Terror

Terrorism is defined as the systematic way of using terror as a means of coercion. One of the most common definitions includes those acts which are intended to create fear. The word terrorism comes from the Latin word terrere which means “to frighten” which is associated to the Reign of Terror by the revolutionary government in 1793 to 1794. The modern definition of terrorism is inherently controversial. The use of violence for the achievement of political ends is common to state and non-state groups. The difficulty is in agreeing governments from the definition. Some such definitions are so broad, like the Terrorism Act 2000, as to include the disruption of a computer system wherein no violence is intended or results on a basis for determining when the use of violence is legitimate. The majority of definitions in use have been written by agencies directly associated with a government, and are systematically biased to exclude.

In the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group have been declared as the terrorists in the archipelago. These two groups are the outcasts of the Moro National Liberation Front, which is a congregation of the Muslims in Mindanao that wants an independent Islamic state from the Philippines. MILF separated from the MNLF due to the MNLF's reluctance to launch an insurgency against the Philippine government forces and movements towards a peace agreement. On the other hand, Abu Sayyaf Group is said to be a separatist of the MNLF which was given financial support by Osama bin Laden himself. MILF wanted to be the one who is more aggressive in military operations than the MNLF which is the reason why the Philippine government labeled the MILF as a terrorist group. Abu Sayyaf is merely a group of Muslim mercenaries who just want terror and spread fear among the Mindanao people. MILF’s main objective is to have an independent Islamic state by means of aggressive military operations in Mindanao against the Philippine government. Meanwhile, the Abu Sayyaf is said to be taking direct orders from Osama bin Laden in terrorizing the Philippine archipelago.

In the Philippines, terrorism affects the society through giving chaos and fear to the people and the tourists. It also gives political effects on the society through the different perceptions and points on politics. Economically, no investor would want to make business within these areas because they would be very hesitant in putting up a business because of terrorism.

This crisis must be solved be cause religions have been receiving bad impressions from the different people in the world. Religions should be living in harmony and not living as enemies of others. Due to this problem, Islam has been receiving bad feedbacks from other religions because of their Jihad. Other religions think that Jihad shouldn’t be the way how to express their faith to Allah. Also, religion has been said to be the cause of war because of just the mere misunderstanding among religions would surely lit the fire of war. Worldwide uncertainty and fear have been the reasons why many foreigners don’t travel to the Islamic places in the world. For example, Mindanao has a very low tourism rate because of the terrorism that is happening there.

There are so many reasons why the problem should be solved. But there are two reasons that standout for me. The first one is that resolving the problem would surely settle the conflicts between religions which would surely start the foundation of world peace. The other is that people would be enlightened on how the world has been changing for the betterment of everyone.