By Luke Hunt
Father Ledesma adds that Christians must make an effort to reconcile themselves with people of other faiths, particularly Islam.
‘Reconciliation should be part and parcel of peace building,’ he says. ‘We need to change our mindset and our understanding of the dignity of the human person, whatever his/her culture and religion.’
Also hampering peace efforts are well-armed militias, heavy migration into the area by non-Muslims, corrupt local politicians and an uneven distribution of land seen as little more than a grab by the local Bangsamoro people.
The MILF has signed 87 agreements and documents with the Philippine government and initialed a landmark Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that committed both sides to a comprehensive compact aimed at a lasting political settlement.
That agreement, signed in August 2008, basically called for the establishment of a Moro state within the Republic of the Philippines. However, the Supreme Court quashed the agreement with critics arguing the MOA-AD would lead to the breakup of the Philippines.
Keith Loveard, a security analyst at Jakarta-based Concord Consulting, sounds a cautious note and suggests Aquino should consider dissolving court jurisdiction over the disputed territory and rule by Executive Fiat.
‘Let's not forget that with the MILF the Philippines went all the way to an agreement that was then thrown out by the courts. This doesn’t provide much in the way of optimism for future success,’ he says.‘Add to this the very different societies that are at play here and it seems to me it will be extremely difficult to find common ground that wasn't already part of the initial agreement…Unless Muslim society can be given some meaningful autonomy in the lands that they recognize as their traditional right it will be difficult for the MILF leadership to accept.’
Murad says the MILF now boasts 60,000 men under arms with an ability to mobilize 120,000 on short notice alongside a support base of one million people. There are also 42 active camps and he says money and weapons are plentiful while the MILF is now making its own rocket propelled grenades.
‘President Aquino has six years to solve the problem if he is serious. We were never conquered by the Spanish or any other foreign entity for that matter,’ he says referring to the indigenous Bangsamoro.
‘We want a homeland—a sub-state, not some sort of bogus autonomy. An expanded ARMM is not acceptable. Our struggle is not for us—the MILF—it is for the Bangsamoro people.’
Karl Wilson was reporting from Camp Darapanan in the Philippines. Luke Hunt is currently in Sandakan, Malaysia.
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Paul Booth
An Islamic lady on a BBC documentary about the Mindanao troubles said it was impossible to ignore the rights of Muslims in Mindanao. But have not the Indonesians ignored the rights of Christians in their hinterland. Philippines is Christian and Indonesia is Muslim. Full stop.
J.P. Katigbak
It would be difficult for both the Philippine Government and Moro rebels to make peace with each other because that requires a level of caution.
I assume this is very important to the peace efforts in southern Philippines. The questions are: When will it be true to use caution during the peace process? Is it possible to reveal how extent the current situation in Mindanao? Can both sides tackle the real issues in the southern part of the country?
People in our homes across the Philippines and elsewhere around the globe like me really need serious answers from those who coordinate a series of lectures on the peace process, those who spearhead efforts to keep the peace in the south, those who conduct peace talks between the country’s government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front organization, those who devote “peace activism”, etc.
I personally say there is no turning back in bringing peace to the muslim part of Southern Philippines – and to ensure that the idea of bringing peace must be put into practice and nothing else!
It is also important to bring a peaceful settlement that adds (and reinforces) not only political stability, but also providing an even better foundation for economic growth & stability as well as accompanying social change that is meaningful and well-understood in the context of southern Philippines’ muslim areas (remember: ideologically-motivated social change is the wrong answer to such woes affecting Mindanao today).
Thank you and be safe as of now.
mode20100
A+ would read again
Michael
Another typical right-wing Western response to what is undoubtedly a more complicated problem. I’m an (ethnically) Christian Filipino myself and the issue is more than just about terrorism and pandering to terrorists.
Let’s address some misconceptions. First, the assertion that the Bangsamoro are going to take 40% of the Philippines’ land area. The whole of Mindanao is not included in the MOA-AD; just the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao plus 700 more barangays (villages). More importantly, it’s ridiculous to claim that simply because they’re taking a share of territory disproportionate to their population means that we should immediately reject any agreement with them, especially if that will be the price of peace and lasting economic development for Muslims, Christians, and Lumads (those following indigenous religions).
Second, Sharia Law has historically in the Philippines has applied only to Muslims and will continue to do so even after the creation of a Bangsamoro quasi-state.
Third, most of the Christians in the Bangsamoro areas were never native to the area. They were immigrants from the North introduced by the Spanish and American colonial administrations to drown out the once-Muslim majorities in these areas, which never had a choice about whether to assimilate into the Philippines. While it would be foolish to evict the Christians as their living in the area is now historical fact, the point is that the Bangsamoro people still have rights to this land and as such these should be granted in some way.
Truth is, most of the Muslims in this country are quite peaceful and are in no way “Islamo-fascist”. Leave it to people like you to remain ignorant of the facts and intolerant of what has been a beautiful contribution to Filipino, and for that matter, world civilization.
James Fairbrother
Moslems are 5% of the population of the Philippines, yet they demand 40% of the land area as a separate state. The reporter ignores the lives of the Christians (50% of the population in the areas the Moslems demand as their own), Christians who have called these areas “home” since Magellan stopped the advancing Islamic hordes slaughtering everyone who disagreed with their “faith” 500 years ago.
Are these Christian people (50% of the people in the supposedly “moslem-dominated” areas) to be ignored or ethnically cleansed? Or will the new terrorists-turned-government simply impose Sharia law on everyone and burn down all the remaining churches (the few remaining that they haven’t torched)?
You don’t win anything by giving in to terrorists. Extend the hand of peace to a terrorist and he will cut it off at the wrist.
The only answer to Islamo-fascism is to fight it and to kill it. In the Philippines, they have had 50 years and longer to learn this. They know it, and no number of do-good progressive, sympathetic-to-the-poor-misunderstood-terrorists Westerners are going to change that.