By Patricio P. Diaz
On Misuari
(Part I: On Misuari)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / September 4) – Two online discussions in Kusogmindanaw were most enlightening and revealing. One centered on Nur Misuari as a major Bangsamoro leader and on his objection to Malaysia as facilitator of the GRP-MILF peace negotiation because of the Sabah question; the other, on blaming the Manila government and the Christian majority for the Moro frustration over the failure to implement the Sharia in Moro communities and to realize the Bangsamoro Right to Self-Determination (RSD).
What is revealing? The Bangsamoro leaders know what they want but they cannot put their acts together and prioritize what they want. This reminds me of Ralph Allison’s commentary on the Negro problem in his novel, The Invisible Man.
I. On Nur Misuari
The discussions on Misuari and the Sabah question in relation to Malaysia as GRP-MILF peace talks facilitator, the GRP-MILF peace negotiation and related issues brought out the critical but sadly overlooked (or, avoided?) issue: The unity of Bangsamoro leaders behind the Bangsamoro RSD.
The discussions also affirmed that Malacanang, other Manila leaders and Christian political leaders in Mindanao have exploited tribal jealousies and differences to keep the Tausugs, the Maguindanaos and the Maranaos divided.
The most primary concern for the Bangsamoro now is how to attain according to their RSD the true self-government -- not necessarily an independent state -- that will fulfill the Bangsamoro political, economic and social aspirations and redress the historical injustices they have suffered.
How can this be attained?
Past Efforts
Efforts in the past to do it did not work.
On July 12, 1975, President Ferdinand E. Marcos instituted Regional Commissions IX and XII to appease the growing Moro discontent and defuse the Moro rebellion. These existed until 1977.
These did not work.
On July 15, 1977, President Marcos in his Proclamation No. 1628 declared autonomy in Southern Philippines and created the Provisional Government which was organized on April 23 following to supplant the Regional Commissions. That failed to attract the MNLF and other Moro liberation fronts despite the three – out of seven – slots allotted to them in the PG including the chairmanship offered to Misuari. This did not work.
On July 25, 1979, President Marcos decreed the creation of Regional Autonomous Governments IX and XII -- also known as LTPs (Lupong Tagapagpaganap ng Pook) -- a unilateral, Marcos version implementation of the Tripoli Agreement of 1976. They existed until 1989. These did
not work.
President Marcos used the RAG or LTP leaders to weaken the MNLF through a divide-appease-and-reward program. That netted Commander Ronnie (Amelil Malaguiok), the KRC (Kutawatu Revolutionary Committee) chairman, and several of his top area commanders. That did not weaken the MNLF.
On August 1, 1989, President Corazon C. Aquino, on signing R.A. 6734, established the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. R.A. 6734, the ARMM Organic Act, was originally crafted by Muslim, Christian and Indigenous People delegates to the Mindanao Regional Consultative Commission. That did not win over the MNLF and MILF. It was inadequate
to fulfill the Bangsamoro RSD.
On September 2, 1996, President Fidel V. Ramos's government signed the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF with Manuel T. Yan (GRP Panel Chair) and Nur Misuari (MNLF Chairman and head of the MNLF Panel) as signatories. The day was hailed as the beginning of lasting peace in Mindanao.
Unfortunately, the expectation turned out not to be so. Except for a few provisions, the 1996 FPA was a rehash of R.A. 6734 and those "exceptions" were either omitted by Congress from R.A. 9054 or, if included, were not fully implemented -- now the subject of a still unfinished Tripartite review. The 1996 FPA has not fulfilled truly the Bangsamoro RSD.
In 1997, the GRP-MILF peace negotiation took off through the initiative of President Ramos.. On July 27, 2008, the GRP and MILF panel chairmen initialed the MOA-AD, a framework for final negotiation in the Comprehensive Compact. Its August 4 signing was aborted. The present troubles in Muslim Mindanao especially in Maguindanao and Lanao Sur are the aftermath.
This brief summary of efforts to establish self-government for the Moros, if read fully, would reveal the paradox: the same efforts have circumvented the fulfillment of a truly Bangsamoro Self-Government according to their RSD. And the more that the same fulfillment is being diverted to other concerns now.
Other Concerns
What are these other concerns?
1. The Senate, through Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, wants the resumption of the GRP-MILF peace talks postponed until some issues are clarified.
2, The ARMM governor wants the ARMM to be involved in the peace talks.
3. The MNLF leaders and sympathizers want the 1996 FPA to be fully implemented first.
4. Misuari has raised the Sabah question to block further participation of Malaysia as facilitator in the peace talks and as the key leader of the International Monitoring Team.
5. Christian political leaders like :Cotabato Vice Gov. Manny Pinol and Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat want the peace talks to be localized.
6. Some Tausug leaders say that there is no MILF in Sulu and that the GRP-MILF peace negotiation is centered in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.
The establishment of the Bangsamoro Self-Government according to the Bangsamoro RSD is completely lost. This primary concern is the challenge of Bangsamoro leaders.
The Leaders
Who are the Bangsamoro leaders?
l. The traditional leaders now ruling the ARMM and representing the Moros in Congress.
They toe the Malacanang line and President Arroyo has made sure they will continue toeing the line.
2. The MNLF now fractured -- a predominantly Tausug faction that together with Misuari loyalists recognizes Misuari as its head and a predominantly Maguindanao and Maranao faction that has Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema as its head.
3. The MILF.
The loyalty of the traditional leaders to President Arroyo, factional differences, and the historical traditional Tausug-Maranao-Maguindanao jealousies are keeping these leaders from uniting -- making it easy for Manila and Christian political leaders to keep them divided.
The Challenge
Do these leaders sincerely want to secure for the Bangsamoro people a genuine self-government according to the Bangsamoro RSD? If they do, they must:
1. Forget their differences and pledge their loyalty, first and foremost, to the Bangsamoro people.
2. Realize that the 1996 FPA complements R.A. 6734 but Congress did not fully include all the complementing provisions in the amendatory act, R.A. 9054; and what have been included have not been fully implemented, as complained of by the MNLF.
3. Realize also that MOA-AD complements the 1996 FPA and R.A. 9054. In so doing, the MOA-AD asks for more economic resources, a more comprehensive and bolder political settlement, and the institution of the BJE (Bangsamoro Juridical Entity) which is a much stronger
self-government than the ARMM.
In demanding the expansion of the ARMM as the territorial area of BJE, the MOA-AD essentially reiterates a provision in the 1996 FPA that could have expanded the ARMM according to Art. X, Sec. 18 of the Constitution which Congress ignored in enacting R.A. 9054 as it did in enacting R.A. 6734.
4. Realize further that the MOA-AD is not as unconstitutional and as contrary to law as the Supreme Court has ruled in its Decision. A very close and careful reading of the MOA-AD and the Supreme Court Decision would show that some provisions declared unconstitutional and contrary to law are in RA 9054, the 1996 FPA and the Constitution. One instance is the much-criticized "Foreign trade mission"
The unconstitutional provisions are not indefensible and beyond remedy. Proof of this: The Supreme Court in its Decision suggested a renegotiation of the MOA-AD -- which is what the GRP and MILF panels agreed to do in their July 29 Joint Statement..
5. Unite in one voice and effort to establish the BJE or a BJE-like Self-Government -- whether through the negotiation of the MOA-AD into the Comprehensive Compact or through another instrument. With one voice they can weather opposition to the fulfillment of the Bangsamoro
RSD.
When they have secured a genuine self-government -- not a mendicant and submissive autonomy that the ARMM is -- they can settle their leadership difference, if there are any, and after that tackle the Sabah issue -- an entirely different matter with ramifying issues.
Divided, they only serve their own self-interest and that of their patrons and play into the trap of intriguers and anti-Moro politicians at the expense of Bangsamoro people. Will they respond to the challenge?
On Blaming
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/6 Sep) -- The first of this two-part Comment was the edited version of my intervention in the series of exchanges by four young Moro professionals in Kusogmindanaw. To this a fifth discussant, also a young professional, reacted:
“What I think everyone is missing here is the obligation of every Muslim to ensure the full implementation of the Shari’a in its entirety and not just some parts of it, in the Muslim Community. More than half a century has passed and still the GRP or majority of the Filipinos is doing everything to prevent this from happening.”
He clarified:
“It is a cardinal rule, by the way, that the Shari’a CANNOT be imposed on non-Muslims. Even in the ‘dreaded’ Islamic Republic of Iran, the Shari’a is not imposed on NON-MUSLIMS.”
He deplored:
“The Bangsa Moro cannot help but cry out for Justice and RSD, only because of the unwillingness of the majority Filipinos for us to have this Right. Always, the non-Muslims in Mindanao or in Manila use the Shari’a as their defense in opposing Bangsamoro freedom [which] is not for [them] but for the MUSLIMS ONLY.”
He pleaded:
“The way to peace is understanding, so, PLEASE, try your best to understand our need to be governed by ISLAMIC law.”
Justifiable But …
The charge and the plea are justifiable as matters of Moro right. Indeed, they deserve proper and urgent attention. But do the Moros always have to blame their frustrations over the non-implementation of the Sharia and the failure to realize the Bangsamoro RSD on the GRP and the majority Christians? They may be partly to blame. But are the Moro leaders blameless?
How many of the Moro leaders have catered to the whims of Manila, used the common Moros as pawns in electoral chess to protect the Kings and Queens in Malacañang that they -- the traditional leaders in power -- can remain in power and enjoy the perks from their patrons? How many of the Moro leaders -- past and present -- have, by their crab mentality, prevented their unification to focus on the attainment of the Bangsamoro RSD?
Look at what happened to the MOA-AD. The MILF negotiators have crafted the formula for realizing the Bangsamoro RSD -- the institution of a genuine Self-Government. Where were the Moro leaders when the MOA-AD was questioned in the Supreme Court and abandoned by the President? Had the Bangsamoro leaders risen in unison to defend it, the Supreme Court might have thought otherwise and President Arroyo could have stood by the MOA-AD.
But many Moro leaders could show only apathy to the MOA-AD. Moro representatives in Congress and leaders in the ARMM were completely silent. The MNLF leaders were indifferent because they obviously deemed the MOA-AD a nemesis of the 1996 FPA. Tausug leaders were obviously lukewarm because the MOA-AD was the brainchild of the Maguindanaos and Maranaos in the MILF panel.
What they failed to see was the complementariness of the original Organic Act (RA 6734), the amended Organic Act (RA 9054) and the 1996 FPA and the MOA-AD. RA 9054 and the 1996 FPA sought to reinforce the original ARMM and RA 6734; the MOA-AD, to remedy the inadequacies of the first two instruments in order to have a genuine Self-Government.
Their thinking focused on their respective interests not on that of the entire Bangsamoro people -- the realization of their RSD.
Divided, they have become easy prey to machinations from Manila and intrigues from Christian political leaders. United, they could prevail over Manila to grant a genuine Self-Government -- not a mendicant and submissive autonomy that the ARMM is -- as a matter of Bangsamoro RSD. After the establishment of the genuine Self-Government is the time they will be able to implement the Sharia.
It is easy for the Moro leaders to blame their failures on the Manila government and the Christian majority. This tendency prevents them from seeing the degree of blame that they should take. The Manila and other Christian leaders can divide, manipulate and frustrate the Moros only if by their lack of unity, focus and resolve, they allow Manila and the Christian leaders to easily do so.
While responses to the repression of the Moro RSD vary among Moro leaders – from resignation to radical protests and rebellion -- the fact stands: Still the destiny of the Bangsamoro people is in the hands of their leaders.
More Responses
This response elicited more responses. One of the first four discussants, while agreeing “with your observation re-disunity” noted the following:
First, the disunity is a national problem.
“The lack of common purpose, if you will, or the fragmentation of the Bangsamoro leaders is the same ill which makes the entire Philippines electorate subject to the mercy of the Palace denizens. Same-same (sic) tayong lahat. Sectors have been pitted against each other in the classic game of divide and rule.
Second, this disunity was planted by the past and has been cultivated by the present.
“Having said that, let us address the ills of the minority. I can’t argue with your notes except to say that the rot brought in by decades of rule by warlords, ushered in by the martial law years, have not been cured. Worse, the rot has been actively cultivated by national politicians.
“Although it can be said that there are no tyrants where there are no willing slaves, still I must
hark back to pre-martial law days when we had much more respect for national government systems – justice, elections, etc.—as compared to today.
Third, the problem can be remedied but the Moros are left alone.
“The question is: Can we still reverse the process of decay? I think so. I think it is happening, slow as it may be. And the process of reform, of renewal, needs to be nurtured.
“Unfortunately, we are in this all by ourselves. Make no mistake. The Manila/national leaders really do not think of us at all, even as they put together reform agenda.
Fourth, Tausug leaders knowledgeable of the MOA-AD defended it.
“On Tausug leaders who did not support the MOA-AD: Many Tausug leaders who knew what the MOA-AD was all about came out in defense of the MOA-AD, even conducting forums to educate the majority about it. If you are referring to Tausug political leaders who are in government, no comment ako diyan. Tausug leader Misuari? He has his own axe to grind against the government.
Fifth, reiterating her admission of the “fragmentation” problem, she raised some doubts about the Supreme Court.
“Even if all the Bangsdamoro leaders rose in unison before the SC to defend the MOA-AD, I doubt very much whether it would have swayed the SC -- largely because, perhaps, the very human members of the SC were also playing to the masses.
“Having said all of that, I still agree with you re-fragmentation and ask you what your thoughts on attaining common ground.”
Insistent
The fifth discussant – with a sixth joining him – insisted the failure to implement fully the Shari’a cannot be blamed on the Moro leaders.
“But we are a minority. The issue on the Shari’a cannot be blamed on the Bangsa Moro leaders since most if not all did their part in having the Shari’a integrated into Philippine law, but only the civil aspect since the Constitution does not allow further. So why would we put the blame on our ‘leaders’ when it is clearly the will of the majority that prevails and not theirs? …
“Since the creation of the Republic to the present, the Majority still has not allowed the enforcement or integration of the Shari’a as a whole. Time and again it was proposed, but has been rejected outright. Can’t you see that this issue alone is the cause of the conflict ever since the Spaniards came? …
“Is it really that hard for Christians to allow us our right of being governed by God’s laws? And the ‘real’ opposition to the MOA-AD by the majority is not the territory, not the control, but the full implementation of the Shari’a.
“These are not failures of the Bangsa Moro leaders but rather victories of the Philippine majority in ‘defense of the Constitution’ as they say it. What I’m trying to say here is: Understand our need for the Shari’a. The sooner the majority accepts this, the easier it will be to have peace.”
Reiteration
The insistence is most understandable. But correct prioritization of Moro agenda is imperative.
These frustrations and misgivings are the very reason why the Moro leaders -- the traditional, MNLF, MILF, professionals, young and old -- should all make a common stand and speak in one voice to have a genuine Self-Government established -- not like the mendicant, submissive ARMM. The MOA-AD has the formula to form that genuine Self-Government -- it may be called JBE or by any other name. This is the rallying point.
The first task is to secure that genuine Self-Government. If the peace talks as agreed pushes through, there will surely be the negotiation of the Comprehensive Compact. That is where the Moro leaders should make their united stand and speak in one voice for the Bangsamoro cause. If the peace talks do not push through, seek other means. Once the genuine Self-Government is secured, the Sharia can be implemented as agreed.
Can the Moro leaders do it? History tells that minorities united have won concessions -- major concessions -- from the ruling majority. Now, international laws under the aegis of the United Nations are sympathetic with the cause of the minority. As a last recourse, the Bangsamoro minority can go to the UN. The many precedents are encouraging.
Blaming hardly helps. But Manila and the Christian majority should not just dismiss the facts and reasons behind the blame. And the Moro leaders must see their share and do their part.
("Comment" is Mr. Patricio P. Diaz' column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. The Titus Brandsma Media Awards recently honored Mr. Diaz with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his "commitment to education and public information to Mindanawons as Journalist, Educator and Peace Advocate." You can reach him at patpdiazgsc@yahoo.com.)
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