|
Lies and loose logic, arbitrary thinking, have caused some wise
people to present atrocious positions about the Mindanao situation.
On who started the present fighting:
The MILF central leadership’s line is that the
present fighting began because “Christian CVOs” attacked
withdrawing forces under MILF commanders Bravo and Ombra Kato.
This line has been accepted even by some
supposedly neutral commentators, officials and churchmen.
At least Eid Kabalu is honest enough to say that
a thorough investigation must be conducted by the GRP-MILF ceasefire
committee to find out the truth.
It is also treated as holy writ that Ombra Kato
and his men did what they did (and Ombra Kato now says he did not
authorize nor order his men to attack, invade and kill) out of
frustration over the Supreme Court’s TRO that kept the MOA-AD from
being signed on August 5.
But people on the ground swear that MILF forces
began harassing the North Cotabato barangays as early as July 1.
Archbishop Quevedo
A former president of the CBCP, Archbishop
Orlando Quevedo is a man of peace and wisdom. His article about the
MOA-AD is in today’s the Moro Times. His suggestions must be given
weight.
As a man of Mindanao roots (my grandfather built
Dinas town with his Suban-on Man Friday and other co-workers; my
siblings and cousins are still in Misamis Occidental and Oriental,
the Zamboangas, Bukidnon, and Lanao del Norte, and Davao City), I
share the good archbishop’s concerns about letting the Mindanao
peace process die.
His article asks us to reflect on some
points.
I will only pick some.
“Are we, Christian Filipinos, aware that even
before the Spaniards came, the Bangsamoro people already had a
system of political authority that held sway over a domain that
covered most parts of Mindanao and Sulu?”
First, it worries me that (like the MILF central
leaders) the term “Christian” is used as a mere demographic
category for a kind of Filipino human being.
The MILF claims “Christian CVOs” and
“Christian CAFGUs” and “Christian soldiers” have done very
bad things. This is just like the way English-language print media
have referred to criminals as “Muslim bandits” and “Muslim
pirates” in the days before the rule now banning that kind of
reference.
Can you call the murderers who exacted wrongful
vengeance on Muslims “Christian”?
If, the good archbishop really means “we,
Christian Filipinos” is he limiting the readership of his article
to those of us who struggle to really follow Our Lord Jesus
Christ’s teachings; among Catholics, those who go to Mass on
Sundays and holy days of obligations and go to confession as soon as
they have committed a mortal or deliberate venial sin?
This may sound like nit picking. But it is very
relevant because many of those who know a bit more than the general
newspaper reader are aware that the conflict in the Muslim-majority
areas of Mindanao has to do with economic and in particular,
land-ownership issues. It does not have much to do with the
players’ religious affiliations. It has much more to do with the
possibility of Liguasan Marsh having a lot of oil and natural gas
under it.
Yes, there are some who go to Mass daily and to
confession once a week, who feel bad that their fellow Christians
(this time, really serious Christians) may find their homes located
in the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity—if and when the future
Comprehensive Pact is approved by a plebiscite, following all the
constitutional strictures. I don’t think these real Christians are
going to bear arms against their fellow Filipinos who are Moros.
I only offer this perspective to make those who
will reflect on the issues, as Archbishop Quevedo suggests, that
they should better also reflect on the authenticity of their
adherence to their Christian faith. It will help preserve the peace
in Mindanao.
Reading in a vacuum
Archbishop Quevedo’s points also include the
following:
“Does Bangsamoro self-determination and
exercise of sovereignty in their ancestral domain necessarily mean
political independence from the Republic of the Philippines?”
Yes. For one does not read texts in a vacuum.
One has to listen to the voices of Eid Kabalu, Mohagher Iqbal and
others who have clearly stated that they (who co-authored the
MOA-AD) don’t care about the “internal problems” of the GRP
and its component Supreme Court, Congress and other subdivisions
because they are a revolutionary organization which is changing the
political and economic status and identify of the Bagsamoro people.
“Does the MOA-AD say that the Bangsamoro
Juridical Entity is a separate and independent State? Does it intend
to set up such a State?”
Yes, and such remaking will be perfected in the
Comprehensive Pact to be fashioned under Terms of References that
include documents that the MILF leaders abhor and do not honor. Does
that not bode ill for the future of the Comprehensive Pact and its
consequences?
In any case, my prayer is for the peace process
to continue and for the MILF to withdraw from its position that
“GRP efforts to renegotiate the MOA-AD” will cause war!
rqb@manilatimes.net rq_bas@yahoo.com
|
