Pacquiao warns of repeat of Marcos-era ‘Jabidah massacre’

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos should be wary of another Marcos returning to Malacañang, and should bear in mind that history might repeat itself where the secessionist movement in Muslim Mindanao started with the so-called Jabidah massacre 54 years ago.

“I would just like to remind our brothers in Mindanao, let’s not forget our past even if they want us to bury this memory, for which atrocity their family has been blamed,” Sen. Manny Pacquiao said.

The Promdi standard-bearer assured leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that he would continue to remind the nation about the infamous chapters in history that triggered the Muslim uprising in the South.

Pacquiao, a Mindanaoan from Sarangani province, made this vow as he reacted to MILF chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim’s concern over the possibility of a victory in the presidential race of former senator Bongbong Marcos, the frontrunner in pre-election surveys.

Marcos’ father, the late former president Ferdinand Marcos, has been blamed for the secessionist movement in Muslim Mindanao that started from the infamous Jabidah massacre in 1968.

In an interview with a local newspaper, Ebrahim said he was “concerned about a Marcos win and an eventual return to power in Malacañang.”

“The wounds are still fresh,” the Muslim leader said.

“While Marcos Jr. was not the one behind the atrocities, he carries his father’s name. And if Muslims hear that name, they also relive the pain of the dictatorship,” Ebrahim explained further.

Pacquiao said the new generation should be reminded that the secessionist revolt in the south has cost the lives of many Filipinos.

He stressed that both Christians and Filipinos sacrificed blood as a result of the killing of Moro men who were recruited and trained to launch a siege for the recovery of Sabah from Malaysia.

The trainees, about 50 to 68 of them, were reportedly killed when they staged a mutiny upon learning of their mission.

Pacquiao said he would continue to uphold the rights of Muslim Filipinos, particularly the poor, in pursuing peace and progress in Mindanao.