Peace panel head warns of a ‘very bloody’ war

By: Nikko Dizon - 10 years ago

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

A war born out of a radical movement, should the peace process fail, is likely to be a “very, very bloody” one, government chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said Monday.

Ferrer was asked by reporters during a press conference to expound on the warning issued by President Benigno Aquino III that the failure of the peace process could mean more “body bags.”

Mr. Aquino issued the warning during a speech on the first anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and after a police mission to capture three terrorists ended in a bloodbath because of the government’s failure to coordinate the law enforcement operation with the MILF as required by a ceasefire agreement.

READ: Aquino says PH stands to lose more if BBL not passed

Ferrer said the peace agreement would remain in effect even after the Aquino administration, and only the timeline had been affected by the Jan. 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province.

But she cautioned that while the MILF leadership has vowed to “stay the course of peace” even after the Aquino administration, “the problem would be if [the leadership] would have a hold on all its members.”

Violent groups

And the disillusioned members could go the path of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the Middle East, Jemaah Islamiyah or al-Qaida-type groups “that [use] different modes of organizations and violence.”

“That is the direction we are all afraid of,” Ferrer said.

“It is a real threat, that kind of radicalization toward the [IS-like] groups,” she said. “It is a religion-based ideology that would be more intractable, or more difficult and very, very bloody if you go through the history of religious wars,” she said.

Ferrer said the junking of a Moro homeland deal in August 2008 by the Supreme Court led to the MILF losing some of its commanders.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was “born out of that disappointment,” Ferrer said.

She said the new pursuits of such breakaway groups were unlike that of the MILF or the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) where the “agenda before was [for the] recognition of their unique identity within the Philippine context” and therefore was autonomous.