Celebrating a double victory

Thursday, March 27, was overcast, but the mood was bright and sunny inside the giant tent setup on Malacañang’s Mabini field. Guests in elegant Filipiniana, the MILF members in dark suits and Muslim women in colorful dresses, their heads wrapped in hijabs, smiled at one another happily, anticipating the moment when the chairs of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels would sign a peace agreement that would end the war in Muslim Mindanao.

It took 17 years of tough deliberations, with the last three being the most intense. As President Aquino told it, the process needed a necessary element — trust. Once that was established, the negotiations proceeded, not always smoothly, but with sincerity and commitment.

In August 2011, the President took a quick and quiet trip to Japan where he met with MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim to gauge if, by talking directly, they could build what the President described as “the modicum of trust” needed to propel the peace process forward. The two leaders talked not as adversaries but as friends seeking a solution to a common problem. And although the President gathered brickbats from his critics for his supposed lack of transparency, the peace talks prospered. In October 2012, the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed at a ceremony in Malacañang and in January 2014, all its four annexes had been initialed.

Last Thursday’s signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) sealed the deal before over a thousand guests that included Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, 500 members of the MILF, senators, congressmen, cabinet members, business people, government bureaucrats, diplomats, international development agencies, military and police officers. There were also slightly envious onlookers like myself and the other members of the government team who are still stuck in fruitless talks with the other rebel group, the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army. 

Malacañang pulled out all the stops. Mindanao icon Bayang Barrios and Mike Villegas, and the Kontragapi percussion group, inspired the guests with songs of peace. The tent-hall was awash with flowers, and anahaw fans thoughtfully placed on every seat to ward off the heat. The merienda was catered by Via Mare, and the portalets at the back were air-conditioned.

It was, indeed, time for celebrating what in his speech, Chairman Murad called a “shared victory” of the MILF and the Filipino people. How can anyone not be happy with an agreement that signed away the armed violence that has kept the population fearful and desperately looking for safety at a moment’s notice?  How can we not rejoice when it opens the door to development and investments that address the underdevelopment, poverty and ignorance that has kept Muslim Mindanao in the dark for decades? 

Muslim Mindanao can now look forward to what Prime Minister Razak called “the promise of the future”: education, jobs, livelihood, prosperity, community services such as health care, nutrition and other social services. 

There is another reason for rejoicing. The CAB was a double victory for feminist pride. Perhaps due to protocol, it was not emphasized at the ceremony, but it stuck out like a joyful maypole: the fact that women played a major role in the making of the CAB.

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council issued resolution No. 1325, the first of a series of resolutions that, recognizing the experience of women in conflict and in the maintenance of peace and security, asserted their leadership role in conflict resolution, peace talks and recovery. With Ging Deles at the helm of the government’s peace processes, the Philippines was one of the first to comply, installing in 2004 and in 2010 a majority of women in the GRP panel for talks with the CPP-NPA.

In 2012, when GPH chair Marvic Leonen was appointed to the Supreme Court, he recommended the only woman in his panel, Miriam Coronel Ferrer — Iye to us — as his replacement. It was bold and counter-intuitive. The GPH-MILF table had always been predominantly male territory. But the President was wise to heed Leonen’s recommendation because Miriam and her able team of women and men did their job patiently but firmly, quickly but thoroughly, and delivered the goods, topped with gender concerns empowering Bangsamoro women firmly imbedded in the final agreement.

Iye’s panel was assisted by amazing peace women:  Undersecretary Yasmin Busran-Lao was added to the GPH panel, Iona Jalijali heads the secretariat, Johaira Wahab and Anna Tarhata Basman, both under 30 years old, alternately headed the legal team assisted by Armi Bayot from the Solicitor General’s office. Zen Brosas from the National Security Council was a consultant and Babes Lim from NEDA and Ning Rodriguez from the National Tax Research Center were part of the Technical Working Group.

Last Thursday, the CAB was the first document of its kind in current peace processes around the world to be signed by three women — Iye as chair of the government panel, Yasmin as member, and Zen as consultant. Three men completed the GPH side — panel members Senen Bacani and Mehol Sadain, and Chito Gascon as consultant.

Oh. happy day! Peace and women empowerment in one fell swoop — indeed, a fitting culmination of women’s month.

But amid the revelry, we are reminded that the law creating the Bangsamoro entity still has to be passed by Congress, which has its inherent dangers from vested interests among lobbyists and legislators. And there are the other spoilers, armed and unarmed, who will not stop trying to frustrate the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people and the Philippine government. 

In his speech last Thursday, the President vowed, “I will not let peace be snatched from our people again.” It will involve all peacemakers and peace builders and every person of goodwill to help him ensure the permanence of that peace.

Now our hard work begins.