[Member of Parliament Rasol Mitmug of Lanao del Sur delivered this privilege speech during the session of the Bangsamoro Parliament on September 23, 2021, to honor the memory of those who perished in the Malisbong Massacre (also referred to as Palimbang Massacre) 47 years ago on September 24, 1974. Translated piece is included here]
Gusto ko lang po sana gamitin ang oras na ‘to para ipaalala sa ating mga sarili na bukas, September 24 ay ang anibersaryo ng Malisbong Massacre. Ito po ay nangyari nung 1974 kung saan 1,500 nakalalakihan na Moro, 3000 mga kababaihan at kabataan ang namatay sa Malisbong, Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat.
Hindi po natin sila kilalang lahat subalit kailangan nating tandaan ang nangyari at bigyang-pugay yung mga namatay nung mga oras na yon.
Yung pagsimula ko po sa Bangsamoro Transition Authority (as Member of the Parliament) ito po yung unang event na naattenan ko. Yung first recognition ng local government unit ng Malisbong. Sa national government naman po, kinilala nila na itong transgression ay nangyari, noong 2013 through RA 10368 Human Rights Victims and Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
Hindi po ito dapat mangyari ulit, mga kasamahan. We should now, as a matter of fact, prioritize yong mga batas na kinakialingan para maestablish ang mga transitional justice mechanisms.
While fully implementing yung mga naipasa natin katulad sa BCOBAR (Bangsamoro Communities Outside of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region), katulad sa creation of reading materials for Bangsamoro history and IP history, kinakailangan po hindi natin makalimutan yung mga pangyayari na nagawa noong nakaraan para hindi po ito maulit ngayon.
Salamat po, Mr. Speaker, for providing me this moment dahil bukas po ay September 24.
Ito po ay kaunting pag-alala para po ma-renew natin ang ating commitment sa ating adbokasiya para sa pagkamit ng hustisya para sa mga taong ito. At sana po maestablish natin nang matatag ang BCOBAR kasi sa tingin ko ang reason bakit may BCOBAR tayo dahil sa mga sitwasyon na nangyari katulad ng Malisbong massacre.
Maraming Salamat po, mga kasamahan.
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(English translation provided by MP Mitmug)
The day was September 24 in the year 1974, where more than 1,500 Moro men and 3,000 women and children were killed by the Philippine Army in the village of Malisbong in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, hence forever remembered as the Malisbong Massacre.
The victims were stripped of their clothes and made to dig their own graves before being shot execution-style, others were buried alive. Some of the women and children were also taken as sex slaves before their deaths. These are just a few of their stories.
We may not know all their names, but they deserve to be honored and remembered.
As one of the many transgressions committed against the Bangsamoro under the Martial Law regime, the Malisbong Massacre was finally recognized by the government 40 years after, by virtue of Republic Act No. 10368 known as the Human Rights Victims and Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.
Mr. Speaker, as members of the Parliament, as Bangsamoro, it is imperative that we take every step to ensure that NEVER AGAIN we have to see its likes again and bring this stories into the forefront of public consciousness. Demand Justice and Continue Working For Peace.
They say, “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Dealing with transitional justice is dealing with a legacy of a dark past. Painful as it is to remember, but it needs redress to heal.
We should act now on implementing the transitional justice mechanisms, the first basic right under RA 11504.
And whilst doing so, we must remember. Never forget. Never again.
Thank you, my dear colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
