Winning the peace in Mindanao

Director General of the Center for the Promotion Of Peace & Dev’t of Mindanao

I am making the following comments in my capacity as Director General of the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development of Mindanao. These comments are based on my actual experiences in "backdoor peace negotiations" between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as Emissary Extraordinary and plenipotentiary to MILF Chairman Salamat Hashim and concurrent Chairman of the MILF Economic Development Committee.

I am a Peacemaker who believes that in order to achieve a lasting peace and progress in Mindanao, both the Government and the MILF must recognize and exercise some degree of pragmatism in their approaches and flexibility in their respective positions in order to break "deadlocks."

I also believe that before even talking, and much more, concluding any comprehensive peace agreements, both parties should put their act together and find out if they can really work together in simple, doable and honest to goodness under-takings that the general public, especially the disadvantaged and "uneducated" can understand and participate in with a sense of belonging to society under the watchful eyes of the local and foreign public and private sectors who would in the process act as participants, donors and lenders in support of the objectives of the agreement.

I support the Accord of May 6 and 7, 2002 because I believe that the development and reconstruction of Mindanao, especially the MILF areas or areas of conflict between the Government and the MILF would increase the probability of attaining a lasting peace and expeditions improvement of the quality of life of the people there. For whatever missing deficiencies there may be in the agreement, it is a good starting point.

Without making any self-serving claim, this Accord validated and provided continuity to the implementation of my action recommendations to MILF Chairman Salamat Hashim, the MILF Central Committee and later to the Government, which include among others, as follows:

a) Resolve differences through peaceful and non-violent means.

b) Place top priority in the discussions to socio-economic development and reconstruction of Mindanao, with emphasis on specific projects in MILF areas or conflicted areas.

c) Promote a culture of peace and education among the people of Mindanao.

d) Promote international cooperation and understanding in the development of Mindanao

e) Enter into interim GRP-MILF partnerships of co-operation and understanding for the development and recon-struction of Mindanao, with emphasis on MILF areas or areas of conflicts between the government and the MILF in the region:

• To serve as a confidence-building mechanism on both sides;

• To serve as a basis for wider GRP-MILF cooperation and understanding in accelerating the peace process;

• To demonstrate collective ability and capability of the government and the MILF to work and accomplish understanding together as a Team;

• To ensure appointment of highly qualified, experienced and honest technocrats and administrators in implementing action plans and programs to avoid graft and corruption.

The public would appreciate hearing and seeing specifics. Agreeing in general terms for the "development and recon-struction" of ravaged areas during the "all out war" in Mindanao is too ambiguous and not enough to justify outright and immediate acceptance of the proposition. It is not enough that the displaced persons are returned to their respective homes. They must be provided with the tools and education to make a living – not palliative solutions just to temporarily alleviate their dismal plight.

The initiative should also address and focus attention to the interest of people and communities who are not displaced but nevertheless are adversely affected by the war. As a matter of fact, these are the people and communities that possess tremendous potentials to play vital roles in turning around the economy of the region.

The public, both local and foreign (particularly investors, donors and lenders) will be happy to see the evaluate implementing guidelines, realistic and viable plans and programs. They would like to see the immediate, intermediate and long-term positive effects of their action plans that present solutions to the problems facing Mindanao today. They would like to hear and see that such action plans are ap-proved and ratified by the funding sources so that funds and logistics are available in time of need. They would like to see that legislation is in place to support what they intend to do. They want to see government implementing agencies addressing the different sectors of the economy well coordinated into a cohesive Super Team of doers and implementers. They would like to see and understand the mechanism and organization that shall be responsible in the implementation of the objectives of the Accord or agreement.

I have stated all along that the Legislative Branch of the Philippine government must have a key role in winning the peace in Mindanao. They must be consulted before the pursuance of any initiative that is aimed at and designed to accelerate the peace process, especially because the Philippine government and the MILF will sign agreements that will require funds. Or else the imple-mentation of agreements between the government and the MILF will be subject to unnecessary delays. Or worse, just an exercise in futility. Overzealous bureaucrats must realize and recognize this in making their recommendations to the President. No matter how good the negotiators’ intentions are, the fact is that the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines is the major source of funding of such undertakings.

I believe that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and MILF Chairman Salamat Hashim are both genuinely interested in concluding a result-oriented comprehensive GRP-MILF Peace Agreement. Both of them are very intelligent, educated and decisive leaders. They are placing the interest and cause of peace and progress of Mindanao above their respective political agenda. However, both of them are not in a hurry to sign a comprehensive agreement until they see positive indications that such an agree-ment will work and succeed. I absolutely agree with them.

For now I can only speak about Chairman Sala-mat Hashim because I had many "one-on-one" meetings with him in the formulation of policies, plans and programs of the MILF for Mindanao development and reconstruction as solutions to attain a lasting peace and expeditious progress of the regions in lieu of armed conflicts. As stated above, my action recommendations led Chairman Salamat Hashim whom I represented to make the first move in inviting the government to enter into GRP-MILF partner-ships of co-operation and understandings for the develop-ment and recon-struction of Mindanao.

With reference to the President, I could only surmise that Her Excellency is committed to continue the vision of her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal. This is not to presume that she has no vision of her own. I consider her as genuinely sincere in attaining peace and progress in Mindanao. I made this conclusion by recalling her SONA and speeches. Most of them were relevant to our experience at the Program Implementation Agency under President Diosdado Macapagal which was later named Presidential Economic Staff where I also actively participated in making recommendations for the action of the President on matters related to Land Reform and attracting foreign investments and investors towards the development of the banana and other agricultural industries in Mindanao.

The government and the MILF should start now the creation of the necessary atmosphere to set the tone for the expeditious and efficient implementation of GRP-MILF Interim Agreements because the success or failure of such Interim Agreements will mirror the decision-making process of both sides in arriving or concluding any compehensive GRP-MILF Peace Agreement. This was the thrust of my discussions with Chairman Salamat Hashim to ensure that both parties will be sincere in their commitments.

As I have stated all along, these Interim agreements must demonstrate viability, effec-tiveness and positive results. The projects that should be included in the interim agreements must play vital roles as models of success in improving the peace condition and consequently generating economic impact in the region.

Among others, I believe that the initial step that the Government and the MILF should address and tackle now is the drafting of Presidential Executive Orders and their enactment into laws by the Congress of the Philippines and duly signed by the President of the Philippines on or before the conclusion and signing of any comprehensive GRP-MILF Peace Agreement. This will prevent unnecessary delays in the implementation of the Agreement.

The government and the MILF should ensure that what they will agree upon will be backed up by appropriate and adequate logistics and funds that shall be available immediately upon signing of the Agreement. This is very important in attracting foreign investments to the region.

The government and the MILF should work together in drafting a Presidential Executive Order (PEO) that shall implement the interim Agreement. This PEO must be enacted into law on or before the formal signing of a comprehensive GPR-MILF Peace Agreement.

They should also study the wisdom and necessity of creating a GRP-MILF Program Implementation Agency. This Agency should be separate and distinct from existing agencies with the power to review, conceptualize, plan and implement development programs and projects in MILF areas or conflicted areas.

They should also look into the possibility of creating collateral implementing bodies by law that shall undertake GRP-MILF partnerships of cooperation and under-standing in gas and oil exploration and development, mineral exploration and development, special economic zones development, agri-business and agro-industrial development, among others.

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