It is never too late to break free from the tyranny of history and ugly tradition.

For long, the Moro people have seen life, not in terms of making the most out of it, but being able to live by the minimums. Historically, the struggle has been one for their collective identity, in assertion of the political right for self-determination. That struggle has never ceased, in senses both political and spiritual, yet it seems that another one has begun.

During the height of the 2007 senatorial campaigns, the administration-backed slate “Team Unity” has consistently declared on various occasions that they rely on the “command votes” from the provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao, the latter more particularly, to carry them to the top 12 spots in the senatorial race. It claimed to get the much desired “12-0” score from these areas since economic development and “decentralization” of government being its two main platforms, the Team Unity would definitely solicit the votes from the local populations, which are after all their primary beneficiaries.

That in itself was promising. However, whatever promises of better politics and honest 2007 elections in Mindanao were shattered by allegations and, in other cases, evidences of massive election fraud. For “outsiders”, those who have not even set foot in Mindanao nor resided there for a time long enough to learn its “traditions”, the stories of cheating and election frauds are shocking and utterly unconceivable. The truth is, in many senses of the word, not only is Mindanao a land of promise, it has also been a land of possibilities – possibilities which are as wild and diverse as they are endless.

We claim no better right to know the truth than those who are in a position to prove it. We only ask now that the truth not be withheld from those who deserve to know it – the Bangsamoro people, most of all. It has been their votes, their political destiny and their lives that are at stake.

As students of the law, we in the Moro Law Students Organization have only one vision for our fellow Bangsamoros: genuine political autonomy, individual liberty and good governance. This includes freedom not just from external imposition, but also from internal repression. Suffrage was originally intended to be the easiest and most powerful exercise in democracy. However, not only has cheating rendered it meaningless in this country, political greed and hubris have also cost the lives of many people exercising suffrage. And yes, while, for very understandable reasons, most Mindanaons may have chosen to secure their lives rather than to assert their liberty and justice, it is no reason for those in power to run roughshod over their rights and take advantage of their choice. The government must save its people, sometimes even when those people claim not to need saving.

In the strongest possible terms, this organization condemns any kind of fraud or cheating that may have taken place in the Bangsamoro land and seeks that those responsible must definitely be held to answer for what they did. It also helps not one bit to claim that what took place instead was consistent with the Islamic tradition of “shura”. Islam, in any of its teachings, does not advocate for vote-buying, undue violence, threat, intimdation or even ballot-snatching. Neither religion nor reason justifies tyranny and corruption.

Muslims have been aware of the oppression from various fronts and kinds thrown at them. Short of experiencing “learned helplessness” and being jaded from fighting off this tradition of corruption, many of them have decided to remain silent and chosen to live their lives as peacefully as they could. Politicians – local and national – and observers must not be as naïve, however, to equate this silence with political passivity.

We shall therefore speak in behalf of those whose mouths are bound. We call on the proper authorities – the Commission on Elections in particular – to look into the allegations of election fraud in several areas in Mindanao. If it were not to reverse the tradition of corruption in Mindanao, as in many other areas in the Philippines, then at least to make the Bangsamoro believe that there is still something to hope for from this government. Not only do these allegations test the integrity and political will of local statesmen, it also brings the history of Mindanao to a fork – on one hand, the worn out political path of corruption and repression, and on the other, the enlightened politics of choice, justice and peace.

It is never too late to break free from the tyranny of history and ugly tradition. And for such purpose, no attempt is ever wasted.