ALLIANCE NEWS

October 12, 2012

More on the “Framework Agreement” in Mindanao

By Alliance-Philippines

The dramatic signing of the framework of the peace agreement between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that took more than two and half years of negotiations in Kuala Lumpur has been slated for October 16, 2012 at the Malacanang Palace.

Many dignitaries from foreign governments especially the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), Malaysia, European Union and Australia and in the international community will attend the signing of the peace agreement

For many, the promises and hopes to end the four decades-long armed conflict in war-torn areas of Mindanao that cost more than 150,000 lives and billions of pesos of properties is near at hand.

But for all peace-loving Filipinos who desired peace the so-called peace agreement is only starting point for peace and much is to be desired about the so called ”framework agreement”.

The ARMM

What is intriguing is the declaration of President Aquino II that the “ARMM is a failed experiment. Aquino called the ARMM a "failed experiment" that produced warlords who committed abuses and left the people poor.

This also prompted former President Fidel V. Ramos to cautioned the incumbent administration not to pass judgment on the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is a brainchild of his mother-President Corazon Aquino.

Ramos pointed out that the ARMM was already being planned during the time of President Benigno Aquino III’s mother. Ramos said the ARMM was established 23 years ago on September 2, 1996 during his term.

"It may be recalled that ARMM and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) was created by the so-called Organic Act of 1989, which is a creation of former President Corazon Aquino, and with due respect to her it worked for awhile even during and after the 1996 final peace agreement that was forged during my time,” he said.

But President Aquino II was right is pointing out that the ARMM did not serve its intended purpose. It became a tool and a milking cow of some Muslim warlords who used it for their own end. From 1986, from the Cory Aquino regime to the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration in 2008, the Muslim warlords Ampatuan clan controlled ARMM and the province of Maguindanao.

The Ampatuans remained in power in the ARMM as long as they delivered crucial ” command votes” in every elections and enjoyed the perks of power even USAID in dollars for their “ghost projects in ARMM.

Their happy days ended when they committed the terrible and the infamous Maguindanao Massacre, the most violent election incident in Philippine History that killed more than 59 people and the biggest number practitioners in a single day on November 23, 2009. This year 2012 will be the third year of the Maguindanao Massacre and yet justice is still elusive for the families of the victims.

From Tripoli 1976 to ARMM, 1989

Former President Ramos in defense of his administration policy in Mindanao also said that any government could pass different kinds of laws, depending on present circumstances. The success of the law will still depend on the implementation, he added. True, because many details have to be ironed out before any cessation of hostilities and before the MILF can be integrated to the Aquino armed forces like what happened with the MNLF in 1996.

Nothing has happened since the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 up to the controversial MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) in 2008. The Tripoli Agreement of 1976 was brokered by Imelda Marcos and former Libyan leader Colonel Muamar Kadaffi.

People remembered dictator Marcos just used the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 to surface the MNLF leaders, buy out many of them by giving them positions in the his own “Autonomous Region” , divided the MNLF, weakened the Moro independence movement. Out of the failure of the Tripoli Agreement, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led by Hashim Salamat was born in 1978.

The MNLF and the MILF entered with the different administration from Marcos to Aquino III “prolonged ceasefire”. Meaning they talk while they fight and fight while they talk depending on the situation in the field or to their own advantage.

For this reason, more than 2/3 of the armed forces is deployed in Mindanao and have sucked precious resources that should been allotted for public interests. More than 60 army battalions are deployed in Mindanao for years. It will be for the benefit of the Aquino III regime to free these forces and concentrate it for its more formidable enemy- the New People’s Army (NPA).

For as long it fights in two fronts, the problem of twin insurgencies in the Philippines can never be solved. It will be an eternal struggle for the hearts and minds of the people for years to come.

Thus, for some political analyst the problem is not only military but also political. In order for genuine peace efforts to be successful, the roots of Moro problems must be addressed. The agreement should be reflective of the real condition of Moro people and should address the roots of the problem. Some worry because Aquino is using framework agreement to earn good publicity especially that the elections 2013 is near.

The Bangsa Moro“NPE”

The “draft framework agreement” can be called another Tripoli Agreement not in 1976 but in the year 2012.. This time, the old and tired leadership of the MILF accepted the concept of regional autonomy in the term” Bangsa Moro” or in the words of the agreement “ a new political entity.” (NPE). In this case the ARMM will be dissolved and in place, the “Bangsa Moro new political entity “will takes its place.

What makes the matters more complicated is that a breakaway group from the MILF called the “Bangsa Moro Freedom Movement” that has its own-armed group – the “Bangsa Moro Islamic Armed Forces.” They oppose the GPH-MILF accords from the onset. They adopted a wait and see attitude and have signified that they will hold on their firearms and see the results of the peace accord first.

The have started fighting in 2008 and escalated their armed struggle when the then Arroyo Government failed to implement the controversial MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) that was also signed in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.

Another group that oppose the agreement is the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The original group that started for secession who accepted the Tripoli Agreement in 1976. As of the present there are five faction of the MNLF represents ting the organization. The largest still is led by MNLF Chair Nur Misuari who vehemently opposed the framework agreement with the MILF.

Misuari still clings to he idea that the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 was never implemented. Why implement a new NPE without the MNLF? The Aquino II administration has promised the MNLF will not be left out. But it’s remain to be seen how that matter will done.

Let us hope that this will be what the British Prime Minister waived when he signed the Munich Pact with Germany’s Adolf Hitler months before the outbreak of World War II and he said:

“Peace in our time!’

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