No justice, no peace; no peace, no development!

What do you do to someone who holds you against your will? Isn't this what happened to Mayor General Mohamad Benjamin Dolorfino and Undersecretary Ramon Santos of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in Panamao, Sulu the other day? Well, thank goodness that this incident didn't escalate into a major disaster just like what happened to Gen. Eduardo Batalla at the treacherous hands of Rizal Alih in Patikul, Sulu on Jan.1989 where the General was brutally murdered and Rizal Alih fled. Of course a couple of years later, Rizal Alih was killed by the authorities.

I would like to reiterate that this incident is embarrassing for the Arroyo government as it involved both top military and civilian officials. This should teach us certain lessons and make these the standard operating procedure (SOP) in dealing with Muslim separatists. We shouldn't be allowing top civilian or military officers to enter into Muslim National Liberation Front (MNLF) lairs where they could easily be overwhelmed and kidnapped! Any meetings with Muslim Separatists should be held on neutral ground from henceforth, otherwise we will see more of these embarrassing moments in the future. Call that incident a close call.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon has warned of a new breed of terrorist leaders in the vacuum left by the now leaderless Abu Sayyaf because of lack of development in Mindanao. I do not dispute his views, but the problem in Mindanao is a catch-22 situation, where one can ask, how can we have development if we don't have peace? A further question to ask is, how can we have peace when we can't have justice? Thus, no justice, no peace; no peace, no development! A simple deduction, but true.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me say it clearly that we can never hope to achieve any real development in Mindanao unless we shift into a Federal form of government. Right now, the closest thing we have is Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Super or Mega Regions. Since we are not yet Federal, let's find out if those Super or Mega Regions would work, as this is the closest thing to a Federal system of government.

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Yesterday afternoon, I went to the Byrant George Hall of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) in Lopez Jaena St. to listen to Dr. Charles Rarick, a Director of International Business who talked about "Economic Integration, Political Disintegration" a topic quite relevant these days especially after Cebu played host to the 12th ASEAN Leaders Summit where the ASEAN integration was one of the most important topics discussed.

Clearly from what I gathered from Dr. Rarick's lecture, the integration of ASEAN is vital to the economic success of Southeast Asia, given the presence of two economic giants like India and China. But Dr. Rarick believes that the ASEAN timetable, which was already moved or speeded up from the year 2020 to 2015, is still too far away. ASEAN Integration must happen now otherwise it might be too late. We concur with him on this.

It was really an interesting forum, especially during the Q & A where we got various insights from those who attended this forum. No doubt, the European Union (EU) is the best pattern for ASEAN to follow, except that the EU became a reality because of the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact countries or the collapse of the evil empire called the Union of the Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR). The collapse of the Iron Curtain created a vacuum and allowed for the EU economic integration. Unfortunately, we don't have any similarities here in Southeast Asia.

This is why Dr. Rarick said that ASEAN has to rely on our HOGs (Heads of Government) to push for an earlier ASEAN Integration. Ernie Aboitiz and Prof. Pedro Dimaculangan of the University of Asia and the Pacific kidded me that we have such an unglamorous title for our ASEAN leaders. But on the other hand, it's the dawn of the Year of the Fire Pig, which should bring good luck and prosperity to ASEAN.

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Though the Chinese New Year ushers in on Feb.18th, yesterday the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel began celebrating the Chinese New Year supposedly on the first day of spring with a Yee Sang Tossing Ceremony. Yee means fish or prosperity and Sang means toss. Cebu Governor Gwen F. Garcia, Cebu City First Lady Margot Osmeña, Marco Polo President Reynaldo D. Villar, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice-Pres. Joe Ng and their guests got around a giant three-meter iron wok and tossed a salad high into the air using giant chopsticks to usher in prosperity for Cebu for the year 2007. Advance Kung Hei Fat Choy to one and all!

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