MILF admits MOA-AD ‘substance’ in new Moro substate proposal
The chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Mohagher Iqbal admitted to reporters that the MILF had incorporated the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which was secretly signed by the Arroyo administration and the MILF and which the Supreme Court subsequently pronounced unconstitutional.
“It’s not repackaged but reframed. [We want] to reframe the MOA-AD and … bring the contentious points to the discussion of the [proposed] comprehensive compact,” he said.
In a separate interview, Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, said they had incorporated the “substance” of the MOA-AD into their proposed comprehensive compact “but minus the unconstitutional portions according to the Supreme Court.”
“The entire MOA-AD was not declared unconstitutional. There were portions which the Supreme Court found unconstitutional, so the entire [agreement] was affected,” Jaafar said.
Iqbal said the MILF’s proposed Moro substate in Mindanao went beyond the areas covered by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Beyond ARMM
“The core area is the ARMM area, but there are adjacent villages that are predominantly Moro-populated so they will be included,” he said, adding that these villages were in the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat and Palawan.
The ARMM covers the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, as well as Lamitan City (in Basilan) and Marawi City (in Lanao del Sur).
Isabela City in Basilan is not part of the ARMM; neither is Cotabato City, where the ARMM capitol is located.
‘Most minimum’ demand
Jaafar said there were also predominantly Muslim areas in Zamboanga del Sur province that they wanted to include in the proposed substate.
He said the MILF was proposing to include Cotabato City “because [it] is a Muslim city.”
Iqbal indicated that the MILF would not agree to anything less than a substate: “That’s the most minimum [demand]. Anything less than that will revert to the ARMM. But the ARMM is not autonomous.”
Add provision to Charter
The MILF has included in its proposal to the government an amendment of the Constitution to accommodate substate.
Iqbal told reporters by phone yesterday that under the proposal, a new provision would be added to the Constitution to accommodate a Moro substate in a unitary system of government.
He said the provision would “only be appended, attached” to the Charter.
“We do recognize the problem … so there is a proposal on how to deal with that. We will not amend the Constitution; not a period, not a comma, not a paragraph,” Iqbal said.
“But it can be done. If the government is really committed, then they [can do] that. The Constitution—it’s not the Koran, it’s not the Bible that you cannot change. It can be made better,” he said.
The MILF had earlier said its proposed substate for Muslim Filipinos would be similar to a state in a federal system of government.
“This entity is not an independent state. The powers over national defense, foreign relations, coinage and currency and postal services are still the sole jurisdiction of the central government. The substate has jurisdiction only over other matters, except those jointly exercised by the substate and the central government,” the MILF said in its website editorial this week.
The government is to give its counterproposal when negotiations resume on Aug. 22.
‘Frankenstein’
Former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the MILF’s proposed substate “is a little problematic” and “so nebulous a concept that it’s hard for a dispassionate mind to figure out its ramifications.”
Had the MILF used “a more acceptable term” like a federal state, it would have been better understood, and it would be “easier to unravel any difficulty to a peaceful solution” to the Moro problem, Pimentel said in a phone interview.
He said that it was difficult to conceive of a substate under the current unitary system, and that it “may be a Frankenstein that can create problems for its creator.”
Raissa H. Jajurie, a member of the board of consultants of the MILF peace panel, said that from her understanding, a substate would have an “asymmetrical relationship” with the Philippine government.
She said this was in contrast with the symmetrical relationship that local government units (LGUs) had with the national government under the current unitary state.
Jajurie cited Hong Kong’s “asymmetrical relationship” with China as an example.
“Since we’re not under a federal setup, it will have a special status of being a state within a bigger state,” she said in a phone interview. “But this relationship will be defined in the agreement.”
‘Special region’
In the MILF’s draft proposal in January 2010, Section 2 of Article II reads: “The two sides acknowledge that while a substantial section of the people of the southern part of the Philippines continue to share the wish of a majority of the entire Filipino people for a unitary constitutional system, the present wish of a majority of the Bangsamoro people in Mindanao is a territorial unit comprising their ancestral domain … It is understood that the interim jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro State will cover the land base and territorial waters set out in the agreed Schedules (Annex 2, Category A, B and C), the delimitations of which are reframed as constitutional issues.”
The draft was revised this year, but Jajurie said she believed that the essence of this section was retained in the latest draft.
Like a “special region,” the substate is envisioned to have more powers, say to direct its political and economic system, more than a regular LGU, Jajurie said.
“The powers have to be decided. But definitely it will include issues on how the Bangsamoro manages its internal security like an internal force, wealth-sharing between substate and national government in the Bangsamoro territory, access to foreign relations,” she said.
Jajurie said it was up to the government to decide how to go about creating such a substate.
“If it’s a new animal, it’s not an impossible thing to happen,” she said. “From what I understand, it’s going to be a process for changing laws, even reviewing the Constitution.”
‘Subterfuge’
Pimentel, who has advocated federalism since the early 1980s, said a federal system seemed to be more applicable to the MILF’s idea of a substate as well as its aspirations.
He said that under international law, the MILF did not have to resort to “such subterfuge as a substate” when it could enjoy the same status under a federal system.
Citing political treatises, Pimentel said federalism was the “proven way” to accommodate secessionist movements and violent upheavals of minorities.
“All I’m saying is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “Federalism is a recognized way by which groups of people, minorities who feel they’re not given due recognition of their rights and recognition by a unitary state, can attain that sort of freedom to reach their ultimate aspirations, without resorting to violence, under … a state in a federal system.”
However, Pimentel pointed out, a shift to a federal system would require revising the Constitution.
But this will likely be backed by Filipinos because President Aquino has disclaimed any intention to extend his term, Pimentel said.
Oppose, oppose, oppose
Jaafar said those opposed to the MILF proposal should come up with an acceptable alternative.
“If you oppose something, you must have an alternative in place of what you oppose. So let us ask these people what is their alternative solution to the problem of the Bangsamoro people … that will be accepted by the greater majority of the Bangsamoro people,” he said, adding:
“If they cannot present to us anything logical, … then they should cooperate with the Philippine government and the MILF, in the efforts of the MILF and the government to have an agreement for a peaceful solution. Otherwise, if they go on opposing and opposing and opposing, what do they want, war, war, war?”
