Moro problem will take years to resolve, says World Bank exec

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines—Resolving the conflict in Mindanao, including the restoration of government institutions and the people’s trust in them, is a long process that could take decades to complete, a World Bank official said Monday.

“Solving a long-running conflict takes a very long time. You can’t do it in two or three years,” Nigel Roberts, co-director of World Bank’s World Development Report 2011, said in a statement e-mailed to the news media.

Roberts said even if the conflict could be resolved in two or three years time, its effects will continue to linger for a very long time.

“A common mistake we make in the international community is we think that these problems can be sorted out in three or five years, but in reality, from the experience of other countries which have had civil and or interstate wars, it would commonly take around 20 to 40 years before the mission of peace settlements and social rehabilitation can be truly achieved,” he said.

Roberts issued the statement as the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front continue to find ways to settle the long-running Moro rebellion, which has claimed the lives of thousands of people—both civilians and combatants—since the 1970s.

Having a peace agreement, Roberts said, is very important but is only the beginning.

“The government must specifically look at re-establishing the confidence of the people on their community, on the government itself, on the bureaucracy, among others. At the same time, it must rebuild the institutions that would support its development goals,” Roberts said.

He said all conflicts are different from one another but “there are principal common lessons that can be drawn from those experiences, particularly the national and regional approaches that were made, which can be applied to the conflict-affected areas in the Philippines.”

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said political will could hasten the resolution of the Moro rebellion.

“If the government has political will, we can resolve the problem in months,” Iqbal said by phone.