‘No threat in observance of Jabidah massacre’s 45th anniversary’

MANILA, Philippines - The military has not detected any threat to disrupt today’s 45th year commemoration of the Jabidah massacre.

In a phone interview, Armed Forces spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said they have not received any report about armed groups planning any atrocity.

“We have not monitored any security threat ahead of the commemoration,” he said.

Burgos said the military is working closely with the police to thwart any untoward incident.

“We are enhancing our intelligence gathering and our networking,” he said.

President Aquino is scheduled to attend today’s rites commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Jabidah massacre in Corregidor.

Muslims belonging to the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy will commemorate Bangsamoro Day today.

Residents of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will observe the 45th anniversary of the Jabidah massacre as a non-working holiday today.

When Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari was ARMM governor from 1996 to 2001, the Regional Legislative Assembly enacted Muslim Mindanao Act No. 67  declaring March 18 as Bangsamoro Day.

Last week, Gov. Mujiv Hataman declared March 18 as a non-working holiday in the ARMM.

The Jabidah massacre fanned the flames of the Moro uprising after soldiers allegedly slaughtered dozens of mutinous Moro recruits being trained for a covert operation to wrest control of Sabah from Malaysia.

It gave birth to the Mindanao Independence Movement and  eventually to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The MNLF signed a peace pact with the government on Sept. 2, 1996, and a splinter group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, emerged on Jan. 7, 1997. – Alexis Romero, John Unson