By Syed Ahmad Idid
New Straits Times
New Straits Times
BIRTH OF A NEW POLITICAL ENTITY: After years of failed talks and dashed hopes, Bangsamoro is now established
MILF rebels carrying rocket propelled grenades (RPG) patrol prior to a press conference by the group’s chairman Murad Ebrahim inside their base at Camp Darapan, Sultan Kudarat province, on the southern Philippine island of in Mindanao on Sept 5, last year. AFP pic
WHEN I received emails and texts from friends who had negotiated for peace in Mindanao, I was particularly happy. I have studied their factors, arguments and historical facts over these past eight years. I had the opportunity to talk to some members of both sides. This was a trying process.
When President Benigno Aquino III was campaigning for election and even after he was elected, his speeches on Muslims and Mindanao were sketchy and not forceful. I had observed that this was a president who had few words when he thought deeply.
I was at the AIM Centre Manila in February when one of the negotiators talked to me. I said that this president, from his conduct and speeches plus his friendships with foreigners, has the best potential to open himself to ideas and requests.
But I added that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) must change their stand on some issues and not appear to demand. No government wants to be seen as “giving in” or “surrendering”. Neither, I should add, would the MILF.
I also cautioned that the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leaders could be hurt or would feel sidelined. And so some mechanism should be put in place to allay their angst. As it turned out, the Philippine government, after the signing of this agreement tomorrow has to allay fears of Bangsamoro becoming an Islamic state!
I learned with sadness that Nur Misuari (leader of MNLF) may challenge the framework agreement as being illegal or unlawful. To that, I believe Teresita Quintos-Deles (Presidential Adviser to the Peace Process) will retort: “MNLF will have representation in the Transition Commission. The government panel consulted the MNLF through Indonesia, the facilitator of the talks with Misuari’s group”. Many expect the MNLF will be reasonable and will respect the outcome for the good of the majority.
MOHAGHER IQBAL SHED TEARS?
The chief Moro negotiator (Mohagher Iqbal) is said to have shed tears at the signing of the agreement in Kuala Lumpur though this was not captured on camera or TV. This was disclosed by Philippine government (GRP) lead negotiator Marvic Leonen to reporters on Tuesday in Manila.
I can imagine that the tears were of joy and relief.
He had been in the forefront of the movement for Bangsamoro’s home for 40 years. He had negotiated with a dozen government panels for over 11 years.
During the period, several leaders and members of the MILF had died “of natural causes”, one being Hashim Salamat. The present MILF chair, Murad Ebrahim, took on the reins of leadership from Hashim in 2003.
There had been hopes that such a “peace agreement” would have been signed in 2007. Unfortunately the then president was riled by a few people who used religion to show the priests were not in agreement.
That slowed down the process; the MILF’s demand for “ancestral domain” was snuffed by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Puno. This was known as the “MOA-AD decision” (or in full the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domains).
PHILIPPINES SUPREME COURT vs MOA-AD?
A fuller treatment of the Supreme Court’s grounds can be obtained from the book The Voices of Dissent — a Postscript to the MOA-AD Decision. This was a collection of articles written by several attorneys, one of whom Soliman M Santos Jr (now a judge) met me in August 2009 at the Royal Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur.
He wrote a Peace and Conflict Research Report No: 2 for the SIDA (or Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and SEACSN (or SEA Conflict Studies Network) titled Malaysia’s Role in the Peace Negotiations between the Philippines Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Another contributor, Datu Michael O Mastura, attended the dinner for me hosted by Professor Abhoud Syed Lingga, director of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, when I visited Cotabato a couple of years ago. During lunch the next day, the good professor received a call. Soon after he informed me that “your people want to know what you are doing here. I told them you are just visiting!”
Soliman M Santos Jr also wrote The Moro Islamic Challenge, dealing with the constitutional rethinking for the Mindanao peace process. He presented me with a copy of this book when we met in September 2009 and penned: “To Dato’ Syed Ahmad Idid — May public international law, Islamic law and Philippine constitutional law find a way to solve the Moro problems”. And soon his words came true.
THE TERMS ACCEPTED BY BOTH PARTIES
The Bangsamoro is now established to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Bangsamoro is now the new autonomous political entity (NAPE) and shall assume a ministerial form.
The parties agree to have an electoral system which shall be contained in the Bangsamoro basic law. And such law shall be implemented through legislation enacted by the Bangsamoro government. But at all times, such laws or regulations must be correlated with national laws.
This is one huge factor which takes into account the issues of ethnicity and ancestral domains, ensuring that, instead of self-rule, the MILF is satisfied with autonomy.
I know my Bangsamoro friends are touched when they heard the president stating that “this agreement creates a new political entity and it deserves a name that symbolises and honours the struggles of our forebears in Mindanao and celebrates the history and character of that part of our nation. That name will be Bangsamoro” (as it had been claimed all the while since before the Spanish arrival).
It was agreed that the relationship of the central government with the Bangsamoro government shall be asymmetric. But as in most nations, the central government reserves powers on defence and external security, foreign policy, common market and global trade, coinage and monetary policy, citizenship and naturalisation and postal service. And a step forward was accepted: that in a phased and gradual manner, all law enforcement functions shall be transferred from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to the police force for the Bangsamoro.
According to the understanding of the GRP Panel, this meant that the MILF had agreed to “graduated programme for decommissioning of its forces so that they are put beyond use”. Leonen conceded the MILF had dignity and pride and so the GRP used “normalisation” instead of DDR (or disarmament, demobilisation and re-integration). He further added that “the Bangsamoro would respect the separation of church and state”.
A Filipina friend, who now resides in the United States, e-mailed me after getting news of the agreement, to say that she hopes to visit Mindanao to once again “enjoy the ancient music and dances which they (the Bangsamoro) have preserved”.
Who are the Bangsamoros? By clause I.5 of the framework agreement, the identity of the Bangsamoros include “those who at the time of conquest and colonisation were considered natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan, and their descendants whether of mixed or of full blood”.
Such persons can identify themselves by ascription or self-ascription. Spouses and their descendants too come within the classification of Bangsamoro.
Close to my heart, the framework agreement accepts that justice institutions be under the competence of the Bangsamoros. And this includes over syariah justice system, measures to improve the workings of the local civil courts and alternative dispute resolution systems. It is also agreed that the customary rights and traditions of indigenous peoples be preserved in the forthcoming Bangsamoro justice system and Basic Law.
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