Mindanao peace still possible, says Angara

MANILA, Philippines—Lasting peace in Mindanao remains possible despite the Mamasapano massacre, according to former Sen. Edgardo J. Angara.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Angara called the deaths of 44 elite police commandos in a clash with Moro rebels in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao province, on Jan. 25 “a terrible tragedy” that posed a huge setback to the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He said, however, that “[w]ith patience and political will, we can still forge the fair, just and enduring peace that everyone deserves.”

Now retired from public office after four terms in the Senate and executive positions under President Joseph Estrada, Angara pointed to the peace agreement that he was able to negotiate with communist rebels in Negros province when he was agriculture secretary.

“That agreement continues to hold,” Angara said. “It’s the longest-lasting agreement the Philippine government has achieved with insurgents.”

The details of the negotiations will appear in a forthcoming biography, “Edgardo J. Angara: In the Grand Manner,” written by Jose Dalisay and published by the University of the Philippines Press.

To be launched in April, the biography tells how Angara, as agriculture secretary, tried to initiate a rehabilitation plan for Camp Abubakar, in consultation with the MILF leadership, as a preparatory step toward peace negotiations.

“It would have been a historic breakthrough,” Angara said, “but it was opposed by the military, and ultimately dropped by President Estrada.”

Despite the Mamasapano debacle, Angara said he remained hopeful that the peace agreement signed between the government and the MILF would bear fruit, but cautioned that balance must be achieved between the rights and interests of the Bangsamoro and the state.

“From what I’ve read, the Bangsamoro law is good in that it allows for greater and more substantial autonomy, in that there will be more resources with which the Bangsamoro can realize their development. But to me the problem of the Bangsamoro law is not so much that it will give the Muslims autonomy, but that more work needs to be done to assure the Christian community that their interests will also be respected,” Angara said.