To Fight a Lonely Battle

It's hard to be alone in a crowd. It's hard to be alone here in Sulu, where you fight a lonely battle, it's hard to fight a battle with little resources but the only things you have.

What more, it's hard to be sandwiched between two clasping juggernauts of a man.

But how can you avoid talking about them when they are good -- and bad as well -- examples from which you can learn something? When they are the only ones that can exemplify laws and order in Sulu, of warlords and politics, of peace and prosperity?

Had you chosen not to be talked about, you should have hidden yourselves in the cave. Had you chosen not to be criticized, you should have lived like simple people, away from spotlight.

But there you are at the center stage, hectoring all attention to yourselves. How can we avoid talking about you?

Should we then talk in hushed whispers or use codes to disseminate reflections of learning about living in a land called Sulu?

But then, thanks to all friends who still trust us, who are still with us. Thank you to all of you -- you know who you are.

We will remain as fiercely neutral as possible. We are not taking sides, but the sides of goodness, morality, and equal opportunities for all.

So, eat your heart out, darling. Eat your heart out. Bleh, tay sa kaw yan. Makabusung da sa ini kami, promise.

We are not going to use many figurative speeches to convey our ideas. We are used in using plain language, to the point and true.

We will not go to the extremes of talking about "a Kingdom so far far away," and use images and metaphors of which we are not good at.

We will not tell stories in a fabled sort of way, of ducks and chicken, of myth and chimera, of lions and rats.

And you should be named, my Lord Putkinses. You are to us a source of inspiration, strength and chaos.

We need not study coded language in order to avoid displeasing you with our honest observations and reflections of the day-to-day life in Sulu.

No matter what we say, there will always be some people, who will be hurt, who will react.

But please, look at it in a broad-minded sort of way. You'll see that it is most helpful to you and our people, in the long run.

And so, it's a No! We won't change a thing of our personality. We will not go into MTRCB-izing our blogs and posts.

It's either you adopt to it, or we grow together and make a better Sulu. Both is a better choice.

Take your pick.

The Cure for Identity Crisis and Cognitive Dissonance

Rene Descartes

The question "Who am I?" is a difficult question to answer, especially if you are not yet sure of what "identity" you really belong.

Are you a Tausug, a Bangsamoro, or A Filipino?

The why's of existence

Even our existence is really difficult to prove, unless we rely on the age-old wisdom accumulated thru the years. 

The philosopher Rene Descartes had had numerous nightmares, too, trying to figure out the answer to the conundrum "Who am I?" Until finally one day, he did find it!

"Cogito ergo sum!" he exclaimed. "I think, therefore I am!"

Faced with the difficulty of finding the solution to the existence conundrum, many people have learned to sought refuge on religion to have peace of mind, to have one less problem to bear.

Peaceful State of Mind

It is in this state of peace that life becomes auto-pilot, like doing routinary task, walking or washing plates, for instance. Just imagine if you have to think where to step on every step that you have to take. It should take hours, nay days, before you will arrive to the opposite side of the room!

We learn to simplify things to help us cope up with life easily. It is in these stages of life that we learn to put everything in a database-like compartments deep within the recesses of our minds. Those database are filled with hard-to-change schema.

"In psychology and cognitive science, a schema (plural schemata or schemas) describes an organized pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them." (Wikipedia)

"It can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information." (Wikipedia)

People who can't have well-organized schema, however, tends to hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time. This is called in psychology as cognitive dissonance, a very discomforting experience.

"This stress and discomfort may also arise within an individual who holds a belief and performs a contradictory action or reaction." (Wikipedia)

We have really that problem, that mental stress, my friends.

Cognitive dissonance in Sulu

The Muslims, the predominant people in Sulu, need to live their lives in accordance with the Muslims' way of life. It is difficult to do that, however, inside the Philippine colonialistic and centric government.

The Philippine government strongly advocated the separation of the Church and the State, but the Muslims' ideals are founded on the idea that Islam is a way of life. Therefore, Islam encompasses all, including governance. So it is ideal that Shariah be made the ultimate justice system in the Muslim's system of governance.

Alright, the MNLF-GPH agreement had attained milestone in that, some portions of the Shariah were respected and institutionalized, but most of the Muslims demand for more. Thus, the Muslims seem not to respect the existence of local government units because they looked at them as the extension of "kuffar" Philippine government.

Are we going to accept part of the Shariah and then neglect the other parts?

The effect of the mental stress

Some people have really cope up with this problem successfully. But the majority have been having dire consequences of side-effects and withdrawal symptoms!

People with these symptoms are exhibiting violent behaviors and harboring sinister ideas. To these people, there is only one reason of existence: "to kill, kill, and kill!" until the Islamic governance finally succeed in its entirety.

The so-called "ASG", the revolutionaries, the other rebel groups and their supporters are included in these type of mentality.

They will do everything, by hook or by crook, for the Muslim governance to finally install itself in this troubled South.

Justifications
United Nation's General Assembly Resolution No. 1514, December 14, 1960, states that: "All people have the Right to Self-Determination, Decolonization and Independence. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status, or freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."

And, Tausug people are people of the Tausug Nation.

What is Nation?

A people, or aggregation of men, existing in the form of an organized jural society, inhabiting a distinct portion of the earth, speaking the same language, using the same customs, possessing historic continuity, and distinguished from other like groups by their racial origin and characteristics, and generally, but not necessarily, living under the same government and sovereignty. 

OK, Quo Vadis?

"No matter what type the government we have," said a fruit vendor in KM2 in Tausug, "as long as I can still freely sell my fruits, I do not really care."

That is exactly how the majority of the Tausug people feel. As long as unity between every Tausug is elusive, we can only but dream of a brighter tomorrow, but dream we should not stop doing. Allah is still here, listening to us all.

The cure for the mental stress
Earlier, we established that the majority of the Tausug could be suffering from "cognitive dissonance" and we also described the level of recovery of each Tausug from the mental stress. But what really is the practical cure of the mental stress?

The radical way that could be a little less stressful is to go sailing on our separate ways together, to accept our differences, rejoice from it, and learn from it. For who knows, despite of our travelling on different waters, we shall still meet at the same destination someday, somehow.

It is just a matter of understanding each and every positions we have, their differences and their commonalities. Then work together, instead of being so antagonistic with each other. Everyone is dreaming for the same objective however disparate her means of achieving it.

Simply, tell the other person your thesis or intellectual proposition. Let her react to it. Then finally, solves the conflict between them by reconciling the common truths between your differing ideas and forming a new thesis that should be acceptable to both of you. If not, repeat the process until there would be smile on your faces, meaning you finally find an amicable settlement.

Life is too short to be filled with all the negative things -- rancor, hate, envy, jealousy, name it!

Let's join hands, therefore, and strengthen our love, friendship, and understanding within the sphere of our Tausugness. The Tausug are tough but lovable and fun-loving race in the world.

So wear that beautiful smile in your face all the time!

The Unlikely Victims of Kidnapping

Late last year 2013 in November, the Treasurer of the Province of Sulu, Mr Jesus Cabelin was kidnapped right inside his safe house in the Capitol Ground, Patikul, Sulu.

The presence of his arm guards and other helpers in the house seemed inutile to stop the razor-like kidnapping specialty of the "ASG".

The Provincial Capitol with its armed guards was just a few meters away from the Staff House of the Provincial Treasurer.

A few meters beyond the Building of the Capitol is the Sulu Provincial Jail House.

The kidnappers, which allegedly rode in an unmark Jeep, passed by many Military and Police detachments, but everyone missed out the incident.

Kidnapping spree

ASG was in a kidnapping spree in 2013 to early 2014. There must be a lot of unreported and undocumented cases of kidnapping in Sulu, but here is the list of the documented ones in GMA NEWS Online:

1. Armed men abduct DPWH truck driver, helper in Sulu
2. Kidnapped DOTC engineer in Sulu freed — military
3. Indie filmmakers abducted in Sulu showcased Moro pride in their work
4. Trader's son kidnapped in Sulu
5. Sulu kidnap victim escapes abductors
6. Abu Sayyaf abduct provincial treasurer in Sulu
7. Armed men grab couple in Sulu; military suspects Abu Sayyaf
8. 2 kids, nanny, driver abducted in Sulu
9. Driver loses life after thwarting abduction of public school teachers in Sulu
10. And so on and so forth.

The low incidence of recorded kidnapping

The official records in Jolo Police Station, however, has only two incidences of Kidnapping. That was because the kidnapping might have happened outside the periphery of Jolo according to one official.

Doc Raden Ikbala, the leader in BassaKao, discussed with the former Chief of Jolo Police Leva-Ley Lami-ing as to why was that so in this video.

Civilians become fearful

Because of the many incidents of kidnapping cases, of which many of them were unreported, the civilian population has reached the breaking point last March 2014. It must be admitted that some report of kidnapping incidents were indeed hoaxes, it still could not hide the ugly truth that there was a spate of kidnappings in Sulu.

The civilians went to the street and proclaim their hatred against kidnapping in March 14, 2014. There was an attempt to quell the rally, but by Allah's grace, it had pushed through.

One of the student leader, Mudzna Kahal, expressed in a very emotional way how she and the other students become affected by the spates of kidnapping in this video:

Miss Mudzna Kahal explained why was it so in this video:

But why quell the rally?

Firstly, it would "destroy" the image of Sulu, which might stop the development projects currently in full force. Okay, that's a cool reason, but we have been actually trying in our FB pages to show how beautiful Jolo really is, and hoping that foreigners will come visit Jolo. But if we are really comfortable of Sulu as a leader, why is there a need to discourage foreigners, especially the media, from coming down to Sulu?

Secondly, the Cocoy Tulawie's case was in full swing in March. The rally was mistakenly thought as a political rally, in the sense that, it might publicly call out support for the Cocoy Tulawie's case. Instead, we publicly declared in the rostrum at the Plaza Marina in Jolo during the Rally:

"Bang kita ha kawasa, ayaw natu' usalun in pagkidnap hasupaya hikalamma sin manga political rivalries natu'. Iban bang kita isab bukun ha kawasa, ayaw natu' usalun in issues of kidnapping ha supaya hipanghina' ha tau ha kawasa."

Thirdly, the BassaKao was trying to "high-falutinate" (nagpalaggu sin sibi'-sibi') the issue of kidnapping for their self-serving interests. Cool, but the issues of kidnapping were a recurrent issues. But there was no attempt from any government in Sulu to stop the problem. The kidnapped victims were released, but then, what would be our assurance that they won't get kidnapped another day?

Reactive not Pro-active

The solutions of our government in Sulu against kidnapping is only reactive. It is just waiting for someone to get kidnapped, then do something later.

What was their favorite course of action in February and March during the spate of kidnapping incidence? Peace and Order meetings and dialogues.

In the surface that's OK. It brings to mind, however, what Marcos has said, "We could not afford deadlocks. . . We could not afford waiting for the help while we Filipinos are dying."

When the Provincial Treasurer was kidnapped, the action made was to destroy all the informal settlers' houses living within the periphery of the Treasurer's Staff House.

This video was just after the kidnapping of the Treasurer. The informal settlers surrounding the capitol ground had been ordered to pack their things and leave unceremoniously.

Negotiations with the Settlers

But months later, the Provincial Governor Totoh Tan, because perhaps of the strength of the social media advocates, decided to talk with the informal settlers.

They came out with agreements that appealed to all parties.

They agreed on two things among others: 1) The extension of stay and 2) The reparation for the damages.

The informal settlers' stay was extended until March, but I think the extension had become longer than initially negotiated with as we still see some houses in the area recently. The kind Governor Totoh Tan also gave P1,000,000 cash to the settlers' organization.

The kidnapped Treasurer, Mr Jesus Cabelin, by the way had been freed last year, too. Ransom was hush-hush, but it was formerly established at P100M.

Jolo Sulu is a peaceful and lovely place

Despite the frequent misunderstanding, all of us together must do something to help build up a robust economy, stable peace and order, and prosperous city of Jolo.

It is not the task of the government alone to do that. Everyone must lend their helping hand.

MindPro, Ayala Malls, Glorietta are not government projects. The government, however, must remove all the thorns for the private sectors to do their magic.

Start it with ensuring Peace and Order in Sulu. With that we thank the former Chief of Police in Jolo, Police Chief Leva-Ley Lami-ing for the kind words after the Anti-Kidnapping rally in March 2014.

"This is a stepping stone para mabigyan natin ng wakas at solution ang problema sa ating bayan, itong series of kidnapping incidence and other high-profile crimes in our society."

Be blessed po!

Let us all love Sulu!

Human Rights Abuses will be Addressed in Sulu Faster Now.

The prayers of various Civil Society Organizations from within and without Sulu have finally been answered. Today, May 27, 2014, the First Human Rights Monitoring Center has made its launching in Sulu.

The Center is at the Polar Building, 3rd floor, Buyon Street, Jolo, Sulu.

One of the important elements of robust community is the presence of the protectors or defenders of the human rights. I think, this part must be given the greatest attention by the National government, especially for Sulu.

But then again, "baka ma-Cocoy ka!" is the catch phrase. Cocoy Tulawie, a great defender of Human Rights in Sulu, is now in jail (possibly because of precisely being a defender of Human Rights). Mr Tulawie is waiting for the court's Judgment regarding his case.

And then again, the spirit of Cocoy Tulawie has actually live on among the hearts of the Tausug. Mr Nelson Mukarram, RN is now leading the advocacy of Bawgbug in Sulu. Sir Nelson is also a member of BassaKao Inc.

Majority has accepted that, and we are known worldwide for it, Sulu is where the unsolved kidnapping cases abound. Sulu is painted so very badly by the world media because of that, but of course, that is not the whole story.

The 700,000 Tausug should not be going down the drain just becuase the few hundreds are involved in the shady business of kidnapping.

Mexico City actually fares worse than our province in terms of unprecedented cases of lawlessness and frequent disruption of the rule of law. And yet . . . .

And so, If Sulu were truly that bad and unpredictable, then, there must be a greater need for Human Rights advocates to balance the equilibrium. The HR workers protect all that are affected with human rights abuses.

After long years of waiting, finally, they are here. The CHR has launched at the center of the town of Jolo today. Their Monitoring center is officially opened today, with its office at the Polar Building, 3rd floor, Buyon Street, Jolo, Sulu.

The important event is witnessed by all stakeholders of peace in Sulu.

But the Deputy Officer of the Sulu Provincial Police, PSUPT Oscar Nantez believes otherwise, especially on the part of PNP.

The PNP is already amenable to the HR laws and trying their best to implement the same, he said.

He said that the PNP as an organization is already well-trained to help redress HR violations done against any person.

He added, however, that the CHR in Sulu is also good because the victims now have an alternative means of redress, in case they would be thinking twice to coordinate or not with the PNP in Sulu.

The Commissioner Jose Manuel Mamauag of the CHR Philippines expressed joy that the HR services would now be accessible even to the grassroots as far as Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

He specially believes that Sulu more than any province needs the participation of the HR workers and the communities to effect peace and prosperity in Sulu.

He said that the HR Monitoring Center in Sulu would not only accept human rights cases, but also take charge on the increase campaigns of HR awareness educating the people of their Human Rights.

People must also learn to participate in the development process of the community, he said, because consultation and participation are two important elements of progress and development.

The Head of BaSulta subregional office of the RHRC, Atty Edy Lynn Santiago said that this is a dream come true for the CSOs who took pains in requesting for HR services to come down to the grassroots. This is an answered prayer, she said.

She also recognized, she said, that ZC is a far place and not easily accessible, so when the victims should need immediate action, the CHR must be closer to the place of action.

She believes that the establishment of the HR Center in Sulu is very timely.

For his part, Dr Raden Ikbala, the head of the United Sultanate Movement, said that he is happy and thankful about the Monitoring Center.

Dr Ikbala also contended that Sulu had been neglected for a long time by the government. But now, the coming of the CHR to Sulu is a welcome development.

He wished to be of help to the Martial Law human rights violations.

The Mayor of Jolo, Hon Hussin Amin is very supportive of the launching of the CHR in Sulu.

He insisted, however, that there is no human rights violation in the Jolo proper, but he could not talk for the other municipalities. But in any case, this Monitoring Center could now serve as the "Watchdog" for human right abuses in the entire Sulu, he added.

The Reasons it Floods in Manila Could also be the Same Reasons why it Floods in Sulu

10 reasons why it floods in Manila

CITY SENSE By Paulo Alcazaren (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 15, 2013 - 12:00am

Manila has been flooding for hundreds of years yet we never learn from the past.

Floods do not respect political boundaries and will flow from one city to the next yet we continue to address flooding (as well as all other urban problems) within the confines of individual LGUs. It does not make sense.

It’s raining season once again and we face the yearly problem of flooding in Metro Manila. I keep getting calls from broadcast media asking for interviews about the problem, its historical origins and urban redevelopment solutions. Giving these interviews I feel like a broken record enumerating the reasons for floods in the metropolis, so I figure it would be good just to list them once and for all.

This list may not contain all the reasons but these, in my opinion, are the major ones:

1. It floods because it rains; the rains and the typhoons that bring them have increased in magnitude. Yes, it’s climate change. To deny this is futile. It’s here now and it makes all historical flood levels, well, history. The paths of typhoons have also become unpredictable (not that we have enough weather men to predict them — many of our good ones have left for better-paying jobs overseas). Typhoons now cross parts of the archipelago that did not use to have them regularly and so people are caught unprepared. Despite these changes in patterns, Metro Manila still gets dumped with rain, especially since its total area, and population in this area, is equivalent to or larger than most provinces and many regions in the country.

2. It floods because of population and urbanization. Metro Manila has a population of 12 million and counting. Urbanization, specifically urban sprawl is a manifestation of all these millions living together and needing houses, buildings, roads, parking lots and infrastructure. All these cover ground that used to be open and able to absorb much of the storm water that fell on the metropolis. In our lifetimes we’ve seen fringes of the metropolis gobbled up and transformed from cogon and rice fields to thousands of subdivisions, hundreds of shops and malls, hectares of paved-over parking lots, dozens of business districts. All this hard covering serves to channel all the storm water much faster into an already inadequate drainage system designed when the reality was much more open land and much less rain. The open ground before served to mitigate the volume of rain that flowed into these drains, esteros and our rivers. We also had more plant cover and trees in the metropolis to help sop up all this water.

3. It floods because the rain comes down from denuded uplands. Metro Manila floods come from elevated surrounding regions, all the way up to the Sierra Madres. There, we have lost almost all of our original forest cover from illegal logging. All this forest cover lost makes millions of hectares of upland a bald watershed that flows freely into the metropolis. This situation is repeated around almost all major urban areas in the country. The source is upstream and this is where solutions should start, although it is among the longest-term solutions. We need to recover our forest cover to reduce the amount of rain that floods our low-level metropolis.

4. Metro Manila is not only low but it is sinking. Ground water extraction due to deep wells is causing major areas of the metropolis to sink. The north section of CAMANAVA and the southern cities from Pasay onwards have sunk from a foot to over a meter and this has made those areas more vulnerable to floods and storm surges. Scientists have pointed to the fact that this flattening has increased the reach of storm surges from the seaside to as much as 20 kilometers inland. So we get it from both ends in a perfect storm — from the mountains and from the sea. The ground is also sinking due to the weight of all that concrete, buildings and infrastructure mentioned in reason no. 2 above.

5. It floods because we have less drainage than before. Reports have it that we have lost almost half of our metropolitan esteros and canals. We used to have over 40 kilometers of them and now we only have about 20. Many have been lost to development, disappearing without a trace (now it regularly floods where they used to be of course).

6. It floods because many of those esteros, canals and waterways of our metropolis we have left are chock-full of informal settlers. Because there are no alternatives for low-income mass housing, desperate people settle in desperate areas. These settlements have little by way of solid waste management and sewers. All these go to the waterways, filling many of them so solid that dogs can cross over them. And we wonder why it floods. Many of these drainage ways and easements were identified in the several master plans made for Manila and Quezon City. Planners had allocated as much as 50 meters of space on either side of these but greed set in and these easements disappeared and what little was left are now our favelas teeming with millions.

7. It floods because the main flood control system started in the ’70s was never completed. The Manggahan floodway was only one half of the picture. It was meant to channel floodwater into Laguna Bay. The lake was meant only as a holding area and the excess water was to have been flushed from there to Manila Bay via the Parañaque spillway. That spillway was never built. To build it now would cause trillions and urban sprawl has seen its path covered with more millions of people and thousands of structures.

8. It floods because what little left of our drains and flood control infrastructure is ill-maintained.Reaching many of them is a problem because of informal settlements. Overlapping jurisdictions of local and national agencies conspire to dissipate responsibility and funding for this vital task of ensuring our drains are unclogged and free. It’s just like homeowners not cleaning their gutters of debris before a rainy season. When the typhoons come, the gutters overflow.

9. It floods because urban development is unplanned and unfettered. Mega-developments that see clusters of 30 to 40-storey towers on retail podiums surrounded by hectares of parking cause havoc in districts planned with drainage infrastructure meant for low-density development. Because there is a lack of planning context (actually a lack of any planning at all), all drainage, road and traffic infrastructure is useless to carry the additional load — that’s why most flooded areas are also traffic-clogged.

10. The final reason it floods in this short list (and there are many other reasons) is politics. Metro Manila is made up of 16 cities and one town (Pateros). Floods do not respect political boundaries and will flow from one city to the next yet we continue to address flooding (as well as all other urban problems) within the confines of individual LGUs. It does not make sense. Politics also conspires to keep informal settlers where they are because they represent votes.

The overlapping jurisdictions is also exacerbated by another layer — that of national government and yet a third layer, that of the MMDA. The ultimate fourth layer of discord is the fact that the source of floods is beyond the political jurisdiction of Metro Manila and in the hands of the provinces around it. Any sustainable solution to flooding must be at this regional context and the assumption that, within the metropolis, governance is rationalized to address this one big problem as one effort, not the effort of 17 government units, the MMDA and national agencies. Politics has divided and conquered us… and it is also drowning us in yearly and constant floods.

* * *

Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.

Reblogged from http://www.philstar.com/modern-living/2013/06/15/953965/10-reasons-why-it-floods-manila.

In Search for better Livelihood in Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi

Sitangkai island is a jagged Kris-shaped island, a 2nd class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, and it is the southernmost settlement of the Philippines. It is happily being dubbed in the Wikipedia as the "Venice of the Philippines":

"It is called. . . [as such] due to the use of boats as primary transportation, although footbridges connect one house from another" (Wikipedia)

"The major sources of livelihood are fishing and farming, although there is very sparse agricultural land available. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 30,514 people in 7,349 households." (Wikipedia)

Greener Pastures

Sitangkai is a place of choice of people who want to experience livelihood using the resources of the sea. Many immigrants from Sulu come to Sitangkai, and live in the Pondohan out in the sea, a throwing distance from Sabah, Malaysia.

Pondohan are settlements in the shallow part of the sea in the middle of the ocean. In these settlements, the people established their fishing and seaweed farming communities.

Because the majority of the people in Sitangkai come from the Sulu area, you can easily understand where the people living in each Pondohan came from.

There is a Pondohan called Suwang Pukol Tapul, Suwang Pukul Ubian, Suwang Pukul Luuk, then Siyantuk Talipao, Siyantuk Panamao, and Siyatuk Pasil, etc.

The very last island must be the Pondohan Bungin.

When you take out people in the Pondohan and put it back to Sitangkai, they would not have fit together in the small land area of Sitangkai island. They all have to remain standing.

Why stay in Pondohan?

People love to stay in the Pondohan because of the assurance of Peace and Order.

"Marayaw mag-usaha ha Sitangkai," Mr Alnajer Kalinggalan said. "Wayruun hiluhala."

Mr Alnajer Kalinggalan is a member of the Pondohan Suwang Pukul Tapul.

Mr Kalinggalan's family maintains out in the sea 1500 lines of seaweeds. That is equivalent to 15 hectares of sea space.

The industry had given his family P30,000 regular monthly income from dried seaweeds. Additionally he may get occasional income from buyers of live seaweeds as seedlings.

For more than a decade of his farming in Sitangkai, he is able to put his family to schools. And he is especially proud that he has bought three long guns when he is in Sitangkai.

"Di' kaw pag-addatan sin Kampung mu bang way kaw Sinapang," is the mindset of Mr Kalinggalan why he bought the guns.

Changing of mindsets

But few years ago, he sold all his guns. "Biyugit ku na katan in hinang ku karupangan. Nag-usaha na adja aku."

Why? Because he already felt secure long ago about the Tawi-Tawi's form of leadership, which is now being monopolized by the Sahali clan.

There are no more crimes committed now in Sitangkai, according to Sherma K. Uddin, also a seaweed farmer in Sitangkai.

"Bang awn magkapatay, magtuy asubuhun in kawman bang mayta piyatay. Pag-ingat taga dusa, way na bissarahun," Ms Uddin explained.

It is assumed that people get killed in Sitangkai because of their wrongdoings. They must have done something bad that's why they are killed.

But when the family want to avenge the death of one of their members, especially if the family is from Tapul, chimed in Mr Alnajer Kalinggalan, big problem would come about (because "Di' magparapat in Tau Tapul," he said). There would happen a fierce clan feud.

"In addat sin tau didtu, magturu-turu," said Mr Kalinggalan. They surely will come to an aid immediately when one of their alliance has problems.

When those feuds could not be settled by the Sitangkai mayor, it's when the Governor of Tawi-Tawi tries to intervene. But, he always make sure that both sides has already suffered casualties.

How war is settled in Tawi-Tawi

Mr Kalinggalan said, the first step is for the Governor to find for amicable settlement of both parties. And when both parties do not want that, the Governor will decide to purchase all their farming sites, then send them back home to Sulu or Basilan, wherever their point of origin. That's the second and final step of settling conflict in Tawi-Tawi.

If in case, both parties of the conflict agree to the peace settlement, then the Governor, himself, will shoulder the medical expense of the wounded. And if there should be "blood money" for the dead, he will pay for it.

The governor, according to Mr Kalinggalan, believes that Tawi-Tawi is a place for livelihood, not for war. If you want war, go back to your place and do your vendetta over there.

Stern warning and news of progress

The governor do not want the peace and order in Tawi-Tawi disturbed.

It is no wonder that the Tawi-Tawi had become developed faster than Sulu. According to Abdulpatta H. Isnaji, also a farmer in Sitangkai, the people in Tawi-Tawi is better equipped materially than their Sulu's counterparts.

He said: "In dayahan da ha Sug amura in manga ha politic. Ha Tawi-Tawi, dayahan in katan. Awn katan sasakatan dagat way humalga."

There are many water vehicles in Sitangkai and Tawi-Tawi than land vehicles.

Cebu Pacific has also already put up daily flights in Tawi-Tawi since 2011.

Sunstar has the following news in October 13, 2011:

"THE maiden flight of Cebu Pacific Air (CEB), the country's largest national flag carrier, for the Zamboanga-Tawi-Tawi route will take off early Friday from Zamboanga City.

"The maiden flight will depart from the Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA) at 6:25 a.m. and will arrive in the province of Tawi-Tawi via the Sanga-Sanga Airport in Bongao, the province' capital town, at 7:25 a.m.

"The regular daily flight from Tawi-Tawi is scheduled to depart at 7:55 a.m. and to arrive at 8:55 a.m. at ZIA.

" 'CEB offers the lowest fare between Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi, its 50th destination. We are very optimistic about our Zamboanga operations, especially that this is our fourth route from this commercial center in Western Mindanao. We can see that the market for Cebu Pacific flights can really be stimulated by our trademark low fares,' said CEB Vice President for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog Thursday."

Philippine Airline, too, is having a daily regular flight to Tawi-Tawi.

The long and circumferential road in Bongao and most of Tawi-Tawi is now finished, too.

There is also mining industry in Tumbagaan island where many people had been given the opportunity for job.

Our wish for Sulu

Indeed, there is fast development going on in Tawi-Tawi. The Sulu Island is breathlessly keeping the pace behind.

As long as our people in Sulu would not change their schema to the positive ones, their collective bad dua' everyday will surely be answered by Allahu Taala.

I always say that my grandmother had told me, and I will have to say it again: "Tumtuma apu' ku, pagkamaya' kaw ha pagbissarahun, pasal in katan bissara Dua'!"

Why can't we wish something good for Sulu. Is it really that hard?

You get what you expect; you get what you believe in. It's the law of life.

The Pygmalion Effect

Let's learn from Pygmalion, a mythology figure, yes, but the "Pygmalion Effect" is now proven effective by Science. It makes individuals perform better when you have good expectation of them.

Pygmalion is a man who fell in love with his statue. He revered the statue like a real person, and presto! The statue was given life and became his wife at the end of the story.

That's the "pygmalion effect." and we can also do it. We should shed the opposite effect which is the "Golem Effect" from our collective schema.

Let us no longer expect for the worse. Instead let us think of everything good for Sulu and its people. We truly need all the great Dua' from each and everyone of us.

Let us love Sulu.

A Video Essay: Jolo is the Prosperous and the Cleanest city in the World?

When we proclaim that Jolo is the prosperous and cleanest city in the world, we are always met with "Duhhh?"

The MILF peace deal with the government is also misunderstood.

Then, solving frequent flood in the Jolo town. . . .

. . . . angered some people, but I think, after everything is complete, they will thank the Provincial and Municipal government for the changes.

Robin Padilla believed in Sulu and its people. Believe in us, too. Believe in our power. The Tausug must work as one.

Little initiative will always go a long a way if we clear our minds of our prejudices and bad perception against other people. Let's learn to trust one another for peace and prosperity.

Apply the "Pygmalion Effect", not the "Golem Effect. We can do it.