More on MIndanao, MOA-AD

Speaking of politicians and undelivered promises, I just need to say this: sincerity would save a lot of lives in Mindanao. I am reading this book “The Long Road to Peace” and disgust engulfed me halfway through it. I came across the names of the very people very vocal now about the MOA-AD, etc.

The people need to understand that the drafting of that agreement was seven years in the making. I wonder why the government was very silent on this fact. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has basis in accusing the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) of reneging on an agreement they so painstakingly drafted. It was among the three priority concerns specified in the Tripoli Agreement which the government signed with the MILF in 2001. (The other two are: security and rehabilitation.)

I find it very difficult to believe that the mayors who filed the Temporary Restraining Order before the Supreme Court did not know the MOA-AD was being discussed and were not consulted about it. I had the chance to speak with one of the officers of the Mi and he said that the GRP has the responsibility to consult with its people about the agreement.

If the GRP were the least bit sincere in the negotiations, how stupid can it be not to tell the governors and the mayors of the territories specified in the agreement that their areas of jurisdiction would be included in the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity?

Now the solicitor general is saying that no agreement would be signed in any form?! How convenient!

Oh, by the way, the case was filed after the idea of changing the constitution / changing the system of government to federalism (supposedly to accommodate the provisions in the MOA-AD) was repudiated by the public in the fear that the same might be exploited to extend the term of office of the incumbent illegitimate president.

In the meantime, forces were repositioned in Mindanao. Several army battalions were pulled out from the Visayas to augment the forces therein. Clashes between the GRP and MILF then ensued causing the displacement of around 88,240 families; affecting 423,772 civilians staying in 154 evacuation centers.

We visited one in Pikit and the sight of women and children just waiting for relief was depressing, to say the least. Those children that we saw should have been in school, studying. I wonder what would become of them. I don’t see any sign that the conflict would be solved soon.

What angers me most in the midst of it all is that there seems to be NO national policy on how to address the situation. The news is full of nothing but propaganda. Too many people saying too many things without fully understanding the situation! I hope they would talk with something substantive in the content.

“Rah-rah” are for cheerleaders! Instigators of war! They need to be told that silence is golden sometimes. In the heat of the conflict in the south, it would do more good if they would shut their mouth. It is not 2010 yet!

I really pray that they would somehow have some sort of an epiphanic moment that would impress on them that casualties in a conflict situation are not mere statistics. And that above ambition, the lives of Christians and Moros caught in the crossfire should be valued.

I hope that they have not lost prudence and foresight. It would save a lot of lives if before they speak a word, they would assess the impact it would make on the peace process and in the perceptions it would leave on the minds of the public.

I would have no problem with passionate speeches if they were delivered with the intent of sowing better understanding and deeper appreciation of the issue and with the utmost objective of bringing in peace and resolution to the problem.

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In the context of the present negotiation, Ancestral Domain pertains to the recovery and re-establishment of the National Homeland of the Bangsamoro People. The centrality of Bangsamoro Ancestral Domain to any peace negotiation is such that no political formula for the resolution of the Mindanao conflict is workable and feasible if this issue is ignored or left unresolved.

Here are some consensus points on concept, territory, resources, and governance strands of ancestral domain:

• ‘Bangsamoro’ is recognized and accepted as a nationality. Indigenous tribes have the right to free choice.

• The word “freedom” is to be understood in the context of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001, where both the MILF and the GRP agreed to adhere to international humanitarian law and human rights instruments.

• “The negotiation and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsamoro People free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and ‘open new formulas’ that would permanently respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro People for freedom.”

• The ancestral domain and ancestral land are those held under claim of ownership, occupied or possessed, by themselves or through the ancestors of the Bangsamoro people, communally or individually since time immemorial continuously to the present, except when prevented by war, civil disturbance, force majeure, or other forms of possible usurpation or displacement by force, deceit, stealth, or as a consequence of the government project or any other voluntary dealings entered into by the government and private individuals, corporate entities or institutions).

• Inclusion of bodies of water (maritime, alluvial domains) as part of the Bangsamoro ancestral domain.

• Ancestral Domain covers Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan.

• Ancestral domain does not form part of the public domain.

• The present areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) shall form part of the core of the Bangsamoro homeland.

• Come up with detailed maps, locations and related data for matching and comparison purposes and comprehensive list of all inland seas, bodies of water, bays, straits and channels within the Mindano-Sulu-Palawan region as part of the Bangsamoro homeland.

• Popular consultation leading to a referendum as the modality to determine the future political status of the Bangsamoro people.

• There shall be a transition period of five years, or as mutually agreed upon, for institution building simultaneous with the transfer of power of governance to the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) prior to the determination of the formal final political status.

• BJE shall be empowered to legislate and administer revenue-generating measures through taxation, public borrowings (foreign and domestic), licensing and income from government investments.

• The BJE shall be empowered to build, develop and maintain institutions (such as civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions) necessary for developing a progressive Bangsamoro society.

• It shall also be provided powers over budgeting and allocation of funds for governmental functions, development and public services.

• There shall be established a constitutional commission tasked to write the organic charter of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, the modalities of which shall be specified in the Comprehensive Compact.

• The legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people arising from any unjust dispossession of their territorial and proprietary rights, customary land tenures, or their marginalization shall be acknowledged. Whenever restoration is no longer possible, the GRP shall take effective measures or adequate reparation collectively beneficial to the Bangsamoro people, in such quality, quantity and status to be determined mutually by both Parties.

Details on the implementation of these consensus points shall be contained in the comprehensive compact which is yet to be negotiated. Sana…

Seven years in the making, if there was any provision in the draft they find revulting, that point should have been raised when they were negotiating. That could have saved a lot of lives and prevent the possible outset of an all-out war.