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According to the news last week from Davos, Switzerland President
Gloria Arroyo was advised by her panel of international
advisers—which includes high priests of business—to move the
economy forward. The advisers, led by Swiss Confederation President
Pascal Couchepin, stressed fiscal discipline as a key tool.
Perhaps she will listen to foreigners.
Certainly, she does not seem to listen to her Filipino economics
advisers. Her international advisers also focused her attention on
the need to pursue the peace process in Mindanao. I wonder what
weight they carry that would sway the balance from military action
to a return to the peace process?
The stakeholders of Mindanao—civil society,
real priests and religious leaders, many local government
leaders—have been lobbying, rallying, protesting, screaming for a
return to peace processes. Will the gentle but loaded words of her
high priests convince Mrs. Arroyo to listen to her constituents?
The GRP-MILF is in peril, even as the government
is prepared to provide another proposal to break the impasse over
territory and ancestral domain issues. When ancestral domain and
territory came up for discussions years ago, I stated that the
Executive cannot promise any concession if it violated the
Constitution. I could not understand how the government panel, with
the full knowledge of Executive Secretary Ermita, could agree not to
mention constitutional prohibitions if the MILF would agree not to
invoke independence as their objective. Today, we are back to that
square one, with Secretary Ermita pointing to constitutional
prohibitions.
In the meantime, the government and the Moro
National Liberation Front held their first official discussions to
assess the implementation of the 1996 GRP-MNLF Peace Agreement from
January 2 to 7. Both sides organized technical working committees
for the tripartite meetings. Embassy officials from Indonesia,
Malaysia, Libya, Pakistan, and other members of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference mediated.
No surprising results. Government maintains
“Mission accomplished.” The MNLF objects. They insist that
government has violated many of the terms of agreement or, to be
charitable, that government has not delivered on their commitment.
The result? Pass the buck to the higher ups and let the Tripartite
committee handle the discussions in Jeddah.
Among the points of disagreement, the most
critical refer to implementation of the promised autonomy. I have
read most of the objective evaluations of the true status of
autonomy in the ARMM. All agree that the Autonomous Region is not
autonomous, tied to the money bag strings of central government.
Further, the ARMM regional government and the LGUs do not have the
capacity to govern effectively.
Other contentious discussions include control
over natural resources, lack of resources for economic development
and a catch up plan, poor implementation of the promised shariah
(Islamic law) system as well as the madaris (Islamic education). And
so we pass the bucket.
In the meantime, violence bubbles madly in the
cauldron that is ARMM. The latest casualty was a widely respected
and loved priest, Fr. Jesus Reynaldo Roda (OMI) in Tawi-Tawi. We
always referred to Tawi-Tawi as the most peaceful province in the
ARMM, insulated by the wide expanse of the Sulu Sea. No more. How do
we prevent the escalation of violence in these peaceful islands?
Sadly, in the past month, a highly respected and
influential Muslim religious leader passed away. Dr. Mahid Mutilan,
who had organized Ompia, the first organization of ulama to wield
political power in Mindanao, was also co-founder of the Bishops-Ulama
Conference. He was the strongest voice for moderation and pluralism
from the Muslim community, advocating for interfaith dialogues and
cooperation to resolve the conflicts in Mindanao.
It is timely that 200 Muslim religious leaders
will be gathering for the First National Ulama Summit in the
Philippines, from January 28 to 30 at the Bayview Park Hotel. The
summit brings together majority of the ulama organizations in the
country, to discuss the situation of the Islamic communities and how
the ulama can impact on peace and development.
Dr. Mutilan will be given posthumous recognition
by his comrades, with the hope that his wisdom will live on.
Organized by the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, the
summit is supported by Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc., and the
British and the Dutch embassies.
Coming to the summit to share their experiences
and thoughts are highly respected Asean leaders: Prof. Din Syamsuddin,
chairman of Indonesia’s oldest and most widespread Islamic
organization, Muhammadiyah, which claims a membership of 30
million people; Prof. Masykkuri Abdillah, vice-chairman of the
National Board of Nahdlatul Ulama, one of the largest independent
Islamic organizations in the world; and Prof. Maarof Bin Haji Salleh,
the director general of the Center for Contemporary Islamic Studies
(CCIS), Singapore, and former president of the Majlis Ugama Islam
Singapura (MUIS), the supreme Islamic religious authority in
Singapore.
In five previous regional consultations, the
ulama came to the consensus that they must unite, if they are to
effectively perform their role as catalysts for peace and
development as well as spiritual advisers of their communities.
The experiences of Muhammadiyah, Nadhlatul
Ulama and MUIS will certainly be useful. It is our prayer that the
coming together of the ulama at a national level will succeed, that
they can add their powerful voices to the clamor of Christian
priests and high priests of industry to seek peace and end war.
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