[QODLink]
People & Power
Gun culture
People & Power visits one of the most dangerous parts of the Philippines.
Last Modified: 08 Jan 2009 13:23 GMT

Watch part two

The Sulu Archipelago is a group of several hundred islands situated in the southern Philippines. 

While it should be a tourist destination, it is perhaps best known as the refuge for the militant organisation the Abu Sayyaf group which is infamous for kidnappings, beheadings, bombings and assassinations. 

Last June, Abu Sayyaf made headlines again after its members kidnapped a Philippine television crew - they were safely released after paying close to half a million dollars in ransom.

Today, the Philippine military continues to fight Abu Sayyaf, which the US believes has ties to al-Qaeda, and its troops are in Sulu, fighting what Washington refers to as the second front in it's 'war on terror'. 

But Sulu remains one of the most dangerous places in the Philippines, where guns are part of the culture and armed violence is the biggest cause of death.

Filmmaker Orlando De Guzman took the perilous journey deep into the heart of Sulu, a remote and lawless place to look beyond terrorism and to understand the real problems contributing to the cycle of violence in this land ruled by the gun.

This episode of People & Power airs from Saturday, January 10, 2009 at the following times GMT:
Saturday: 0130, 1230, 1930; Sunday: 0330, 1030, 2330; Monday: 0730.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Topics in this article
Country
Featured on Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera's exclusive publishing of a key Guantanamo prison military document lays bare the brutality of force-feeding.
Former military official says poverty and anger in indigenous communities mean conditions for an "insurgency" are ripe.
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
Featured
China Rising
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Al-Nakba
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
Syria: The War Within
Two years since the start of the uprising, rebels and Assad's forces remain locked in conflict.
China angles for Arctic power
China aims to expand its influence in the resource rich area.
Crisis in Bangladesh
Extensive coverage of war crimes tribunals and controversial calls for blasphemy laws.
join our mailing list