Zamboanga Before And After Seige

Zamboanga Siege

        

     Zamboanga Before

                                                    This city of some 800,000 mostly Christians remembers today, September 9, the infamous siege that began on September 9, 2013 when more than 500 gunmen from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Nur Misuari faction coming from the neighboring provinces of Sulu and Basilan landed here and occupied six coastal villages just more than two kilometers from the main commercial district and City Hall. The invasion sparked a massive hostage taking that ended in a 20-day bloody fighting resulting in the death of more than 300 people including most of the attackers, government troops, policemen and civilians including children.

The siege or stand of as the military described it also caused the burning of some 1,000 houses in the six affected villages, most of which are populated by Muslims and the displacement of over 100,000.

It started early morning when residents woke up in frantic as reports blared from local radio stations that this city had been attacked by Muslim rebels.

In the first hours there was no gunfire and explosion, only the sight of hundreds of policemen and sodliers with armored vehices deployed in the perimeter of the six barangays and the main commercial district that was already deserted. Around 8 a.m., live streams from local television stations showed MNLF gunmen, taking over the villages of Sta. Barbara, where they set up a command post at the two-level concrete KGK building, in Rio Hondo, Mariki and Sta. Catalina. They demanded to raise the flag of the self-proclaimed “Bangsamoro Republik” at City Hall.

But the local government under Mayor Beng Climaco outrightly rejected the demand and warned the MNLF gunmen to leave the city or be forced to clear off the four villages. As army and police troops closed in on the villages, the rebels seized dozens of villagers and spread their forces to three other adjacent villages where more civilians were captured and made human shields. As the day wore on, tension built up because of failed negotiations initiated to make the attackers release the hostages and leave the city. When darkness set in, sporadic gunfire were heard as gunbattles broke out in separate areas in the affected villages. This was the start of a series of fierce firefights that went on for 20 days which concluded with the capture and surrender of some 200 attackers.

A YEAR AFTER THE BATTLE—Damaged houses on stilts still stand on the shore at Mariki Village in Zamboanga City, which Moro National Liberation Front rebels torched when government forces thwarted their attempt to seize the city in September last year. A year after the battle, thousands of residents of Zamboanga City remain homeless and in dire need of government help.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—A year after Moro rebels attacked the renowned southern City of Flowers, Junior Santander Morte is still trying to put normalcy back to his life while more than 12,000 others are painfully struggling to cope with appalling conditions in evacuation centers.

"September to Remember"

                       an event commemorating the siege, they wanted the “healing of minds and hearts” of those who went through the experience “so our people can start to move on.” Villaflores said.

“Every time our people hear about talk of an attack or reported movement of armed men or suspected MNLF forces, they panic and become so afraid” Villaflores said.

Santa Catalina and neighboring Santa Barbara village were the hardest hit during the standoff.

“It was not just burning. Houses were destroyed by bombs, bullets and looting,”  Villaflores said. 

“We want to remember how it was and how we can stand up, rise again and restore normalcy in our day-to-day living.” Villaflores said Monday’s event would be capped with sharing, prayers, vigil, Mass and candle lighting.

Today, Zamboanga

   

                                                                          One year after the bloody siege, fear and apprehension still grip residents here  amid rumors that the same MNLF faction would launch a second attack.

Mayor Beng Climaco has appealed to residents to stay calm and be circumspect about rumors on supposed MNLF plot to launch a second attack.

“I appeal to the people to refrain from spreading text messages on MNLF attack plot which has no basis. It will only cause confusion and chaos,” says Climaco.

The MNLF had signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in 1996, but it somewhat failed as Misuari, who is now a fugitive as a result of the September siege, had complained that vital provisions under the agreement were not implemented by the government.

Soldiers’ and police troopers’ presence remains strong in the city’s downtown commercial center, roadblocks and checkpoints are  regularly put up in strategic roads to check for firearms on all vehicles, and navy gunboats conduct patrols off the city’s coastal areas to prevent a repeat of the September 9, 2013 bloody attack.