ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—A proposal by Moro guerrillas to form a sub-state to end decades of a separatist rebellion in Mindanao is sending jitters to non-Moro leaders who see it as a duplicate of a previous proposal that was junked by the Supreme Court for being unconstitutional.
Leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is currently negotiating a peace agreement with the government, said non-Moros appeared to be convinced that the proposed sub-state would be detrimental to them.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said the feelings of non-Moros were made known when the MILF went around to consult people in Mindanao on its proposal for a peace deal.
Some people who attended the MILF presentation, Iqbal said, were even asking “shallow questions” that didn’t deserve answers and were apparently thrown simply to irritate MILF leaders.
“It is worth condemning but we didn’t yield to these efforts,” said Iqbal.
Iqbal said while some are accusing the rebel group of twisting historical facts, they considered the outcome of the consultations encouraging.
But businessman Pedro Rufo Soliven, head of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc., said the MILF draft peace agreement was no different from the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MoA-AD), which the Supreme Court junked for being unconstitutional.
Soliven said it was “something to be scared about.”
Claretian Missionary Fr. Angel Calvo, head of Peace Advocates Zamboanga, said the peace process should be given a chance to work by those opposing it.
“The peace process in Mindanao has taken so long,” he said, adding that MILF efforts to reach out to non-Moros were laudable.
Soliven, however, said the MILF was not consulting people but “simply relaying information.”
Iqbal said the consultations were important because it offered people the chance to air their views on the peace process.
“Dividing lines are becoming clearer, but still we urge everyone to take a stand, speak up, otherwise we will not settle anything,” he said.
In a similar consultation in Pagadian City on Wednesday, the MILF also tried to appease Subanen fear of losing their ancestral domain if the agreement as drafted by MILF was adopted.
Earlier, Subanen leader Barahama Amil asked the MILF to exclude Subanen communities from areas to be defined as Moro homeland.
Prof. Abhoud Syed Lingga, a member of the MILF peace panel, said Moros would respect individual and group rights over titled lands. Julie Alipala and Ryan Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao