The Philippine Online Chronicles

The peace process, and the resolution of the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao are among the many issues that the new administration faces. The armed conflict between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has stunted growth in the mineral-rich region, with a direct impact on the economic development of the country as a whole.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, seven out of 10 provinces ranked worst on the country’s human development ratings are in the region.

Meanwhile, data from the pre-election survey of the Social Weather Station released in April reveals that an estimate of one million families or 24 percent experience hunger, with 2.6 percent reporting severe hunger, or experiencing it “often” or “always.”

The conflict has also left the people of Mindanao refugees in their own hometowns. Data gathered by the Maguindanao Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Mindanao Response Network showed that 174,370 persons remain displaced by the end of 2009.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates that tens of thousands are staying with host communities, but counting has reportedly been discontinued by the government.

In August 2008, nearly 400 people were killed while 700,000 were displaced after hostilities were renewed when the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domains (MOA-AD).

The said memorandum would have given the MILF control over the lands they claimed to be ancestral domain. According to a report, it was considered by both panels to be the “crowning glory” of the 11 year-long peace negotiations between the government and MILF.

In his inaugural speech last June 30, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said, “My government will be sincere in dealing with all the peoples of Mindanao. We are committed to a peaceful and just settlement of conflicts, inclusive of the interests of all – may they be Lumads, Bangsamoro or Christian.”

On the other hand, in their final meeting last June 3, a month before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stepped down from office, both panels between the GRP and the MILF signed a declaration to pursue a political settlement.

Rafael Seguis, foreign undersecretary and chief government peace negotiator said the declaration, signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia “will provide a smooth transition to the next administration.”

To be seen

In an editorial posted on Luwaran.net, MILF congratulated the victory of Aquino in the last polls, saying the new president “has proven the skeptics wrong and has accomplished what most people said was near impossible” when he won.

The group expressed a positive assessment on the prospects of peace process based on the records of Aquino’s parents. The MILF recalled Ninoy Aquino’s expose in Congress of the Jabidah Massacre and Cory Aquino’s offer of 10 provinces to Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding Chairman Nur Misuari for Moro autonomy and provision on Moro and Cordillera autonomy in the 1987 Constitution.

The Jabiddah Massacre, also known as the Corregidor Massacre took place on March 18, 1968 where scores of Moro trainees were summarily executed while undergoing training for the invasion of Sabah, Malaysia where a claim was filed by the Philippine government as early as 1962.

Only one survivor, Jibin Arula, survived the mayhem to tell the story.

The incident is generally regarded as the catalyst triggered the formation of the National Liberation Front (MNLF) and one of the root causes of the ensuing Bangsamoro rebellion in the country.

The MILF added, “As a person, Noynoy is surely a good man, but as president, it remains to be seen. A president has to make hard decisions; and to do that requires foresight, resoluteness, and political will. It takes not just being good to be able to be a successful leader.”

Not alone

The group, however, expressed apprehension over groups and individuals associated with the new administration, saying that a chief of state rarely decides alone and that there are groups around Aquino who are not really united but can be unanimous when it comes to Mindanao agenda.

“Noynoy will be surrounded by big business groups, the Catholic Church, the Chinese super-rich elites, the multinational companies, and political bigwigs like Senator Franklin Drilon and Senator Mar Roxas. All will be jockeying up for favors. In addition, foreign countries’ interests especially of the United States will certainly factor in positively or negatively,” the MILF said in a statement.

The group recalled that both Roxas, who was the running mate of Aquino in the polls and Drilon, president of Aquino’s Liberal Party, both opposed the controversial MOA-AD.

Having aligned with the MoA-AD opponents, the MILF said Roxas “never had shown an iota of concern for Moro interests.”

“We have to be very objective and not subjective in order to have a very real assessment of the next president of the Philippines,” stressed Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information.

Three options

In another article, the MILF said that Aquino only has three options in dealing with the Moro question in Mindanao.

Muhammad Ameen, chairperson of the MILF Secretariat, enumerated the three options as follows:

1. The peace negotiation track with a military component. The purpose of which is just to dribble and dribble and to put the threat of the MILF in a manageable level;
2. The military approach accompanied by other counter-insurgency measures, such as social, economic, material, cultural, educational, etc. This also includes downgraded negotiation, usually localized; and
3. The real problem-solving track which is mainly through negotiation and complemented by various confidence-building measures on the ground.

Ameen recalled that the late President Ferdinand Marcos used force to quell the Moro rebellion but later had to enter into peace talks with the MNLF and has signed the Tripoli Agreement in 1976. The first Aquino administration meanwhile resorted to a peaceful dialogue resulting to the 1986 Jeddah Accord and above-mentioned constitutional provision on autonomy.

President Fidel Ramos held peace talks with the MNLF and signed with Misuari the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement on September 2, 1996. Ramos also briefly engaged the MILF into a negotiation.

President Joseph Estrada first negotiated with the MILF but declared an all-out war in Mindanao in 2000.

Arroyo, upon assuming power in 2001 immediately tried to revive the peace talks by reversing the all-out war policy into an all-out peace policy and asked Malaysia to facilitate the talks. However, the MILF added that some of the bloodiest wars in the history of MILF's existence, were fought during Arroyo's presidency.

Ameen said that only the third option is viable and has a chance of succeeding while the first two were counter-productive and will place the country in a “jeopardized position.”

Peace panels

While waiting for Aquino to compose its peace negotiating team, the MILF has temporarily deactivated its peace panel during a special meeting of the MILF Central Committee, the front’s highest governing body.

"Functions of the MILF Peace Panel related to the International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the ceasefire will be handled or coordinated by the MILF Peace Panel Secretariat headed by Jun Mantawil, with Mike Pasigan and Muhajirin Ali, as members,” said Ameen.

He added the fourth member of the peace panel secretariat, Ondel Meling, is still bedridden and too weak to report for duty.

The present peace panel chaired by Mohagher Iqbal has as members lawyers Datu Michael Mastura and Lanang Ali, Maulana Bobby Alonto, and lawyer Musib Buat.

"Ali and Buat, who underwent heart bypass operations, were temporarily and alternately replaced by Abdullah Camlian, Datu Antonio Kinoc, and Dr. Habib Macaayong in recent months," the group said.

Iqbal is the longest serving MILF chief negotiator, appointed to the job and replaced chairman Al-Haj Murad on July 29, 2003. Ali has been in the MILF peace group from 1997 to 2000. Mantawil has also been chairperson of the MILF Peace Panel Secretariat since January 1997.

MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar served as MILF chief peace negotiator for less than two years and was succeeded by Alim Abdulazis Mimbantas, then the vice chairman for internal affairs, for about two years.

Amil added that it depends entirely on the MILF leadership whether to change all or some of the panel’s members, which shall be reactivated as soon as Aquino decides to formally continue the peace talks and appoints a peace panel.

On the government side, Aquino has named Teresita Deles as presidential adviser on the peace process, a position she held during her stint in the Arroyo administration.

According to Deles, the administration is in the process of forming its negotiating panels and that she has a shortlist of peace negotiators that will be presented to the President.

She gave assurance that those in the shortlist represent the concerned sectors in the peace process.

In an interview over DzRB, Deles said the Aquino government would like to see the “reconstitution of the peace panels as well as the comprehensive review of the current policies to identify the problems and challenges encountered in the past.’”