Of Artistic Expression and the Mindanao Conflict

(Below is a response to a Moro woman's entry to a thread in an egroup which I am a member. The Moro woman described her and her family's experiences during the war between the government and the Bangsa Moro freedom fighters in the '70s. The thread started when a Filipino asked something on the Moro governance after the carnage in Lanao del Norte just weeks ago. I have some slight changes. Read on - RB).

THERE ARE CERTAIN narratives that escape us despite of the many horror stories that we heard or read in books - one of them is the one below. Of course we have to find the most appropriate ways of telling and re-telling the stories - telling it in a way that it will push listeners and readers to go beyond the Self and try to manage to enter in another domain or perspectives. Unfortunately these narratives failed to get into more popular media such as dailies, tvs, films, theatre and popular literary forms and artistic endeavors.

When I was young my concept of 'Mindanao' was that the one popularized by a group ASIN (which was a favorite of some old aunties and titos of the house) then I was bombarded with small stories of war with MNLF and 'those people who are taking away my country'. Years after listening to ASIN - I can no longer accept 'Ako'y may dala-dalang balita galing sa bayan ko..." as someone speaking to me, a Filipino, a Manileño, the 'realities' Mindanao. Or, 'Kapwa Filipino ay pinapahirapan mo' that pushed me to asked who is this 'kapwa Filipino na nagpapahirap sa kapwa Filipino?' - and I discovered that this is just one of the many voices in Mindanao - a 'settler's point of view' of Mindanao. A Bisaya telling everybody about the 'Mindanao'. And these songs and the perspective they carry are so popular that it pushes away other voices at the margins, including that of the Moro.

The problem with Mindanaoans when they talk about their experiences in the many forms of media possible is the seemingly absence of the Self, of the internal introspection of a human person. The central goverment is also a culprit, or the main culprit, for this situation - government agencies supporting 'artistic' and 'cultural endeavors' that promote certain perspectives. One time I asked a certain government official from a government agency for some information on how can I acquire grants on certain research I am inclined to undertake for my play on how an ordinary Filipino sees the Bangsa Moro struggle and he said - 'Kung magu-unite sa amin we support it, but if not hindi.' Unite, as it was told to me - the topic of my work should teach and adhere to a certain perspective. 'Unite' is a very tricky word so as 'peace and order' - it means differently from various perspectives. A 'peace and order' in Iligan, Linamon, Kauswagan, and Kolambugan (places I've been to and write cylcles of plays capturing the 'soul' of the place) is different from the 'peace and order' from a Kagan Bangsa Moro friend I met in a conference in Manila. Or that from a Meranao Bangsa Moro student from MSU-Marawi that become my literary comrade.

So the failures of popular literary and artistic forms of a city that claims to be 'Christian', 'Modern' and 'with peace and order' were manifested when someone spoke of freedom and ancestral domain - everyone rushed to their streets and rally against it without letting 24 hours to pass by where they can discuss and think of what happened. Yes, they were not included in the process nor consulted, that's the fact. But the display of bigotry and suppressed hatred were suddenly, in a sweeping intervention from corrupt leaders, have been apparent. So, it was manifested also recently, violently - what happened to the three municipalities in Lanao del Norte.

It is not to pardon the act but beyond it there is an 'invitation' - an invitation for us that we failed to listen, that we failed to provide a venue, legitimate or not, for people to tell their stories, their perspectives, the horrors of their sadness, the hidden and suppressed anger passed on from one generation to another.

Who's to blame for this debauchery? It is the failure of a society to provide a venue where the Self can locate 'itself' from the universe of all this rushing events. The Self subordinated to history - again and again. The Self subordinated to overpowering censors of powerful regime/s.

Pardon my indiscretion: So, do you think the Bravo is a bravo for Silenced chose to become an Artist more than to be reduced to an artifact of history? I dread to even welcome the act of processing the answers in my mind.