WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR PEACE TO REIGN?
After the Supreme Court’s issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order on the proposed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain that would declare the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, hostilities once again sprang into action in the land that has long been struggling to find what was being talked about in the MOA—Peace in Mindanao—the very area they are supposed to be fighting for as renegade members of MILF led by Commanders Umbra Kato and Bravo sowed atrocities in villages of North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte pillaging homes and taking civilians as hostages.
And while hostilities keep escalating in Mindanao, Palaweños staged rallies after rallies, protesting the inclusion of the municipalities of Balabac and Bataraza south of Palawan in the proposed BJE.
The two municipalities were supposed to be included being populated by majority of muslims. Residents however including the municipal mayors who are also muslims are against the inclusion of their municipality in the BJE.
Residents were also gripped with tension fearing that the hostilities might reach their municipaliy.
Going back to the issue at hand, these recent events lead to two questions. First, had the MOA been signed and put in effect, will Kato and Bravo do what they did? And second, had it been done so, will peace finally settle in the so called “Land of Promise?” Both questions may seem to lead into a black hole but also head to the same answers. Vague as it may be, the answer is still without a doubt obvious.
Right after the news broke that a settlement has finally been agreed upon during the peace negotiations in Malaysia between GRP and the MILF with the proposed BJE, oppositions sprang like mushroom. Even lady justice acted quickly as the Supreme Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order for its signing. The SC decision may not have contained strong words but still, it flashed back to the “grand deception” of the Filipino people with the supposed Constituent Assembly hatched by the House of Representatives only a few years back.
While it is not clear whether or not these terror activities are related or not to the botched MOA signing, it only shows that the MILF is hiding more than 2 faces behind its hood. Its leadership, strong as it is, still does not have a firm grip on its members as the events suggest. Moreover, it also displayed that there are some members who are against the process of peace negotiations, the very same reason why MILF was formed when their former mother unit—the Moro National Liberation Front led by Nur Misuari was also talking with the government which led to the establishment of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao where Misuari subsequently became the first Regional Governor.
Furthermore, the fact that the MILF hierarchy stated that they will not subject their “renegade members” to the law is another case of showing that they do not have a clear stand on what they are fighting for. While the right hand is waving peace sign, the left hand is pulling the trigger.
As the Armed Forces have been claiming victory as it drives the groups of Kato and Bravo out of the villages they have occupied, the renegades are silent on their present status. And just as in any war, the people again stand at the losing end. Thousands were displaced and have nothing to eat as farm lands once again left untilled, children are driven away from schools and homes are abandoned as government forces push the renegades back to the mountains. Casualties from both sides grew by the number as well as “collateral damage.”
As the last straw was drawn, government junked the MOA for good. Still President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would not dare declare an all-out-war against the MILF again hoping to find another solution.
And another question that has been longing for answer again lingers. When will true peace be finally achieved in Mindanao?
Civil war it is not. “What’s so civil about war anyway?” — W. Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses lead vocalist)
