Elusive peace may yet be at hand

It’s been a long and tortuous road to peace in Muslim Mindanao.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by former University of the Philippines professor Nur Misuari fired the first shot in the early 1970s in the struggle to secede from the Republic and form an independent state. The MNLF engaged the Marcos regime in fierce armed hostilities until 1976, when the Tripoli Agreement, signed in in faraway Libya by representatives of the Philippine government and the MNLF, recognized the right of self-determination of Muslims in southern Philippines.

Later, hardline elements of the MNLF led by Hashim Salamat, an ideologue who took up Islamic studies in Egypt, broke away from the group to form the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and pursue the armed struggle for self-determination. In 1996, the MNLF again signed a peace agreement with the Ramos government that eventually led to the formation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Even with an autonomous region in place, however, the MILF continued armed struggle. The rebel group forged a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MoA-AD) with the Arroyo administration. But the Supreme Court declared this agreement as unconstitutional because its proponents failed to consult with all the stakeholders, including the communities that would have been affected by it. A much earlier Supreme Court order stopping the signing of the controversial agreement in Malaysia prompted MILF rebels to take over a number of villages in central Mindanao and to launch armed offensives against government troops in what appeared to be retaliation over the adverse ruling.

Shortly after Noynoy Aquino assumed the presidency in 2010, he met with MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim in Tokyo, Japan. In 2012, the Philippine government and the MILF signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro which called for the creation of the Bangsamoro, an autonomous political entity to replace the ARMM, which Aquino described as a “failed experiment.”

That period of violence and bloodshed punctuated by attempts at forging peace from the 1970s up to the present covers nearly 50 years, or half a century. This speaks volumes about the difficulty in arriving at a mutually acceptable peace agreement in a region that has remained economically backward and spawned various armed groups espousing secessionism and, of late, violent extremism, or engaged in plain banditry, such as kidnapping for ransom and extortion.

Now, another window of opportunity for attaining peace and addressing the roots of armed conflict has opened with the two houses of Congress having recently approved their respective drafts of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

What remains to be done is for a bicameral committee to reconcile the two BBL versions to come up with a final draft that can withstand legal scrutiny and gain acceptance by various sectors in Muslim Mindanao.

Malacañang has expressed optimism that the new BBL would allow all sectors to find common ground based on a process of give-and-take. This after President Duterte certified the passage of the BBL as urgent and even served as mediator between lawmakers and MILF leaders during a recent meeting to discuss the measure.

Duterte later described the measure as absolutely indispensable in the search for peace in Mindanao.

As things now stand, senators have written at least 150 amendments to the 109-page BBL which lawmakers rushed to approve before Congress adjourned its second regular session.

Many of the amendments emphasize the supremacy of the Constitution and keeping the powers of the national government intact. Among the amendments in the Senate version are a clause that says the Bangsamoro is and shall remain part of the national territory, reduction of the block grant from six percent of net internal revenue to five percent and reduction of the Special Development Fund from P100 billion to P50 billion.

Mohagher Iqbal, a member of the MILF central committee and the Bangsamoro Transition Council, said he has mixed feelings over how the Senate version turned out with numerous amendments. But he admitted “the basic and substantial aspect of the agreement is still there,” referring to the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro or final peace agreement between the government and the MILF. If that’s the case, then the new and improved BBL may yet pass muster among his constituents. We keenly await the passage of a final draft of the BBL as this would pave the way for lasting peace and accelerated socio-economic development in Mindanao after decades of armed conflict.

Ernesto M. Hilario writes about politics, business and social/cultural issues. He may be reached at ernhil@yahoo.com

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