Will we ever have peace in Mindanao?

It is a Sunday and while I’d often rather discuss topics more related to family, children and the meaning of parenthood, unfortunately because of the events in Mindanao, particularly the deaths of our soldiers and the involvement of both the MILF and lawless elements, I think it is important to discuss some of the roots of the conflict in the Southern Philippines. While some might believe that the war in Mindanao cannot touch those living in Luzon and the Visayas, I see this as a myopic perspective. A country, like a human being, is an integrated whole. When one part of the human body is sick, the rest suffer; similarly, if Mindanao remains mired in conflict, then any aspirations for the Philippines’ long-term economic and social development may well be a pipe dream.

To understand the roots of the Mindanao conflict, let’s go back 40 years, to my home at 30 Bohol Avenue, Quezon City. I was less than a year old back then so I don’t recall it but my elder brothers and sisters do remember the historic meeting of ethnic Filipino Muslim leaders or “Moros,” including Nur Misuari, Rashid Lucman, Michael Mastura, Ali Dimaporo, Cesar Majul, Lininding Pangandaman, my uncle, Macapanton Abbas, and my father, Mamintal Tamano, and the signing of the “Muslim Leaders’ Consensus of Unity” of July 15, 1971, which stated:

“…That we have taken cognizance of past events which have befallen the Muslims in the Philippines, e.g., the Jabidah massacre, the disturbance of Muslim villages before resulting in the loss of lives and properties, the current series of killings, assault and mutilations of Muslims, the desecration of their dead and the burning of their mosques and houses in Cotabato and Lanao del Sur, not to mention the perennial discrimination against Muslims in many levels of the national life as well as the misrepresentation or distortion of their true image as a historic people;

“ ...That in the case of the evacuees, the continued failure of the government to bring them back to their places of origin, compensate them for their losses unlike the immediate rehabilitation and replacement of houses in Ora Este and Ora Centro in Bantay, Ilocos Sur, and provide them protection, progressively erodes the confidence of the Muslims in the sincerity of the government to enforce their rights, protect their lived and their properties;

“...That in view of the foregoing facts and premises, we urge the government to accept our proposals to ensure lasting peace in the country and make the government forces protect the lives of not only the Christians but also the Muslims;

“...Finally, if the government shall fail or refuse to perform its fundamental duty to give equal protection to all citizens, whether Muslim or Christian; if it fails to stop the criminal depredations in Muslim areas which are brazenly and openly committed with the very presence of the military; and if we shall not get justice for our people through peaceful and legal means — we hereby pledge today before God, that despite our present personal and political positions, we shall do out utmost to preserve our community and land. Toward this end, we are willing and ready to sacrifice our worldly possessions and even our lives as our forebears have done before us in defense of freedom and Islam.”

The foregoing gives an insight into the roots of the current Mindanao conflict, particularly for those too young to recall the events and the context of the 1970s in Mindanao.

Sadly, after 40 years, despite subsequent peace agreements like the Tripoli Agreement and the peace pact with the MNLF, the conditions of Muslim Filipinos living in the Southern Philippines, specifically in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindano (ARMM), have improved very little since the ‘70s. And, of course, peace remains as elusive now as it did then. Additionally, the establishment of the current bastardized version of the ARMM, vastly different from the original ARMM envisioned by my father who was a co-author of the ARMM statute, may have only served to worsen the level of governance and corruption in Southern Mindanao and thus has even exacerbated the problem of peace in the area.

As a counterpoint, others may argue that the Philippine government and foreign aid agencies like USAID, JICA and AUSAID have poured billions of funds into the ARMM and so the support for ARMM — and Moros in general — has not been lacking. Thus, any problems that persist in the area are due largely to the Moros themselves.

There is a grain of truth to this argument, particularly because past ARMM leaders have been notoriously corrupt. But whatever validity this observation may have does not change the conditions of abject poverty and lack of education on the ground. My own take is that what this proves is that the solution to the problems in ARMM is not via funding alone. Leadership, particularly getting better leaders, will be involved in the solution. So will capacity-building and institution-building. Perhaps it will take a new generation of Muslim leaders, NGOs, intellectuals and others who will be the catalysts for peace in Mindanao.

In fact, to fully understand the problem of Peace in Mindanao, you will have to get into the mindset of the Moro or ethnic Muslim Filipino. The Christian majority in this country might ask the question: Why does the MILF demand the creation of a sub-state and why do their Muslim friends, even the professionals and highly educated, espouse the creation of a separate Bangsamoro nation? Before I answer this query, let me make my personal position clear — while I acknowledge the right of Moros, under international law, to self-determination, personally I do not aspire to be part of a separate Moro State. I have long believed, like my father, that one can be a Muslim, a Maranaw, and yet still be, proudly, Filipino.

So let me go back to answering the question of why many Moros aspire for independence — by paraphrasing Malcolm X, the American black nationalist leader:

“Just because you’re in this country doesn’t make you Filipino. No, you’ve got to go farther than that before you can become a Filipino. You’ve got to enjoy the fruits of being Filipino. Moros haven’t enjoyed those fruits. They’ve enjoyed the thorns. They’ve enjoyed the thistles.”

In fact, what has been the harvest from the establishment of the ARMM? Bitter, rotten fruit — the country’s highest poverty rates, the lowest literacy rates, and the least access to health and education. And leaders like the Ampatuans.

This is why the peace agreement with the MILF is not the final solution to the Mindanao peace problem. There is no guarantee that a new group won’t break away from the MILF, just as it did with the MNLF in 1977. And as long as the conditions on the ground remain the same, there will never be peace.

Actually, forging a peace agreement may yet be the easy part. The true challenge is to provide Filipino Muslims in ARMM the fruits of good governance.

Will we ever have peace in Mindano during our lifetime? Honestly, I do not know. However, what I do know is that the battlefield for peace will not be in the jungles of Basilan or in the plains of Maguindanao but rather in the hearts and minds of Moros who still aspire for a better future apart from the Christian majority.