Treasonous

I wish I could be more optimistic about the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front but there has been little evidence that any meaningful deal is in the offing.

Now that the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police have started going after what they carefully called “lawless elements” in Mindanao, many of whom are in fact also MILF members, I fear that a peaceful, negotiated settlement with the rebel group would be further obscured.

Not that there was much hope to begin with. There was no evidence that the MILF leadership was willing to accept less than their proposed and territorially ambiguous Moro substate in Mindanao, or some sort of the same political arrangement, which would be like another form of the fiasco that was the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain.

The MOA-AD, which was forged by the Arroyo administration with the MILF in 2008, was a treasonous piece of paper that had already been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

After President Aquino met with MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in August, the MILF made public its new demand for a Moro substate. Recently we also heard of this entity called areas of temporary stay (ATS), which are practically safe havens for the rebel group.

Our soldiers had unfortunately entered one of these ATS in Al-Barka, Basilan, and 19 of them were killed. Outrageously enough the MILF blamed our troops for not coordinating with them, for entering the ATS without their permission. More outrageous is the fact that the President agreed with the MILF and found fault with our soldiers. Talk about honoring our fallen soldiers and from the commander in chief no less!

The President only backtracked somewhat after a few days by ordering our soldiers and policemen to go after those responsible for the Al-Barka massacre. Perhaps he noticed rather belatedly that he was losing the confidence of his soldiers. The public was crying out for justice for the 19 soldiers who were killed in Al-Barka, as well as the other soldiers, policemen and civilians who were killed in other encounters with the MILF and other Muslim rebel groups.

Members of the government peace panel must explain this ATS and the other concessions they may have made with the MILF. As Senator Chiz Escudero said, they should explain when the agreement was entered into, what is its legal basis, how many are there, and where are they located.

“Congress was never informed about it. We would not have known that there was such a creature if the massacre didn’t happen,” he said.

We should not give these kinds of concessions to the MILF, a rebel group that looks at our government as a foreign, colonial government, and whose fractious ranks also include murderous thugs, kidnappers, thieves and terrorists. If this ATS was the idea of the President’s peace advisers then they should be held accountable for this treasonous blunder.

Incidentally, the President was also criticized for giving P5 million from government coffers to the MILF, even before a peace accord was forged with it. Rep. Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales said this is like giving money to an enemy of the state which is also considered treasonous.

Don’t get me wrong. Who doesn’t want peace? But the MILF has hamstrung the peace process for decades with their lopsided preconditions for dialogue that they well know the government side cannot deliver.

This is the same problem we have with other Muslim separatists and communist insurgents. We cannot give in to their demands without violating our Constitution because their demands infringe on Philippine sovereignty and the right of other citizens, in fact, the majority of citizens.

The MILF does not represent Muslim Mindanao. They can’t even control their own members.

Their group is wracked by dissention. They’ve got rogue commanders fighting against their own group. Some have even joined the Abu Sayyaf bandits or at least have formed an alliance with them.

The moderate Muslims in the areas being claimed by the MILF don’t want a separate substate of whatever you may call it.

And what about all the other Christian Filipinos and Lumads who chose to settle in these areas,
including the Cotabato provinces, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and other Southern Mindanao areas?

These Christian-and Lumad populations have staked their whole lives there. They built productive farms, businesses and other livelihoods. The MILF does not speak for them as well.
It’s hard to imagine the government evacuating these populations for an MILF substate. They won’t take that sitting down. Besides, under a democracy, decisions that affect citizens are essentially made by the citizens themselves. People should play a role in deciding policy. Each citizen has equal representation. So the MILF is not the sole arbitrator for Muslim Mindanao.

Also, what will happen to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao when the MILF lays claim to the same lands? The ARMM is based on our Constitution and was created by law. How can the MILF substate supersede the ARMM?

If we wanted to be honest, there are really no meaningful concessions we could make to the MILF’s demands, at least without Constitutional change and without violating the laws of the land.

Allowing the MILF to nibble away at Philippine territory would only escalate conflict, instead of bringing peace and prosperity to Muslim Mindanao, as recent events have shown.

The President took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution to the best of his ability. He should be the first to shun substates and areas of temporary stay that are so blatantly unconstitutional and disadvantageous to the nation. –Ernesto F. Herrera, Manila Times

ernestboyherrera@yahoo.com