Never-ending quest for peace

SINCE the period of Spanish colonization to the present, Mindanao has never really known peace. This is very lamentable considering that Mindanao is very rich in mineral resources and the land is fertile. One reason Mindanao lags behind Luzon and the Visayas in terms of economic development is that it is a troubled region.

As students in the University of the Philippines, Nur Misuari often discussed the problems that beset Mindanao with our small group of classmates, composed of Edcel Lagman, Manuel Yngzon, Rogelio Subong and Voltaire Garcia. Misuari told us that the Philippine government perpetuated the iniquities and the oppression of the Spanish and American colonizers.