Shaky peace

Of course every Filipino who loves his country welcomes the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Based on President Benigno S. Aquino III’s statement during the signing, this is really a very significant development and a big step towards the “path that can lead to a permanent change in the status quo in Muslim Mindanao.” Obviously Aquino is mainly referring here to the four decades of armed conflict in that part of our country. Hopefully he is correct in this regard.

But it is still a long way to go. The signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is only the first stage. The second part involves the work in Congress for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law which has not even started yet. So it is still premature to celebrate and commend the peace panel which negotiated with the MILF for a job well done. It still remains to be seen whether the CAB will eventually lead to a lasting peace.

In assessing our hopes for that lasting peace, the circumstantial background leading to the CAB may also be helpful. These are the significant events occurring prior to its signing which, the government panel must have known and has also considered during their talks with the MILF.

The government panel must have been aware: (1) that the MILF was originally headed by Hashim Salamat, the friend and partner of Nur Misuari in organizing the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which started the rebellion in 1972; (2) that the two friends parted ways for ideological reasons in 1980 leading to the establishment of the MILF by Salamat; (3) that the government at that time started the peace talks only with the MNLF; (4) that the government and the MNLF then signed a peace agreement on September 2, 1996 which led to the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with Misuari as the first governor.

Peace in the region however remained elusive as the MILF intensified its armed conflict with the government. Hence, barely three months after such peace agreement with the MNLF, or in January 1997, peace talks were also started by the government with the MILF splinter group of Hashim Salamat. The talks initially collapse however when Estrada took over from Ramos and declared an all out war against the MILF. With the ouster of Estrada and the assumption of Arroyo, talks with the MILF were resumed. Subsequently, on August 2, 2008 about eleven years since peace talks started with the MILF, a Memorandum of Agreement on the creation of a Bangsamoro Homeland in southern Mindanao (MOA-AD) was signed between the government and the MILF. Unfortunately however the Supreme Court eventually declared the said MOA-AD as unconstitutional.

Meantime, feeling left out, Misuari went underground again and resumed hostilities against the government after he was released from confinement in Sta. Rosa Laguna. When PNoy took over the reins power and faced with two hostile fronts in Mindanao, he decided to initiate peace talks only with the MILF even going to Tokyo to meet the present MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim.  And shortly after the PNoy government announced the setting up of a Framework Agreement with the MILF or sometime early last year, Misuari and his MNLF launched the Zamboanga siege creating so much loss of lives and damage to property. It is also important to point out here that, as the talks with MILF was still going on another splinter group was carved out of its ribs known as Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) which vowed to continue the Muslim rebellion in Mindanao. So even with the CAB in place, there are still pockets of hostilities in the region. This is the foremost obstacle to a lasting peace envisioned by the CAB.

But aside from the armed conflict, another obstacle facing the CAB is the possible legal or constitutional conflict. Apparently, this conflict involves our country’s very sovereignty. Even without delving into the details of the Agreement, already very noticeable and controversial is the designation of the supposed parties as the “Bangsamoro people” and the “Filipino people”. Obviously these terms refer to people of two different countries. Indeed “Bangsa” is the tagalog word for “country”. So it could mean that Southern Muslim Mindanao is already another country called Bangsamoro inhabited by the Muslims called “Bangsamoro people” to distinguish it from the “Filipino people”. If under the CAB, that region is still part of our country then its inhabitants must still be called Filipinos. The Philippines is supposed to be inhabited only by the Filipino people even if they are of different race, color or creed.

Furthermore, the CAB’s subject matter is supposed to be purely an internal problem among Filipinos, so other countries should not take an active and aggressive role in the peace talks and in the forging of the agreement. But in this case, Malaysia’s Prime Minister even left his country and its more pressing problem concerning the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 Jet with 259 people on board, just to be here to witness the signing. The interference of another country simply means that this is no longer an internal but an international problem.

So in the drafting of the Bangsa Moro Basic Law, Congress must look deeper into this aspect that may have far reaching effects on our status as a sovereign nation. It must also carefully study how true and lasting peace can be achieved in the region. This is the kind of peace involving not only the cessation of hostilities but peace based on social justice where the perennial problem of poverty will be finally solved by a more equitable distribution of wealth in the area. It must ensure that political and economic warlords will not be back. For there can be no real peace without justice in every sense of the word.

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