Mindanao Christians ‘up in arms’

Spy Bits received numerous emails and text messages decrying the wealth sharing agreement that would form part of the framework agreement creating the Bangsamoro entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM. The deal would give the MILF 75 percent share in taxes and earnings from energy and metallic minerals, and a 50 percent share from energy and other mineral resources.

“The prospect is infuriating, to say the least,” one of our email senders wrote. “Mindanao Christians will be doomed economically and politically. Manila negotiators have sold us down the river!” still another fumed. Many are saying they would have settled for a 50-50 proportion on the wealth sharing agreement, but the 75-25 which the MILF insisted is a bit too much – something which opposing groups called “lopsided,” “unjust” and “disproportionate.”

If all of Mindanao and Sulu were autonomous, Christians, Muslims and Lumads would benefit from the 75-25 arrangement. “But if the MILF alone were to have it, the Lumads would join the bandwagon and register as Bangsamoro. Between them and the government, we would end up picking up the crumbs,” still another commented.

Spy Bits sources told us the Christian community is upset that they were not even consulted regarding the terms of the agreement, saying this issue could prove to be contentious, calling to mind the 2008 Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that triggered protests from both Muslim and Christian groups. If one can remember, what was supposed to be a “landmark deal” that would expand the MILF territory and thus bring peace closer to Mindanao turned out to be a debacle – with the Supreme Court eventually ruling the MOA-AD as “unconstitutional.”

Several groups assailed the lack of consultation and the perceived “encroachment” of the MILF over several areas in Mindanao, saying the latter is not the only group with inherent rights or claims over Muslim ancestral domain. According to experts, the wave of resentment also stemmed from the fact that indigenous peoples also felt that their interests were not represented during the negotiations, the same sentiment felt by the majority Christian population as well as the non-MILF factions in Mindanao.

It seems the peace negotiators have forgotten that Mindanao is not only composed of the MILF, a Palace insider who refused to be identified told Spy Bits, saying that the process by which the term sharing deal was arrived at seems to have run counter to a Presidential directive that the negotiations must be “participatory and inclusive” from the onset.

We’re told that a group of businessmen are planning to appeal the agreement – and it won’t hurt for the peace panel and Malacañang to listen rather than risk the possibility of creating another group that would be harboring anger and resentment, our source said.

Planting rice is never fun

The sudden spike in rice prices of up to P2 per kilo and more in Metro Manila is generating a wave of protests from many Filipinos particularly the urban poor who could barely afford to feed their children. This is disconcerting since, according to Agriculture Secretary Procy Alcala, the Philippines is supposed to be 98 percent rice sufficient now aside from the fact that we have enough buffer for the so-called lean months equivalent to about 2.3 million metric tons. And that does not even include rice imports from countries like Vietnam – which makes any supply shortage unbelievable.

President Noynoy Aquino has been very emphatic about his desire to make the Philippines rice self-sufficient, even reiterating his previous “promise” that he will make the country – known as the world’s biggest rice importer – become self-sufficient by this year. In 2013, it is likely we would even become a rice exporter, the President had said.

Sources, however, told us that some groups could be behind the “price manipulation” to drive “negative sentiment” against the PNoy administration, saying it could be a ploy to embarrass the President when he delivers his SONA next week. This is certainly something that the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the Agriculture department should investigate, and find out if unscrupulous businessmen are also starting to hoard.

MVP at 67

Business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) celebrated his birthday with his business executives and some of his close friends and associates at the Meralco Multipurpose Hall in Pasig last Sunday. At 67, MVP doesn’t seem to run out of energy, actively engaged not only in running his various business interests but the numerous charitable activities and corporate social responsibility initiatives via the PLDT Foundation. The son of Apalit has never forgotten his humble roots, which is why he always has a passion to help others especially in the field of education, establishing an educational scholarship foundation named after his father Dominador Pangilinan.

According to Manny, First Pacific has expanded its investments as far as Europe especially in the area of power generation. As one of MVP’s closest friends, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario (shown in photo during MVP’s birthday celebration) was quoted as saying, Manny Pangilinan is like the Eveready Energizer – he just keeps going, and going, and going… and never seems to run out of energy and battery. 

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