MILF, MNLF should heed call of OIC
The call of the Organization of Islamic Countries for the MNLF and the MILF to come together for a common goal to achieve peace and development in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao ought to be considered seriously by the respective factions. Once again this delivers an unequivocal message to the separatist fronts that the way to achieving peace and progress in the Moro land is not by way of a radical secessionist agenda but through a political process which acknowledge the sovereignty of the Philippine Republic. This counsel had been aired by the enlightened Libyan leader Moamar Khadaffy even during the early stage of peace negotiation between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
We expect that the declaration of OIC will find resistance from a few segment within the MNLF and the MILF who cannot live in peace. Let’s face it. Whatever the conditions are, they will remain to be the vicious elements which have to be addressed separately. Their agenda neither partake of peace nor independence. Theirs is a lifetime dedication to hostility and armed struggle that is bereft of ideology. To put it rather bluntly, they love their guns more passionately than those who yearn for peace or even for an independent Islamic State.
But independence is out of the question. Neither the Republic of the
The peace negotiating panels, guided by MILF Chairman Al Hadj Murad Ibrahim and Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Jesus Dureza have gone a long walk in search for peace. It is to their credit that while the final parchment for peace has not been arrived at, they manage to keep the ceasefire agreement working. But this is not the ideal condition. This does not guarantee security for capitalists and investors and the OIC knows too well these conditions cannot attract sacred money. If the agenda is to bring sustained development in ARMM and in the expanded territory which the MILF had demanded and the government was prepared to yield, the guarantee should not be short of a stable peace pact.
We believed that the MILF and the government had both tested the sincerity and the sense of purpose of either side. We believe that after all the saber rattling that we hear now and then, the forces of good from both sides had successfully suppressed averted hostilities. The few incidence of armed conflicts are between clans and tribal wars. They are endemic and in all instances are contained by the government peace keeping force. We can live by that.
We hope that the call of the OIC will reverberate to the leadership of the MILF and the MNLF. The attempt of some renegade members of the MNLF to sow terror in Jolo is nothing but terrorism and will be dealt with accordingly. As in the past, they will lose against the better trained and equipped Philippine Marines. The other casualty in this failed adventurism is the possibility that MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari will unnecessarily be dragged longer into his incarceration even as we believe that he is capable of being a harbinger of peace. — Miriam Dahunog,
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