Cotabato City Marks 51st Year of Jabidah Massacre

The Cotabato City, in the Philippines, marked the 51^st year of the Jabidah massacre, whereby about 23 military recruits were killed. Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the chief minister of Bangsamoro Transition Authority in a statement said the youth were ruthlessly killed, spurring the contemporary rebellion. Ebrahim said considerable steps will be taken towards attaining transitional justice to heal the wounds of the past.

“We will initiate reconciliation and set the stable environment for the non-recurrence of organized violence against the Bangsamoro. We recognize the formidable challenges from the bureaucratic transition, normalization of combatants, law enforcement operations and some groups refusal to be on board the new Bangsamore Government. But all of these we have to face with the same resolve that has kept the spirit of struggle alive in our hearts and minds.”

According to various reports, it was the Jabidah massacre that enflamed the Moro secessionist uprising in the country’s south that has been the subject of ongoing peace processes with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Ebrahim also condemned the recent senseless killings of Muslims in New Zealand and in other parts of the world. “We hope justice will be given to the victims and that the same crime of hatred and intolerance will not occur again.”