevent the casualties. The government should enforce harder the necessary laws to prevent these casualties from happening. A possible law could be not allowing the citizens to carry or own guns and weapons, only the police and military should be allowed. This is to prevent the gun fights and other things that put people in danger. The police and military should only be allowed to carry weapons when they are working. They should be required to leave all weapons in the workplace when they don't have work. These should be done to prevent danger from happening. The government should also see if the needs of the people are satisfied and make the necessary changes right away to prevent revolts by the people. As a student, I can donate to the organizations helping the people affected by the casualties in Zamboanga. Other students should also donate to help the people in the calamities. Steps that students could follow are: first setting a target amount to save, second saving a portion of allowance everyday, and third donating it to an organization to help the people affected. I can become more obedient to the laws and influence others to be obedient as well. This is important so that when we grow older we may be able to continue following all the laws of the government in order to make peace and prevent misunderstandings and fights. The youth should grow up to become good law-abiding citizens so that the casualties happening now would be prevented from happening in the future. As a student, I (and also other people) can pray for peace in the Philippines and for the people affected to have the necessary support and help they need. We should all be in solidarity and include the people affected by the Zamboanga crisis in our prayers. We should: have cooperation and solidarity among the Filipino people, strive for peace, a more functional and stricter government, and a more law-abiding country as a whole. These would make it easier to rebuild and improve. The Philippines is working in progress, and these are stepping stones for the Philippines in rebuilding and strengthening the nation, and in working towards a better nation state.