In-Focus

Manila, Philippines --- Tired of fighting, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Mohagher Iqbal said he looks forward to a peaceful life following the signing of the framework peace agreement with the government last Monday.

“You know, I’ve been in troubled times for 40 years. I want to rest. I’ve been in the negotiation for 14 years. I have been the chairman of the MILF peace panel for 10 years, so I want to rest,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal said there are “clear signs that we are moving toward normalcy in Mindanao.”

“If other people who have not sacrificed a lot want peace, I think the more I want peace because I have been in the struggle. I have spent the best (years) of my life in this struggle, so I want peace right now – an honorable peace,” he said.

Iqbal said the MILF believed in the peace process that they decided to stop fighting the government.

He noted that their late leader, Hashim Salamat, had said that the most civilized and practical way of solving the conflict in Mindanao is through a negotiated political settlement.

“There are no compelling reasons but we have to balance reality and idealism. So the decision was to engage the Philippine government in a negotiation and the result would bear us out in the framework agreement,” he said. 

‘Real medicine’

Iqbal described the framework agreement as the “real medicine” that will cure all the illnesses of the Muslim community.

He also predicted that splinter or breakaway groups like the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) of Umbra Kato would soon be a thing of the past.

“When you finally find the real solution or the real medicine, all the sufferings will fade away. BIFF has no legitimacy so they will fade away in due time,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal assured the public and the government that they will not stand in the way of the arrest of BIFF members.

“We have several mechanisms to address the issue. We have the ceasefire committee; we have the international monitoring team, etcetera. We have enough mechanisms to address problems like that,” he said. 

‘Decommissioning’ of forces

Government peace negotiators told congressmen during a briefing yesterday that the MILF has agreed to “decommission” its forces.

Chief negotiator Marvic Leonen said that under the framework agreement, the MILF commits itself to “undertake a graduated program for decommissioning its forces so that they are put beyond use.”

Leonen said an independent commission would be “organized by the parties to recommend appropriate policing” within the areas that are proposed to be covered by the new autonomous Muslim region.

The commission will be composed of representatives of the government and the MILF. Local and international experts on law enforcement may be invited to help it in its work, Leonen said.

“In a phased and gradual manner, all law enforcement functions will be transferred from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to the police force for the Bangsamoro,” Leonen said.

He said the two sides agreed to continue negotiations on the form, functions and relationship of the police force of the Bangsamoro, taking into consideration the results of the study of the independent commission.

“There will be no security vacuum in the south at any time,” he said.

When asked to clarify what “decommissioning” of forces means, Leonen refused to go into specifics beyond repeating that MILF forces would be “put beyond use.”

He added it is not sure if all MILF fighters will be integrated into the police force in the proposed Bangsamoro region. “That will be subject to negotiation,” he said.

The MILF is believed to have between 10,000 and 12,000 fighters. 

‘Normalization’ process

Leonen said the decomissioning of forces is part of the “normalization” process in Mindanao.

“It is through normalization that communities can return to conditions where they can achieve their desired quality of life, which includes the pursuit of sustainable livelihoods and political participation within a peaceful deliberative society. The aim of normalization is to ensure human security in the Bangsamoro,” he said, quoting the framework agreement.

Leonen said the MILF “never put independence or a separate Muslim state on the table.”

He said the details of other aspects of the agreement, including those on “power-sharing and wealth-sharing,” are still subject to future negotiations.

He said the objective is to finish all talks and come up with the final peace agreement before the end of this year.

‘Agreement for all’

Meanwhile, Leonen and Iqbal said that contrary to the claim of former MNLF chairman Nur Misuari, the entire Muslim community stands to benefit from the framework peace agreement.

“I think it’s a very grand gesture on the part of (MILF) chairman (Al Haj) Murad to actually say that this is an agreement that is not won only by MILF and only for MILF, but it is something that is won for everybody in that particular region,” Leonen said.

“I’m not sure whether they’re (MNLF) going to be marginalized. We have spoken to some leaders of the MNLF and we have conversed with them throughout the entire one and a half years as I was chair,” he said.

Leonen also stressed that MNLF members will be represented in the transition commission.

For his part, Iqbal stressed that they are negotiating for the entire Bangsamoro people, and not just for the MILF.

“And, if you look at the framework agreement, the direct role of the MILF is only in the transition and after that it’s free for all,” the MILF official pointed out, noting that they will only be acting as an instrument of peace in Mindanao. 

OIC supports agreement

President Aquino and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu met in Malacañang on Monday after the signing of the framework agreement.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said he does not have the full details of the meeting but said it was “a signal” that the OIC was supportive of the accord.

The OIC, like Malaysia, had been helping the Philippines come up with a peace settlement with Muslim rebels in the south.

“You have seen a broad-based support from the Bangsamoro community and while we are celebrating here in Manila for the signing, there was also a celebratory mood in Camp Darapanan and in various parts of Mindanao,” Lacierda said. 

No constitutional amendment

Leonen, a former law dean, said the framework agreement will not require an amendment of the Constitution but a new law that will establish the Bangsamoro autonomous region.

He said the government peace panel also consulted with the MNLF.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said Malacañang would need the “cooperation of the two chambers of Congress for the peace process to succeed.”

“The framework agreement is a legislative tack. We cannot move forward without the cooperation of Congress,” Deles said.

Leonen said their goal is to pass a new law governing the proposed Bangsamoro autonomous region and the conduct of a plebiscite in the affected areas “within the term of office of President Aquino,” which ends on June 30, 2016.

He said Aquino would shortly create a transition commission that would draft such law. 

Concerns over territory and taxation

During the three-hour briefing with government negotiators, some congressmen expressed concern over the territory of the proposed new autonomous region and its power of taxation.

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo said he was alarmed by the definition of the region’s territory, which would include the “aerial domain and the atmospheric space above it.”

“Does this mean that PAL (Philippine Airlines) would need the autonomous region’s permit to fly there?” he asked.

Leonen said the government is not “conceding civil aviation to the MILF.”

He said the context of the definition of the region’s territory refers to problems like pollution which, he added, should be more of the concern of Bangsamoro rather than of the national government.

“Reading your framework agreement, my God, frankly, I don’t know. You have to clarify that,” Romualdo told Leonen.

On the issue of taxation, Leonen said the autonomous region would have the power to impose and collect taxes that are local in nature.

“What are due the national government should go to the national government. What are due the regional or local government should go to them. There will be no double taxation,” he said.

Other congressmen sought assurances that their constituents would no longer be attacked by the so-called MILF “lost commands.”

Leonen said he would raise their concern to the MILF leadership, adding that the MILF has promised to help the military and the police go after lawless elements, including kidnap-for-ransom groups.

Leonen also urged the House to approve a resolution supporting the peace talks with the MILF.

Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada said he would relay the peace panel’s request to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. “I think we can approve such resolution before our Christmas season break in December,” he said. 

Investments to flow

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said it expects investments to flow in Mindanao with the signing of the framework agreement.

“That (investments to Mindanao) is to be anticipated. Business will go where it sees opportunities,” ECCP president Michael Raeuber told reporters yesterday.

However, Raeuber said investments are not expected to come in immediately and would depend on the approval of the Bangsamoro Basic Law and the infrastructure to be built in the area.

“We hope everyone can live up to the commitments made. We want to believe it will work,” he said.

Mindanao Development Authority chairman Luwalhati Antonino said the signing of the framework agreement “augurs well” for the Bangsamoro business leaders to effectively respond to the opportunities that abound in both domestic and international markets.

Antonino said a series of exchange of business missions and trade exhibits between Mindanao and Malaysian investors had been firmed up for possible forging of investments.

She said more than 50 Mindanao-based companies and exhibitors are taking part in the Business Forum for Mindanao Opportunities in Kuala Lumpur in November and the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area and IMT-GT Consumer Fair in Melaka, Malaysia in December this year.

“We have always believed that armed conflict can end through peaceful means, and with this development, we can look forward to achieving unifying peace and inclusive progress for Mindanao, and fulfill the many promises for its people,” she said. 

Level of trust

The high level of trust between the government and the MILF is strong enough to withstand trials in the implementation of the framework peace agreement, Deles said.

“Today, a child will grow up in our generation embracing the identity of the Bangsamoro and grow up with pride in a political, cultural and geographic identity respected in the four corners of the world,” she said.

Deles offered the agreement to those whose lives were ravaged by war and conflict in Mindanao.

“And to those who have died without seeing the sunlight of peace – those felled by bullets, and those cut down by hunger because of the ravages of war – we bow our heads in offering you this day,” she said.

Deles lauded President Aquino for being the “moral compass” of the Mindanao peace process.

“For guiding us through the negotiations and for keeping our minds firm and our hearts, buoyant,” she said.

Antonino shared Deles’ sentiment, saying the President “has shown firmness in taking the moral high ground of going for all-out justice and peace in addressing armed conflicts in parts of Mindanao.”

Antonino noted that the Aquino administration has “never wavered in its stand that war is never an option, and that peace is a central ingredient to the country’s future and is a path we all must remain firmly committed to achieving.”

“So many challenges await us, but the bridge of trust that spans this room is strong enough to withstand the trials ahead, however difficult they may be,” Deles said.

Deles also acknowledged the role of the media, including social media; civil society groups; and the international community.

Meanwhile, the chief political officer of the MILF cited the contribution of Central Mindanao’s oldest Catholic radio network in helping generate support for resolving the decades-old Southern Moro uprising.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, announced over dxMS in Cotabato City that despite the station’s being owned by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), it shared in the “struggle” to educate the public on the need to support the peace process.

Jaafar said dxMS also helped in announcing the progress and difficulties in the talks. “We in the MILF are thankful and grateful to station dxMS,” he said. With Jess Diaz, Jose Rodel Clapano, John Unson, Edith Regalado, Louella Desiderio, Aurea Calica

Source: The Philippine Star; Front Page; 17 October 2012