Mindanao officials: Just what is gov’t promising MILF?

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Local officials in Mindanao want to know exactly what the government peace panel is promising the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with regard to its demand for a Bangsamoro substate.

Zamboanga City 1st district Representative Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the government peace panel should “respect the territorial integrity of the local government units, whose constituents had voted during the last two plebiscites.”

Salazar also urged the government panel to conduct the negotiations “within the (ambit of the) Constitution” and to be transparent about it.

She recalled that when she asked government chief negotiator Marvic Leonen for a copy of the government proposal, she was told that it was “confidential.”

“I didn’t pursue it because I respected (the panel’s) request for confidentiality. But I would like to remind them to take into consideration the interests of the people, the voices of the people, and the Constitution in negotiating with the MILF,” Salazar, who said she had a copy of the MILF proposed substate, asserted.

“Now since the MILF has defined their version of what a substate is, we also want to know from the Philippine panel what’s the government’s version of a substate,” she said.

Peace and not appeasement

Salazar was supported by Zamboanga City 2nd district Representative Erico Basilio Fabian.

“Everything that is being discussed with the MILF must be within the framework of the Constitution,” Fabian said.

Senator Gregorio Honasan said during a visit here Friday that it was important to know the substance of the MILF-proposed substate before critics reject it.

“We have to make conclusions on the basis of complete information, since details have not been shared with us, and we hope they are forthcoming. I would advise against passing judgment immediately,” Honasan said.

But he agreed that what was needed was “peace and not appeasement.”

“What we do not want is to set a dangerous precedent that will entail social, political and economic costs,” Honasan said.

He said the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

In Cotabato City, a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said it had no issue with the government if it grants the MILF’s proposal for a substate that would include areas already defined in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement.

The agreement, signed by the Marcos government with the MNLF, identified the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato and Palawan and the cities therein as part of the Moro autonomous region.

Same aspirations

Said Cotabato City Vice Mayor Muslim Sema: “If the area is ARMM alone, it is an absurdity for the MILF to negotiate for the same area already covered by the 1996 Final Peace Agreement.”

He said that, in fact, the MNLF shared the same aspirations as the MILF—the betterment of the Bangsamoro.

Sema said the shared aspiration was the driving force behind efforts to reunify the two Moro factions.

But for MNLF leader Nur Misuari, the word substate was “like a multi-bladed thing” that could mean independence.

“I have this impression that they are creating a quasi-independent state that can easily be transformed into an independent state based on the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain or MOA-AD,” Misuari said.

He said it was sad that while the MOA-AD had been rejected by the Supreme Court, “some key leaders—those who were in Tokyo—showed clearly that their hearts and souls were still focused on an MOA-AD and my impression is that the government is committed to give them the MOA-AD.”

Zamboanga del Norte Governor Rolando Yebes said his support for the proposed substate would be at hand “as long as they don’t ask for total independence from the Republic of the Philippines and they follow our Constitution.”

ARMM should be maintained

In Sarangani, Governor Miguel Dominguez said the ARMM should be maintained as a vehicle to advance the development of the Moro region.

He said the ARMM should not be blamed for the state of the Moro people because “the people who have led the ARMM have failed its people.”

In Kidapawan City, former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol said he was not against the peace negotiations between the government and the MILF because this would end the decades-old conflict in the southern Philippines.

But he said that a substate should not be allowed because it would become a precedent for other sectors to ask the government for their own territory.

In Koronadal City, South Cotabato Representative Daisy Avance-Fuentes questioned the demand of the MILF for a substate, wondering how this would be different from the ARMM.

“I am not opposing any negotiation. I want clarification. Like, what’s the difference between the MILF’s substate from the present autonomous region? If there’s abuse of authority, where’s the hand of government there? In the case of weapons, what’s the safeguard? On the issue of loans … if leaders in the substate can’t pay, what will happen?” Fuentes said.

For other Mindanao officials, a Moro substate appeared to be synonymous with an Islamic state, which they oppose.

Digos City Mayor Joseph Peñas said “as long as it will be confined to areas known to be dominated by our brother Muslims I will support that.” Julie Alipala, Edwin Fernandez, Aquiles Zonio, Jeoffrey Maitem, Eldie Aguirre, Nash Maulana and Williamor Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao