Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA
OZAMIZ CITY, Philippines—For those skeptical of the peace process, the pseudonymous Mohagher Iqbal is equated with deception, dishonesty and trickery on the part of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which concluded a political settlement with the government after 17 years of negotiations.
To his comrades and colleagues in the MILF, he is simply “IQ or Sir IQ.” The use of this nickname to refer to Iqbal soon gained currency among journalists, civil society groups and international development organizations.
But for those who know him, the nom de guerre Mohagher Iqbal stands for a mild-mannered, softhearted and straightforward individual who has dedicated more than 40 years of his life to the struggle for self-determination of the Muslim people of Mindanao.
The preface to his 2007 book (writing under the name Salah Jubair), “The Long Road to Peace,” is revealing of the character of this now controversial man: “In the course of reading this book, readers may find some statements or passages offensive, but let me assure you I never intended to hurt people. I merely wrote what I think should be written for people to know, to agree or disagree with.”
Longest-serving negotiator
Iqbal has chaired the MILF’s peace negotiating panel since July 2003, having been a member in previous years. As such, he has had the longest involvement in the peace negotiations, in both government and MILF panels.
“Be tough on issues, be soft on people,” is the principle that has guided him throughout the negotiations, Iqbal once told the Inquirer.
He is one of the main signatories of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), along with government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. He has affixed his name to the major documents that embody the consensus of the parties in the negotiations, which form the core of the CAB, which in turn was the main reference used to draft the proposed charter of a new autonomous entity to be called the Bangsamoro.
This is what lawmakers find so troubling, that the MILF’s main negotiator and signatory to the peace agreement was using an alias, raising legal questions about the documents he signed and calling into doubt the sincerity and good faith of the rebel group.
In fact, nobody knew who he really was as Iqbal has declined to disclose his real name, saying that it was known to the Department of Foreign Affairs which issued him a passport.
Commitment matters
“What matters is not so much the name but the commitment of the parties to honor the agreements,” a high-ranking MILF member said when asked about the issue of Iqbal’s true identity.
During the resumption of the House investigation of the Mamasapano massacre on Wednesday, Ferrer said it was clear to them that Iqbal represented the MILF, which in turn, will be bound by the terms of the agreements.
In the same hearing, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that legally, the CAB is not rendered invalid even if the MILF official who signed was using a nom de guerre.
Several netizens have criticized legislators for making a big fuss about the issue. In her blog, journalist Raissa Robles pointed to the case of Manila Mayor and deposed President Joseph Estrada whose real name is Jose Marcelo Ejercito, and his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who is Jose Pimentel Ejercito Jr. in real life.
The name Joseph Estrada was synonymous with the title president of the Philippines from June 30, 1998, until his ouster on Jan. 20, 2001.
It is the same name that referred to the person accused of high crimes, impeached by the House of Representatives in 2000 and convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan in 2007.
The peace transition that the CAB set into motion swept Iqbal into important roles in bodies and mechanisms that will help to define the postconflict landscape in Mindanao.
He heads the 15-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission which drafted the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. The body was created by President Aquino in December 2012.
Iqbal chairs the advisory committee of the Facility for Advisory Support for Transition Capacities program which is a joint undertaking of the United Nations and the World Bank. The program makes available to the government and the MILF the necessary expertise in rolling out measures related to the transition process.
Iqbal also chairs the oversight bodies of the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute (BLMI) and the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA).
The BLMI is set up to train future leaders and managers who will oversee development initiatives in a future Bangsamoro region, while the BDA is the MILF’s development arm that rolls out projects to rehabilitate war-torn communities.
With the help of the World Bank, the BDA has formulated the Bangsamoro Development Plan that spells out a strategic direction for the delivery and upgrading of basic services in Bangsamoro communities during and beyond the period of transition.
Intellectual influences
The man known as Iqbal comes from Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao province, a town to the south of Cotabato City. He went to Manuel L. Quezon University where he finished bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science.
Upon his return to Mindanao in August 1972, Iqbal went straight to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the main Muslim insurgency. When the MNLF split up in 1977, he joined the faction of then MNLF vice chair Salamat Hashim who formed the so-called MNLF New Leadership that would be formalized into the MILF in 1984.
According to Maguindanao lawmaker Michael Mastura, as a young revolutionary, Iqbal admired the works of Muslim thinkers Muhammad Iqbal and Abul Ala Maududi.
Muhammad Iqbal was a philosopher, poet and politician in British India who worked for the creation of a Muslim state in the northwest part of the subcontinent in the 1930s. Maududi was an early 20th century journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher in British India and later in Pakistan.
The writings of the two men shaped Iqbal’s ideological outlook, said Mastura, who also served on the MILF peace panel.
Passion for the cause
Iqbal’s passion for the Moro cause is displayed in his books, “Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny,” which traces the history and basis of the Moro struggle for self-determination, and “The Long Road to Peace,” which chronicles the developments in the Mindanao peace process.
In coming up with the first book, Mastura characterized Iqbal as an “eyewitness historian who is an active participant to the march of events…”
Sociologist Randy David has also hailed Iqbal for having “passionately argued” through his book the Moro people’s case for “developing its own identity” and “expressing its distinctness through its own institutions.”
Man enough
In 2009, after the yearlong war that ensued over the botched memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain during the Arroyo administration, Iqbal, as the MILF information chief, presided over the difficult task of the group’s owning up to ceasefire violations.
“We are man enough to acknowledge that we started the fighting in Lanao del Norte. We have violated the ceasefire especially in Lanao del Norte,” Iqbal declared.
While remaining steadfast with the Moro cause, the soft-spoken warrior, having seen and experienced firsthand decades of war, underscores the importance of achieving peace the soonest.
“History has shown that war cannot resolve this conflict. Neither can we defeat the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Iqbal said.
Asked what kind of relations with the rest of the country he would want the Bangsamoro to have, Iqbal said: “We would never think of getting a divorce [from the Philippine state]. Just live and let live.”
The 2011 edition of “The Long Road to Peace” contains this dedication: In memory of my departed wife, Hja Rasmia Baganian-Abas.
In the bibliography of the book “Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny” is listed the master’s thesis “The Muslim Secession Movement in the Philippines.”
It is authored by Datucan M. Abas, the name that, so some reports say, pertains to Mohagher Iqbal.
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