Babe's Eye View article

It’s bad enough that we are already politically divided, but it’s even worse if we get divided “physically”—which is precisely what this Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain is all about. This MOA has caused so much resistance from Christians, the Lumads and other Muslims affected by the issue that they now want to take up arms because they are so angry over the seeming secrecy about the terms.

Mindanao has always been a hotbed of conflict as far back as the time when we were a colony of Spain. In fact, the Spaniards would say “hay Moros en la costa” (there are Moors coming by the sea) to warn people of incoming danger. During the time of the American Occupation, the US tried to control the Moro warriors who were so fierce that General John “Black Jack” Pershing had the .45 caliber invented to stop them.

Those old enough, could remember the fierce fighting between government forces and the Moro National Liberation Front in the ’70s, with heavy casualties on both sides. There were a lot of attempts to settle the conflict like the Tripoli Agreement in 1976, but these collapsed over disagreements on geographical boundaries covering an “autonomous” homeland for the Moro people.

In the late ’70s, the militant MILF faction split from the MNLF mainly because it felt the latter was going “soft.” Over the past three decades, the situation has taken a turn for the worse, with terrorist groups like the Jemaah Islamiyah, the al Qaeda and the Abu Sayyaf Group complicating the situation. Of course, the MILF has always denied any links with these terrorists despite admitting that they have been sending troops to al Qaeda training grounds in Afghanistan.

No question the conflict in Mindanao has to end, and that Muslims must be allowed to live in a manner that takes into account their unique culture and traditions. But one thing is clear: we have only one flag and one country. At the end of the day, we must not allow the Philippines to be dismembered just because we want to please a small group of renegades that has become more and more belligerent through the years.

Had the MOA been signed, it would have given the MILF preeminence over a large territory through the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, giving them control over key resources like oil and minerals and the power to run their own institutions, own laws, police force, bureaucracy, financial system, authority to negotiate with other governments and establish their own trade missions.

The decision of the Supreme Court came in the nick of time because the Temporary Restraining Order saved the country from an even more explosive situation—which could have probably triggered the division of Mindanao from East to West and North to South. The MILF has shown its true colors, putting the issue “under the gun,” so to speak, attacking army outposts hours after the TRO and forcing thousands of civilians to evacuate.

Even as negotiations were ongoing, they were flexing their muscles, burning down villages and terrorizing those who disagree with their demands. How can we deal with people like these who can be very arrogant, saying the MOA is already “a done deal” and that they “do not even recognize the SC” since the TRO was “an internal matter not binding to the MILF”?

There is no question any negotiation must be done with transparency and openness since people become even more suspicious when they are not privy to the terms and conditions of the MOA. A lot of accusations are being thrown simply because no one exactly knows what the MOA entails. Some are accusing GMA of using the issue as a veiled attempt to push Charter Change since constitutional amendments may be needed to enforce the terms of the agreement.

There’s no such thing as an executive privilege when it comes to an agreement that has far-reaching consequences not only for Mindanao, but the country as a whole. While it may be true that the MOA is “just a piece of paper,” it has the potential to cause worse fighting with affected civilians now prepared to take up arms. Do we want to see the Philippines turn into another Vietnam at the height of the Vietnamese conflict with people in the North going against those in the South?

I spoke with US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and she vehemently denies that the United States is behind the MOA. While they also want lasting peace in Mindanao, as far as the US is concerned, the MOA is an internal matter between the MILF and the government. She further said the Philippine government invited her to Kuala Lumpur as an observer to the now-aborted signing.

Giving in to the MILF will only embolden them, and might even set a precedent with others like the Cordillera Autonomous Region demanding the same terms of independence and self determination. Over the years, the road to peace in Mindanao has been paved with blood, with hundreds of thousands of casualties and millions of civilians displaced. Our soldiers have shed enough blood and sacrificed their lives. Have we forgotten how the renegades mutilated the bodies of 14 Marines and beheaded 10 of them barely a year ago?

Many now believe former president Joseph Estrada was right to engage in an “all-out war” to crush the insurgency in Mindanao because he believed government should negotiate from a position of strength. This is precisely what GMA should do with the situation today. Everyone wants peace, but at what price? Definitely not at the expense of dismembering the country.