The thing is, before this nobody really thought of rape here, especially in this small island of Sulu. So it’s hard to know who, but it would seem that these are very young men, locals, in fact connected to people who are in local politics. And they are very young, in their twenties and below. We are really concerned how these young people think. What they think of women and what specifically is their image of Tausug women.
by Fatima Tan
Can u tell me about this anti-rape campaign you are doing right now?
In 2009, a series of rape cases became public. A few of the victims came out to have the perpetrators prosecuted in court. It came as a surprise to all of us from Sulu, but we welcomed the idea of these survivors going to the court and prosecuting the perpetrators. In a sense we were hopeful then that this series of incidents will be put to a stop. However, after several months of working in women’s organizations and some human rights organizations working on these cases so that they can finally reach the court, we later realized that it won’t be easy as we thought. Thus, this campaign to highlight the issue of gender-based violence and hopefully to really put an end to it.
Do you know who are the perpetrators?
We don’t have a complete profile of all the perpetrators involved in the series. In the last five to ten years, the number of cases involved could run to as high as a hundred. The thing is, before this nobody really thought of rape here, especially in this small island of Sulu. So it’s hard to know who, we don’t have a complete profile, but in the more recent cases in this series, it would seem that there are very young men, locals, in fact connected to people who are in local politics or who are holding positions in the local political offices. And they are very young, mga twenties and below. We are really concerned how these young people think about women, what are their image of Tausug women specifically.
Yes. Otherwise it’s a big taboo, no?
Before this nobody really thought about rape. In fact many Muslims would say that rape only happens in non-Muslim areas, and in fact many Muslims would like to believe that they have a higher ethical standard, that there is no prostitution, no rape, they are against all the vices, there is no drinking, no drugs. Apparently, that is not the case as this series of rape actually peaked. And it’s not just about Tausug women or Muslim women being raped by outsiders. In this case, unfortunately, sadly, it is about Muslim men raping their own women.
Would you attribute this to drug addiction, to young men’s exposure to pornography?
I have a problem with that. I think not all drug addicts are rapists. And not all young addicts would rape women. So I would not say that. There is no direct correlation. In fact, I would even dare say that if we have some of these men tested for drugs, just suppose we could have them apprehended and tested for drugs, maybe not all of them are addicted. It’s really about a mind frame, a thinking. That I am a man, there’s this woman, and I can have her if I like, and that if she doesn’t like it, I can force myself upon her.
But yes, I would say that drugs soften one’s inhibitions, like if you have this desire, this image of a woman that can be yours, your inhibitions would be lower if you took some drugs. But I would not say that it is because of drugs. What I think is, if a person has some respect for a woman, even if he is addicted, it would not automatically make him a rapist.
Yes. I must have bought that stereotype of a drug addict. And this other stereotype, this joke that Arab men and Muslim men are sexually repressed daw and so they are more liable to commit perverted acts. And also itong pag-associate sa Moro areas with narco politics?
But Sulu is not very Arabic, di ba?
No, it’s not.
Kung titingnan mo, the Tausug community is not very Arabic. Well, there are different standards of behaviour, of say the way men relate to women and women relating to men, but even that I think is slowly disappearing. Dahil sa globalized communications, dahil sa exposure din to what’s happening elsewhere. Pero definitely, kung i-compare mo naman ang mga Arabo in the Middle East with the Tausug in Sulu, hindi rin sila ganun. So I would not buy that stereotype one hundred percent. Walang pagkakatulad, talaga.
Siguro, I would say also na it’s just like what’s happening in non-Muslim societies, kaya lang, surprising dahil, we’re Muslims! And we rape fellow Muslims?
But that’s not because it did not exist. It does exist. Pero matagal din kasing dineny, matagal ang denial. Isang example pa ng another denial ay ang prostitution. Sasabihin na walang prostitution dito sa atin. Totoo naman na maraming babae dito ay nasa entertainment, sa mga videoke bars, though many of them come from elsewhere, hindi mga locals. Kasi meron talagang malaking stigma sa mga Muslim na babae na nagtatrabaho sa ganitong mga lugar, pag nalaman ng kapitbahay, ng kamag-anak. Kaya karamihan sa mga babae diyan ay nanggagaling sa Zamboanga, sa Cebu, pero tingnan mo rin kung sino ang customers. It would be locals.
Ang mga babae naman na Tausug na napupunta sa prostitusyon actually they do it elsewhere. Kung pumunta ka ng Zamboanga, ang mga Tausug women, surprisingly, would be part of the industry. Napadpad sa prostitusyon. Hindi lang siguro ginagawa sa loob ng Sulu, but definitely there is prostitution in Sulu if it is the men from Sulu who are buying.
This rape and all this violence against women, definitely too it has no relation to the practice of pagguyud?
Sa pagguyud kasi the intention of the man is to marry.
A form of courtship?
No, it’s not really courtship. Kasi ipu-force mo. Kukunin mo ang babae, tatangayin mo, dahil siguro ayaw niya sa iyo o kaya di mo kaya ang dowry na hinihingi ng mga magalang niya, so you resort to pagguyud. Sa rape kasi there is no intention to marry. I don’t know if it is good or bad, but it uses force to get a woman. Ang nakakadagdag kasi sa level of shock dito sa series of rape na ito ay many of them are gang rapes. You get raped over and over by different men.
Karamihan rin mga bata. Young boys. Part yata ng initiation ng barkada into manhood.
Oo. Peer bonding.
Ang mga victims ba galing sa poor families lahat?
So far sa mga lumalabas na cases karamihan mga bata, yung mga galing sa vulnerable groups. Meron pa ngang isang lola, matandang babae.
Saan na sila ngayon?
May mga iilan yata na nandiyan pa. I think the one who is married is still here in the island. I’m not sure, pero mukhang karamihan sa kanila hindi na Interesado magpursue ng case, maaaring nabayaran, maaaring pinaalis na ng Sulu, maybe with some payment also. Kung poor family ka nga naman, tapos kalaban mo very powerful, maybe it makes sense to avoid trouble.
Totoo. So far how is the legal course doing doon sa mga nag-file ng cases. Did they?
Hindi pa naman hopeless. Ang prescriptive period for rape kasi, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, mga 20 years yata. Parang you can still file a case one the complainant is ready. Pero siyempre, the later it is filed, the less likely it could be won. May epekto rin sa credibility ng complainant. Kung titingnan mo iyong pattern ng decision-making ng Supreme Court sa mga rape cases, the longer for you to file a case from the time that it occurred, the more likely that the case will be dismissed. Kasi sasabihin, after five years ngayon ka lang nag-file? Maku-question ang motivation mo.
Yung battering of women, how does it happen here? In which households?
Nangyayari pero hindi rin pinag-uusapan. Just like the issues of rape and prostitution. May ginawa na study ang isang RH group noon, they formed these study groups and conducted this research with Tausug women about gender-based violence against women. Ang sabi ng report, they Tausug women would not directly admit that they’re victims, pero pag tinanong mo kung meron ba kayong alam na binubugbog na asawa, almost all said Yes, kapitbahay ko, kapatid ko, etc. There were cases pa raw na nakarating sa Sulu iyong babae, galing sa ibang lugar dahil tumakas. Parang extreme case of violence siya na umabot yata sa parricide. What I’m saying is, yes, it happens. Meron. Hindi lang siguro well-reported.
So sa ngayon what are the cultural resources here that may be tapped, ano-anong mga institusyon at local mechanisms ang puwede ninyong i-tap para matulak pa forward ang campaign against rape at violence against women?
Kasi nga, ang pagtingin ko dito sa rape, it is something cultural. Pag-iisip ito, isang mind frame. Maaaring hindi nga tayo aware e na may ganito pala tayong pagtingin. Even the men, even the women, who are repelled by rape may not be aware, or may not feel na meron silang ganitong mind frame. Na itong hindi pagkakapantay-pantay, iyong inequality of men and women ay normal lang sa atin. Kaya nga kailangan itong basagin. Kailangang ipakita na there is such a thing as inequality and that it’s unjust and therefore we have to do something against it. We are all agreed naman on the basic concepts of gender gender equality, human rights, and so on. Hindi lang natin alam gamitin o isabuhay.
I don’t think this is Islam. And we should not use Islam to justify acts of violence, especially if it is directed against one’s wife.
Tagad kaw. Did you say use Islam as excuse for committing violence?
Yes. Actually there is a Q’uoranic verse na ginagamit, quoted by men, and by women, to justify that inequality between men and women is God’s way, mandated by God.
A, oo.
It’s in Nisa 4:34. It’s one of the more difficult verses. Pero kung titingnan mo kasi ang konteksto nitong verse na ito ay, as we know, the Q’uoran was revealed to the Prophet in 7th Century Arabia. Noong time na iyon, women were very much like objects. They can be inherited, they cannot inherit. They did not have the right to property, they were actually properties themselves. Tapos rampant din ang infanticide. Kasi kapag babae ang anak mo, unfavored. Kasi at the time yata babae ang nagda-dowry, so wala silang economic value. So pinapatay iyong iyong female infants.
So here comes Prophet Mohammed saying that it is not something that God wants!!! Lahat ng tao ay equal, pantay-pantay sa mata Niya, at ang value ng isang tao ay based not on their sex but on their piousness. On how they relate to God and other human beings. Actually iyong verse 4:34 ang sinasabi doon, kapag hindi kayo nagkasundo, ang pagkakasulat ay, avoid them, don’t share their bed, then... may stages. Only by last resort sinasabi na beat them. Ang root word ay araba which is interpreted in many ways. Iba-iba ang interpretations. Beat them, or beat them lightly. Iyong iba, discipline them, or be firm with them, or leave them. It is prone to different interpretations ng iba-ibang Islamic scholars. In the end, we never know. It is only God who knows. Because these are just words e. All that humans can do is to interpret them according to the iba-ibang konteksto ng mga taong nag-interpret.
Would you say that the best way to resist gender-based violence is still through Islam?
Again?
If we have to tell our men that we should not do this, is it still best to tell them that it is unislamic?
Tingin ko Yes. Yes in the sense that the Muslims pride themselves for being Muslims and have higher ethical standards, or think of themselves as having higher ethical standards. So kailangan ipamukha sa kanila na if they are Muslims and are proud of being Muslims, they have to look at what Islam says about women.
And what have been the immediate barriers to your work so far. Saan-saan nanggagaling ang resistance o reaction.
Sa tingin ko gender issues –and not just rape—had to be discussed by the Muslim community. And yet it is not. Siguro medyo masiyado rin tayong na-wrapped up sa issue ng right to self-determination in relation to the Philippine state. So parang around that pa ang naging efforts ng human rights and advocacy work. Pero iyong internal to us, like how we relate to each other and what do we think of our society, and how we take women, ito iyong mga bagay na medyo nakaligtaan. We tend to avoid. Ang mga naririnig ko lagi, halimbawa, sasabihin nila, everything will fall into place kapag nakamit na iyong right to self-determination na inaasam natin. O kaya, a basta may Islam perfect na iyan. But that is not exactly true, because granting that Islam is perfect, the world is not. Human beings are not. So iyon. Tingin ko, more than the non-Muslim communities, it is harder for us to discuss gender issues, especially among us here Moro Muslims in the Philippines in particular.
Ang tingin ko, bahagi niyan is the fact that we are a minoritized people. So may mga dynamics yan. You don’t say anything bad about your tribe, about your nation. Huwag kang ganun kakritikal kasi it may come off as anti-Islam o anti-Moro. Pero actually kung nasa loob ka ng tribe o nation, you have every right and obligation to ensure na whether marating natin and right to self-determination na hinihiling natin o hindi, people still need to know how to treat each other more humanely. Iyong how we get there, or as we get there, dapat mabait naman tayo sa isa’t-isa.
Ano ang role ng intelligentsia sa Moro society o sa Tausug society?
Mahirap ko yatang sagutin iyon kasi hindi naman ako kasali doon... But I remember a time when Sulu was very progressive. And I’m not talking just about the economic side, which was also very progressive.
Mga 60s?
Oo. Hanggang early 70s before the war.
Oo. Iyong mga pictures ng mga nanay natin nakamini-skirt pa nga e.
Oo. It was a very open society. Economically it was very progressive. And I am only talking about the economic side, I am not even talking about the human resources, the cultural resources. I had met some non-Muslim intellectuals from the Philippines when I went to the US and they would tell me that they were in Jolo in the 50s or 60s at ang sabi nila, noon raw ang Jolo was like Dumaguete, parang Silliman University. Maganda siyang lugar. At sikat ka if you taught in Notre Dame of Jolo.
Talaga?
Pero yun na nga, as life became harder and harder, after the war, andami nang nawalang tao, we lost so many people, and not just people who died during the war, but pati na ang intelligentsia class –if we can call them a class— who had left because of the security situation and also because they saw what Jolo could or could no longer offer. If you have a family to build, walang future ang mga anak mo. So we lost so many people. And I would say na karamihan sa intelligentsia class na ito who had left, may not come back anymore.
Sa tingin ko, bahagi rin ng kahirapan ng Sulu ngayon ay ang kawalang ng ganitong resources. I would say na malaking role sana ng ganyang class –the intellectuals— ay ang mag-open up ng new paradigms. Kasi ito sana iyong mga nakakapagdala ng pag-iisip na puwedeng makapagbukas ng sarado o luma at napakatradisyunal na pag-iisip.
Ano sa tingin mo ang ginagawa ng mga civil society organizations ngayon dito sa Sulu?
As of last count, kasi may study na ginawa diyan e, tapos ang bilang ng CSOs dito ay umabot yata ng more than a hundred. Although ang definition yata ng CSO ay more expansive rather that restrictive, so umabot sa more than one hundred. Okay yun. On one hand okay yun. That means people are organizing themselves and are looking at issues. Maybe not all of these are human rights issues, kasi nga kasama na sa bilang na iyan yung mga tennis clubs, yung Rotary, yung Lion’s Club at religious organizations. Pero on the other hand, kung titingnan mo, ilan din lang sa mga ito ang tumitingin sa gender issues. O sa human rights issues. I don’t think the number is enough to cover the complicated cases in Sulu and many of these organizations can be found only in Jolo. And we know that there are many violations that happen elsewhere outside of Jolo town. Pero hindi na siguro makakarating sa atin kasi nga nobody goes to Patah Island, nobody goes to Luuk and so on, hanggang Indanan na lang lagi, hanggang Maimbung. Sulu is very isolated, so hindi rin siya mapapasok ng iba pang human rights groups from outside. So very strategic at very important sana ang role ng local CSOs in Sulu, more than in any other places.
