NOT only President Aquino has expressed an extremely dim view of the ARMM, which he has called “a failure.” ARMM was created by Republic Act 9054. This law was enacted as a result of the “Final Peace Agreement” between the government and then rebel group Moro National Liberation Front founded and chaired by Professor Nur Misuari. MNLF Chairman Misuari has been quoted by the convenor of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, Amina Rasul, as saying that the Philippine government-MNLF Final Peace Agreement is dead.
The peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Kuala Lumpur last week ended dismally. It was supposed to be a three-day conference between the Philippine government and the MILF negotiators. But the negotiations were adjourned because the MILF panel did not show up for the continuation of the peace talks after receiving the Philippine government’s position on the MILF’s position that its negotiators had submitted to the government panel earlier.
Apparently, the government panel had made it clear that the MILF’s position could only be treated under the existing Philippine Constitution and the laws of our Republic. Among other things, the MILF wants a sub-state created to replace the ARMM and include other places in Mindanao whose Christian and Muslim inhabitants are known to be unwilling to belong to an autonomous Muslim region. The MILF could not accept the government requirement.
The talks must continue. The only alternative is war. And it won’t be waged by our Republic but by the MILF—which is really an armed secessionist rebel organization.
We must pray that the MILF—heeding the counsel of Muslim leaders abroad—would decide not to renew its armed struggle “for self-determination.” In fact, the Central Committee of the MILF must make Commander Ameril Umbra Kato simmer down.
We must also pray that President Aquino’s appointed ARMM governor and the other OICs he will appoint in the region’s provinces prove to be true reformers. People who will uphold the welfare and development of the Muslim Filipinos.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court still has to make a final decision on the issue of why appointing OICs is the best route to take in the ARMM. The High Court ruled that the law postponing the August 8 ARMM elections—and its actual postponement—are not unconstitutional. But the Supremes asked: Should there by OICs at all? Why not let the incumbents serve as holdover officials?
In the last hearing on August 15, Chief Justice Renato C. Corona quizzed the solicitor-general about the screening committee that will assess those persons being weighed for appointment as OICs. He asked, “How can the wisdom of the president… substitute for the judgment of 1.8 million voters in the ARMM?”
