Sulu and his long and hard-fought freedom

First of three parts

Dear Lloyd,

I have worked so hard for the past 10 years and it seems like my life is going nowhere here. I feel like a prisoner here in our organization. I wanted to be released but it looks like I have nowhere else to go either. I hope you can give me some insight.

Andrea

Dear Andrea,

What you see at first glance is sometimes not what you seem to see. The longer you look at it, the blurrier it becomes and the less chance you have of seeing the bigger picture.

Last week I spent almost seven days in Sulu province, especially in Jolo City. Where once there was war and terror, today there is no terrorism or insurgency. Sulu is finally the land of free people.

As a professional speaker, I speak to local and international companies. Last year, I had the rare opportunity to give an inspirational keynote speech on leadership for Lufthansa Technik. A person from the audience approached me after my speech. “Sir, would you like to speak in Sulu?” Surprised, I said, “That’s the only province I haven’t been to, so it’s definitely a yes!”

I didn't ask for more details as I get taken here and there for photo ops. I trusted that I would get more details after the event. And I did. Someone from the Philippine Army provided me with the information I needed for my stay in Jolo. For some reason, the first attempt didn't go as planned. The event was postponed from last year to this year.

After a few more changes in the schedule – too difficult since there is no commercial flight to Sulu yet and we have to coordinate transportation with the Philippine Air Force – I finally made it to Jolo, Sulu on a C-130 military aircraft.

My mission was pretty simple. I was going to speak to reservists and retirees about stepback leadership. The troops were going to do a two-hour leadership training session with me. Although I was already familiar with the subject, the audience had kept me awake the night before. If I hadn't been tired the whole trip, I wouldn't have slept until dawn.

The people of Sulu have not had a chance to live a normal life for at least three decades. You read that right – at least 30 years. Since the invasion of the so-called freedom fighters in the 70s and 80s, Sulu has never had a chance to share in the growth and development of the Philippines – enough to say that they are now practically making up for at least three decades of immeasurable loss of life and livelihood.

They are 30 years behind the rest of the country.

The author takes a ceremonial bath in the pristine Sulu Sea in Omar, Sulu, for first-time visitors to the province. The sand is powdery white, slightly better than that in Boracay and Bohol. Women are not allowed to wear two-piece swimsuits while swimming as the Tausug government seeks to preserve their culture. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

In other words, the Tausug – People of the Current, as they call themselves – were prisoners in their own country for a very long time. They could not even enjoy their own beaches for fear of being taken hostage or killed by the Abu Sayaf Group (ASG) – or both. They could not even leave their homes. Every day, the capital, Jolo, was a ghost town. No one dared to drive a car; therefore, the roads and streets were always empty. There was no trade, no commerce, no economic activities because people could not move. Even the military had to bring tanks when taking food to the market.

The reason for this can be attributed to a lack of scientific approach in the government's fight against terrorism, which is exacerbated by the government's lack of empathy and understanding for the people and their unique culture and religious beliefs.

Tausugs in general have always been peace-loving traders, long before the Philippines became a country. One day, these people woke up and realized that they already belonged to a country and had to adapt. Since their island is too far away, remote and difficult to access, the central government paid little to no attention to them. This could be the main reason why rebellions started in the region.

The government's solution was neither scientific nor logical, nor cultural nor religious – it was emotional. We used the “send in the Marines” attitude promoted by former US Presidents Roosevelt and Bush. In other words, the message was: “Overwhelm and conquer by force if necessary.” Take over the island and make the people obey the laws that, by the way, were made without their knowledge. Without empathy and respect for the people, their culture and their religion, war was inevitable. We went down the path of fighting our own people.

But relying primarily on military firepower proved futile. No matter how many high-powered weapons and skilled military personnel the government sent to the island, the military would always suffer losses. More lives were lost on the military side than on the opposing side.

The author delivers a lecture on stepback leadership to troops of the 11th Alakdan Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in Kuta Heneral Teodulfo Bautista, Barangay Busbus, Jolo, Sulu.

To understand this, a military friend who had facilitated my trip told me how our military organization had tried to solve the problem wrong. Worse, they tried to solve the problem with an even more problematic solution. It became a vicious cycle that only got worse day by day. I was told that every one of our military operations over the past three decades had never been based on science and was therefore doomed to failure from the start.

A misconception – or rather an assumption – is that if they win the people they will win the war. But they could not win the people because they did not win the war. Do you think the people will side with the losers? No. The solution, my friend says, is to win the war to win the people, not the other way around.

But how do they plan to win the war? They have to be scientific. They have to rely on science rather than assumptions and weapons and heavy artillery. Only when they did that did they begin to win the war against the terrorists.

On September 6, 2023, Governor Abdusakur M. Tan announced his message in Patikul, Sulu: “It is with great pleasure and immense pride that I declare the province of Sulu ASG-free. This event represents a significant achievement in our relentless pursuit of stability, security, and peace. With the support of our security sector and the community, we can see the improvement in our province. This is an indicator that there is harmony, so we have agreed that Sulu be declared ASG-free.” Governor Tan further said, “Let us continue to work together to create a community that respects harmony, diversity, and development.”

In its report, the military claimed that prior to the declaration of Sulu province as ASG-free, the province's 19 municipalities had declared their respective towns ASG-free. Major General Ignatius N. Patrimonio, former commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said, “Prior to this momentous event, we were able to exempt the 52 ASG-affected barangays from ASG affiliation, which was due to the voluntary surrender of 966 ASG personalities and the recovery of 559 firearms.”

My first visit to Sulu to speak was not a routine day-to-day affair. It was an experience and a memory for life. It was not just about giving a speech to the troops. It was about understanding how to win and resolve our internal conflicts, which, in the words of my friend, “should not have arisen in the first place if we had used only scientific evidence in our strategy, rather than assumptions and textbook information.”

Your case of imprisoning yourself in your own prison is similar to the case of the Tausugs who were imprisoned for no good reason. They had no choice but to live it up and hope for the best. The best part is that they gained that freedom while they were still alive. Your freedom too can be won. But you have to think about it and be scientific. Don't just make assumptions. Check your science and you will find a way out.

I have two more pieces for you.

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