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Throughout the country the ground swell of support
for the renegotiation of the Memorandum of Agreement on An-cestral
Domain (MOA-AD) has been growing.
The most telling of many
developments showing that renegotiation is the will of the majority
of Filipinos—including some important Moro leaders—are those in
the House of Representatives and among local government officials.
In the House, 136 congressmen out
of the 238 members, signed a resolution (HR 733) on Friday urging
Malacañang to renegotiate the terms of the treasonous and
unconstitutional MOA-AD with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. All
of the deputy speakers of the House, said South Cotabato
Representative Darlene Antonino-Custodio (a member of the
opposition), signed the resolution. The only deputy-speaker who did
not sign is Rep. Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao. Most of the 59
congressmen from Mindanao, who make up the “Mindanao Bloc” which
is solidly behind Speaker Prospero Nograles and is made up mainly of
pro-administration lawmakers, signed the resolution.
Among local government officials,
some—including Muslims—have come out in support of the governor
and vice-governor of North Cotabato, the mayor of Zamboanga City,
who took the original steps to protest the signing of the MOA-AD
because their territories would be made parts of the future
Bangsamoro Juridical Entity without consulting them and their
constituencies.
As a result of this ground swell
for renegotiation, some strange new notions were heard coming from
the government officials responsible for the problems attending the
MOA-AD. These are President Macapagal-Arroyo, who presumably gave
her consent to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)
Panel; Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process retired General
Hermogenes Esperon; and Chairman of the GRP Panel retired General
Rolando Garcia.
On Saturday, the
President—speaking at the state banquet she hosted for visiting
Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Masser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah and other Kuwaiti cabinet ministers—said she wanted to
give non-government peace advocates a key role in the peace process
with the MILF. She must have been thinking of the inter-faith NGO
made up of Christian priests, nuns and faithful, Muslim imams and
other religious leaders who were countering the anti-MOA-AD
demonstrations with their clamor to give peace-in-Mindanao by
supporting the controversial agreement.
She explained to her Kuwaiti
guests that thenceforth, her government would assume only a
supporting role and let non-government organizations lead the
discussions to solve the problematic issues.
News of these apparent change in
President Arroyo’s position—which used to be totally for the
MOA-AD as it is—made various parties wonder what was going on.
Responding to the Inquirer’s
queries, “Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and presidential
political adviser Gabriel Claudio,” reported the daily, “denied
that the President had already abandoned the MOA-AD amid the furor
over the inclusion of several provinces and cities without ample
consultations with affected residents.”
All that the President said to
the Kuwaiti guests, Ermita explained, is “NGOs should participate.
Don’t leave everything to government.” So, the Inquirer asked,
which NGOs in Mindanao were being eyed, to which Ermita replied and
“mentioned at least two—the Christian-Muslim for Peace and the
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy of Amina Rasul.” The
latter is a Times columnist and the editor of the Times’ monthly
Moro Times.
This must have confused Gen.
Esperon. But he must have clarified things with the President.
For on Sunday he was telling The
Philippine Star’s Jose Rodel Clapano in a telephone interview that
“the government is prepared to junk” the MOA-AD “and
renegotiate a new one if the Supreme Court declares it
unconstitutional.” He also told Clapano that this (junking the
MOA-AD) was only “one of the options being considered.”
Did ‘renegotiation’ trigger
MILF attacks
Then came the separate criminal
acts perpetrated by MILF forces in Lanao del Norte—in Mulondo,
Maasim, Kauswagan and Kolambugan towns—and Iligan City.
Government troops were ambushed
at dawn Sunday resulting in four soldiers killed and four Cafgus
wounded. A town center was taken over. A church too. And private
homes were occupied, the homeowners held as hostages. Civilians were
killed, said witnesses, mercilessly. The rebels looted businesses,
burned down houses and randomly attacked civilian villagers. When
the MILF troops withdrew at least 31 were dead, including the
soldiers. Some of the dead were hacked with bolos.
Armed Forces Chief Alexander Yano
called the attacks “a virtual declaration of war” by the MILF.
President Gloria Arroyo called the MILF guerrillas “sneaky and
treacherous” and said the attacks were clear violations of the
peace negotiations and ceasefire agreements.
Eid Kabalu, the MILF senior
official and spokesman, at noon of Monday was telling ABS-CBN
interviewers that the MILF central leadership still had to find out
what really happened. He admitted that the MILF ground boss,
Commander Bravo, was not a rogue but really an MILF officer.
Military reports, however, said
the MILF rebels who attacked were reinforced by rebels from Lanao
del Sur and Maguindanao. The AFP said there were about 300 to 400
attackers. Eid Kabalu said there were some 1,000 MILF fighters in
the area.
The irony is that these Lanao del
Norte towns, with predominantly Christian populations, did not
openly oppose the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral
Domain—unlike North Cotabato and Zamboanga.
Are the MILF fighters incensed by
talk of renegotiating and junking the MOA-AD?
Are these all part of an MILF
plan to tell the government that it had better do what it wants
about creating the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or else?
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