More than 100,000 people took to the streets of key cities in the Philippines to call the attention of the United Nations to prevent another massive war to take place in the country after the peace talks between the government and the country’s largest Muslim separatist rebel group have been derailed.
In unprecedented moves uniting civilians, Church sector, and rebel groups sympathizers, the peace rallies were held in the cities of Manila, Cotabato, Marawi, General Santos, and Iligan as part of a series of mass actions organized by a network of 164 civil society organizations of mostly Muslims, to break the most serious impasse to stall the peace talks between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since negotiations started in 1997. Rallies in other areas are now being prepared, organizers said.
Hundreds of children from different Islamic schools (madrasah) in Taguig, Manila wore green bands (color of Islam) and waved flags, calling for peace in Mindanao in Islamic New Year celebrations (Amun Jadeed) last January 19.
Thousands of people from different non-government and people’s organizations gathered in Cotabato city plaza and called on the attention of the international community to press the Philippine government and the MILF into resuming their talks and eventually signing a peace agreement.
In Iligan, a convoy of vehicles and thousands of demonstrators called upon President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to immediately resolve the problem.
In Marawi, civilians wore red shirts and bands, and raised flags with the word, Allahu Akbar (Allah is Great), urging the government and MILF to resume their stalled peace talks.
In General Santos, people filled the public plaza and expressed dismay and fears over possible impacts of the stalemate.
Talks between the government of the predominantly Catholic country and the MILF hit a snag last December over disagreements on the coverage of ancestral domain and constitutional process, two highly controversial and critical subjects in the talks.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, assessed the impasse as “among the most serious to stall the rocky talks, a big hump” upon which the GRP has no “magic formula” while “looking for a way out”.
The MILF negotiating panel refused to meet its government counterpart during the 15th exploratory talks last December 15 to 17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because the government draft of a proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain supposedly did not contain certain consensus points earlier agreed by the two parties.
The government negotiating panel recently inserted a provision which states that the implementation of the agreement will have to follow “constitutional process.”
Situations have been aggravated by recent statements from some of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s key officials threatening the MILF with sanctions.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno Puno said government should not give in to the MILF’s demand for a “juridical entity” without a plebiscite, while AFP Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero stated that peace talks will not continue without MILF’s disarmament.
Since all-out war was declared by former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in 2000, negotiations progressed because of mutual agreement that government should not refer to Constitution and the MILF would not demand independence.
The setting up of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) was agreed upon by government and MILF negotiators during exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur last year.
Field army personnel and MILF are now on full alert for any movements from opposing sides in conflict-affected areas in the disputed island of Mindanao.
Foreign observers from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and donor community have expressed concern on the instability in the peace process.
More than 100,000 people have already died because of the decades-long armed conflicts in the country.
Civil society organizations called on the international community to help push the peace process forward and to exert pressures to the parties to honor and abide by whatever commitments they have made in the course of their negotiations.
“People aired their resentments against war, letting the world know that they hate war,” said Guiamel Alim, chair of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS), the lead convener-organizer of the peace rallies.
“The jubilation was short-lived, dreams were shattered,” said Alim who noted that pronouncements of both parties in the past months were optimistic. “It made a lot of people frustrated but many still keep hoping.”
”President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, you are an Iliganon, give us the justice we long for! We have suffered enough!” said Bai Lilang Macarampat, a women representative from Lanao Del Sur, as she recollected that Mrs. Arroyo’s maternal parents are from Iligan.
The signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain that would have paved the way for a comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the MILF, said Bobby Benito of Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines. “It would have been a recompense for the 10-year long negotiation between the MILF and the GRP that commenced in July of 1997.”
Benito urged the government to pursue peace talks with the MILF by abiding with consensus points agreed upon by both parties.
“The current status of the peace process in Mindanao is fast changing and reshaping the future of the Mindanaoans especially the civil society that comprises the greater majority in the grassroots,” Benito said.
Benito said there is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war. “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
“The consequences of war in Mindanao have been very painful and costly. More than 150,000 people died and 100,000 were estimated to be injured. Millions were displaced from their homes and several hundred thousands, including more than 200,000 people who sought refuge in the Malaysian State of Sabah have not returned home,” said Abdullah Dalidig, of the Islamic Movement for Electoral Reform and Good Governance (IMERGG) and Muslim Multi-sectoral Movement for Peace and Development (MMMPD).
Demonstrators in Iligan assailed Puno as “the same enemy of peace who has also pushed the Estrada administration into all-out-war 2000.” Caricatures of Puno holding M-16 carried by the demonstrators.
“What does Puno know regarding Mindanao? We, the Mindanawons are to determine our own future,” said Cha Lavandero of youth leaders organization Duyog Kabataan.
“(The mass actions) intend to prevent possible conflict and to show to the parties that the Bangsamoro (Muslims) is in solidarity with the Christians and the Lumads” said Dalidig.
“If these acts are not enough to catch the attention of the government, the Interfaith CSOs (civil society organizations) will organize the walk for peace from Marawi City to Malacañang Palace to show to the government that we are indeed very serious in our fervor to attain just and lasting peace in Mindanao,” Dalidig added.
“We are one with the Bangsamoro in the call for lasting peace. After all only those who declared war win; we are all victims,” said Fr. Chito Sugano of the Marawi Catholic church. “The Bangsamoro homeland, our bread and butter are happily utilized as battlegrounds, leaving its inhabitants with dime of hope.”
Atty. Ibrahim Canama of the Federated Royal Sultanate of the Philippines said the sultanates of Mindanao appeal to the MILF “to return to the negotiating table” and for the government “to be sincere in dealing with the Peace processes, from the course of the negotiation to the implementation of the agreements to be signed.”
“Our people cannot afford to live in fear,” Canama said.
“How many more lives do we need to sacrifice? The consensus points were gained at the expense of the lives of the countless Bangsamoro who died fighting for it,” said Abulkhair Alibasa, an academe youth representative.
“We strongly condemn war, displacements and the long hardship of the Bangsamoro!” shouted Ma. Jittel Saquilabon, the executive director of the Tri-People’s Forum.
“Give the Bangsamoro their right to self-determination! We do not want to lose our parents because of war!” said Lavandero.
“The Bangsamoro have suffered for 469 years, so give us back the justice that was taken from us!” shouted Mohammad Tamano of the Iligan League of Students.
Tamano said that the “Bangsamoro have suffered from the invasion of Spain in 1521 that lasted for 377 years, the American colonization of 40 years, and the Philippine colonialism of 52 years already.”
General Santos-based Pastor Frank Bantilan said that the indigenous people of Mindanao have been distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks. “Muslims and Lumads (indigenous people) are more than brothers, we feel no different pain.”
Benito said the “civil society in Mindanao urgently appeal” for “swift and more carefully review the implementation of the GRP-MNLF 1996 peace accord so that gaps are identified, corrective measures are installed, and implementation scheme put into place;” “for the immediate resumption of the GRP-MILF peace talks and for the Government to honor its commitment to the consensus points;” and “for the GRP and the MILF to refrain from any unnecessary actions that may jeopardize the peace talks.”
“But the stance of the government in nonconforming to the agreed consensus points is a clear manifestation of its feebleness to bestow strong political will for the realization of the peace accord,” Benito argued.
The signing of the MOA on the ancestral domain issue “could have been the best Christmas gift for the Filipinos and a memorable reward for the Muslims in their celebration of Eid Al-Adha this year,” the civil society organizations (CSOs) that participated in the rallies said in a manifesto.
The CSOs also appealed to both parties to refrain from any unnecessary actions that may jeopardize the peace talks. “It would now be an acid test for CSOs to stay on guard to prevent violence from taking place and to bring back the parties into dialogue to discuss contentious issues,” said Alim.
They also raised questions of possibilities to find “a creative and acceptable means of pursuing the implementation of the consensus points without violating the constitution.”
“Veering away and watering down the consensus points and invoking the constitutional process as a means to pursue a political agreement is tantamount to a betrayal of a “gentlemen’s agreement” and lack of sincerity on the part of the government to find peace in Mindanao.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
There is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war, the CSOs stated. “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
In September 1996, the Philippine government also signed a peace agreement with another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF broke away in 1981.
Benito noted that the issues confronting the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF has further made the situation in Mindanao “fluid and volatile.”
More than a decade after the signed pact, the MNLF and other critics have relentlessly accused the Philippine government of lack of sincerity, honesty and political will in fully implementing the agreement and in working for attainment of peace in Mindanao.
Last June 2007, Silvestre Afable, the government chief negotiator in the talks with the MILF resigned, saying he did not enjoy the full confidence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was replaced by Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general and former Armed Forces vice chief of staff.
The armed struggle of the Muslims in the Philippines can be traced back in history. Mindanao is the birthplace of Islam in the country.
Bangsamoro (Moroland) refers to the homeland of the Moro, the indigenous peoples in Southern Philippines.
The term comes from the Malay word “bangsa,” meaning nation or people, and the Spanish word “moro,” from the older Spanish word “Moor,” the Reconquista-period term for Arabs or Muslims.
It may also refer to the Moro people, in general.
Bangsamoro covers the provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Palawan, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay; and the cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, and Zamboanga.
Other interpretations may include territories that use to form North Borneo including Sabah, Labuan and the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan in modern Malaysia.
Bangsamoro was originally home to sovereign sultanates of Mindanao (such as Maguindanao and Sulu), which resisted Spanish colonial rule.
But in 1898 Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippine archipelago to the United States, including the Bangsamoro. Later, the Philippine republic was formed.
There had been a request from the Bangsamoro to exclude their homeland in the formation of the Philippine republic and to remain it instead under American control. This was denied.
Bangsamoro groups assail inclusion of Mindanao in the formation of the Philippine republic during the post-American colonization period as “illegal annexation and exploitation without referendum, plebiscite or consent of the Moro people, thus, a blatant violation of their fundamental rights.”
Majority of the Bangsamoro people are Muslims. The Islamized Bangsamoro ethno-linguistic groups are indigenous peoples converted to Islam by Arab merchants during the country’s pre-Hispanic history.
Human rights groups say a number of Muslims in the country at present have suffered intensive discrimination, illegal arrests and other forms of human rights violations because of having been alleged to have link to terrorist activities.
“The failure of peace agreements in the past can be attributed mainly to the non-participation of the Bangsamoro people, because non-participation means they do not own a peace agreement. As real stakeholders, their collective voice should be basis of authority and the last word in the solution of the problem,” Dalidig said.
The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) considers the Ancestral Domain agenda in the GRP-MILF peace talks as an “opportunity for Mindanawons to revisit our colonial past and correct the historical injustices committed against the indigenous and Bangsamoro peoples in Mindanao.”
“The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers” said Sammy Maulana, CBCS secretary-general. “We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation”.
(January 25, 2008)
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