Stay the Course, Keep the Peace, Don’t Bite the Bullet!

By PASTOR REU MONTECILLO
Chairperson, Mindanao Peoples Caucus

(A position paper presented during the Public Hearing of the Committee on the National Defense and Security joint with the Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation of the Philippine Senate regarding the Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1281, "Expressing the Sense of the Senate for the Suspension of the Resumption of the Peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front", authored by Sen. Rodolfo G. Biazon, August 28, 2009, Garden Orchid Hotel, Zamboanga City)

PEACEFUL greetings to all of us and buenas dias!

Exactly during this time of the year in 2008, I, together with the council members of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus, was at the Philippine Senate talking to our honorable Senators in a hearing that tackled the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It was a rare opportunity for me and rest of the MPC to be able to share our insights and views with our country’s top brass policymakers as we discussed the merits of the MOA-AD, a piece of paper, which, had it been given the chance, could have opened a peace formula to the historical Bangsamoro problem.

My trip to Manila was cut short-- because I received a text message from my wife, children and volunteers of the Bantay Ceasefire that my hometown in Kauswagan is going to be attacked. I boarded a plane bound to Cagayan de Oro City as I feared for the lives of my family—my wife, my children, and their children. As the plane landed, I prayed for a moment that nothing bad would happen to my loved ones. As the bus cruised towards Iligan City, I overheard a passenger talking to someone in his cellphone: panghawa na mo diha ‘Day kay daghan na kaayo ang mga rebelde" (“you should leave at once because there are so many rebels.) I personally witnessed the incident. I was in Kauswagan on August 18, the very day that the MILF launched their offensive, and it brought back the images of the past. News reports accounted blow by blow what had happened during that day but I will rather delve on my conviction to peace. Despite the gory accounts of fear, of hatred, and of violence, I still subscribe and firmly believe on peaceful non-violent means in addressing the Mindanao problem.
I was born and raised in Kauswagan—the very place where the all out wars in Mindanao began. Being a religious leader did not spare me from being displaced – young and old, Muslims and Christians, men, women and children were not spared by the harshness of war. My family is a generation of bakwits like all the bakwits in Lanao del Norte, Lanao Sur, North Cotabatato, Maguindanao, and Sultan Kudarat, Sulu and Basilan. As I grew to witness the Christian-Muslim animosity in the ‘70s or the infamous Ilaga-Baracuda conflict, I made a personal commitment to sow peace on my land.
This is the reason why I am here today—to share with you my insights on Senate Resolution No. 1281, introduced by the honorable Senator Rodolfo Biazon, that seeks to suspend the peace talks between the government and the MILF as a result of the incident in Basilan.

My organization, the Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus shares the grief of the families and relatives of the slain soldiers in the Tipo-tipo, Basilan encounter last August 12, 2009. We empathize with the families of the 23 fallen soldiers who again had to pay such a high price for this intractable conflict. We also grieve over the death of the MILF rebels during that fateful incident – and with this we are reminded by the SONA Speech of President Arroyo which says that:

"There is nothing more that I would wish for than peace in Mindanao" “Ang tanong ay hindi sino ang mananalo kundi bakit pa ba kailangang maglaban ang kapwa Pilipino tungkol sa mga isyu na alam naman nating lahat na hindi malulutas sa dahas at mareresolba lang sa paraang demokratiko.” This statement could have been a question for Mrs. Arroyo herself as it is for the members of this August body”.

The SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1281 only bolsters the fact that this government clearly lacks a national peace policy as far as the armed conflict in Mindanao is concerned. That is why, for every provocation, every skirmish and for each bomb explosion, this government can easily revert from peace to war mode. It flip-flops from its policy of war and peace – sending mixed and confusing signals at the ground level. And defining this peace policy is incumbent upon the Senate who should set clear guidelines and parameters on the national direction and goals of the peace process itself.

As national policy makers – you can’t afford to be “pikon” for any act of provocation and thereby lose sight of the country’s strategic direction to pursue the peace process.The Basilan incident also reminded us that, indeed, we need to furiously seek the ways of peace in the midst of confusing policies in resolving the Mindanao problem. The relative calm that occurred after the declaration of the suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO) by President Gloria Arroyo last July 23, 2009, hours after the successful State of the Bakwit Address (SOBA) in Cotabato City and Maguindanao, and the reciprocal suspension of military action (SOMA) by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was spoiled by this recent round of hostilities.

Right after this hearing, I will be leading the Bantay Ceasefire investigative mission in Basilan to conduct a thorough investigation on what had actually happened. The incident reminds us of the July 18, 2007 beheading of 14 marine soldiers which is like history repeating itself all too very soon.

I myself, was an Ilaga. In the ‘70s, we all joined the Ilaga in order to protect our community. We fought the Blackshirts like we fought an adversary, a mortal enemy. Our political leaders told us that the only way to claim our rightful stakes in this promised land is to kill the enemies. And the enemies were the Moros. But as my children grew, the horrors of the killings haunted me. And later I realized that we were just used by political interests which eventually sealed their alliance through marriage thereby becoming the most formidable and unbeatable political bloc in Lanao.

It is not by chance that I became a peace advocate; it is because of these incidents, the seemingly unstoppable carnage that opened my eyes to the real cause of the Mindanao problem. My 48 years on this earth have told me one lesson to live by. This conflict cannot be solved by violence. As aptly described by MPC’s co-chair Fr. Bert Layson, "In war, the real enemy is war itself".

The government policy of strong military intervention in Mindanao has been proven—time and again—to be ineffective. No less than Maj. General Benjamin Muhammad Dolorfino, now chief of the Western Mindanao Command, admitted during the International Solidarity Conference on Mindanao last March 17, 2009 that the use of excessive military force in Mindanao will not help in stopping the rebellion in southern Philippines.

“Military forces in even the most advanced democracies are themselves in a process of change. We are witnessing the emergence of a postmodern military that is characterized by six challenges. First, the traditional values of honour and fatherland are increasingly challenged by universal values such as freedom, democracy, and justice. Second, although fighting capacities remain important, other tasks – so-called missions other than war – are gaining relevance. The postmodern soldier is not only a fighter but also a peacekeeper, policeman, diplomat, and social worker.

Third, the example of the 2003 Iraq war and the wider war on terrorism notwithstanding, there is growing pressure for international legitimization of any kind of external intervention. Fourth, the military is increasingly becoming internationalized. Fifth, an ongoing ‘‘revolution in military affairs’’ is changing the way of war fighting and of intervention. Sixth, post- modern soldiers are confronted with a growing privatization of violence and the looming security dilemma this produces.”

The latest incident puts to the test the ‘resiliency measures’ of the SOMO and SOMA. It has been obvious that without a proper ceasefire mechanism in place and the presence of an international monitoring team (IMT) the fragile situation in conflict affected areas remains vulnerable to the uncontrolled and uncoordinated military actions. As a grassroots based, tri-people focused peace organization, and a recognized observer in the GRP-MILF peace talks, the Mindanao Peoples Caucus urge both the Philippine government and the MILF to immediately re-establish the ceasefire mechanisms and reconstitute the International Monitoring Team (IMT) that shall have a guaranteed mandate to investigate and the authority to sanction both parties in cases of proven ceasefire violations.

We call on the government to stay firm in its peace agenda. The primacy of the peace process must be strictly observed and implemented at all times no matter the hindrances. The skirmishes and the war against the Abu Sayyaf must not imperil the momentum of the resumption of the GRP-MILF peace negotiation, which as of this time, is working to enflesh the four talking points agreed during their meeting in Malaysia last July 28-29, 2009. As we support an impartial and independent investigation on the encounter in Basilan last August 12, 2009, we also call on both parties to finally put into details the framework agreement on the establishment of the protection of non-combatants and to elevate the SOMO and SOMA into a fully operational bilateral ceasefire.

The idea of suspending the GRP-MILF peace negotiations because of the Basilan incident—at this very crucial time—is uncalled for. As we have said, a reactionary military intervention and an upsurge in military adventurism in Mindanao will not help in de-escalating the conflict but would rather jeopardize the interim agreements so far reached both by the government and the MILF. It is high time for the government to show its sincerity in finding a politically- negotiated peace agreement with the Muslim rebel group.

Recent reports showed that the continuing armed clashes had already displaced about 600,000 persons in central Mindanao. The Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center said the Philippines posted the world’s highest number of displaced persons (IDP) due to the armed conflict last year, even surpassing troubled countries in Africa.

In Datu Piang, Maguindanao alone, a total of 6,228 families or 31,000 individuals are yet to return to their places of original -- suffering the indignity and dependency of relief aid; almost half of the documented 94 civilian deaths there were children.

The official statement of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division through its spokesman Col. Jonathan Ponce describing the internally displaced persons or bakwits as “reserve enemy force” endangers the lives of the innocent civilians. The “reserve enemy force” labelling, the human rights violations as cited in the latest Amnesty International Report, the humanitarian crisis of half a million displaced Filipinos, the indiscriminate mortar shellings and bombings in the Moro communities, the burning of civilian communities – should they not also merit the benefit of a public hearing by the Honorable members of this Committee?

I believe the Senate should also investigate all these attacks against civilians in order stop the impunity. It is also important for the government to assert that it is still the civilian government that is calling the shots and not the military in the conflict areas.

Therefore, I would like to pose these questions:

To begin with, do we have in mind a coherent peace policy?

Does the Senate as an institution already have a policy on how best to address the root cause of the armed conflict in Mindanao?

To paraphrase the question of the BUC in the Konsult Mindanao consultations – How much can we sacrifice, what are willing to give up for the cause of peace?

If we are indeed committed to maintain the integrity of this republic – how much concession can we give in order to accommodate the legitimate grievance of the Bangsamoro people over their ancestral domain?

These are strategic questions that any right thinking national policymaker should by now have ready answers and formula.

I therefore call on the government to allow the peace process to go on and for the MILF to participate in an impartial, independent investigation on the alleged involvement of their troops in the Basilan encounter. We must preserve the gains of the peace process and vigorously work together to find the peace that we have been longing for so long.

Let us not bite the bullet. Let us not allow ourselves to be dragged to the extremists ways that groups life the Abu Sayyaf wants us to take.

The Senate needs to demonstrate its very strong unwavering commitment to peaceful non-violent action and that policy must be loud and unequivocal despite provocation and sporadic skirmishes between and among trigger happy people. As leaders of the country, the Senate must define what should be our national policy as far as the armed conflict in Mindanao is concerned. It cannot be tentative and dependent on the exigency of the times or what can be a good media sound bite.

As retired general and a veteran of the war in Mindanao, Senator Biazon should know better than anyone of you here in the Senate -- that the military approach can never resolve the armed conflict in Mindanao. The colonizers, superpowers at that--have tried it and failed. Marcos tried it but failed. Erap has tried it but failed.

We simply cannot allow the suspension of the peace talks with the MILF. What we need is a suspension of provocative statements, actions and biases that spoil Mindanao peace process. What we need is a consistent national peace agenda that will not waver and can withstand the pressures of some politicians who are now contemplating of filing contempt charges against the GRP peace panel. And definitely, we need a Philippine Senate that mirrors the aspirations of our people, especially us Mindanawons who have suffered and are suffering the effects of war. We don’t need another war, we don’t deserve another all-out war. Enough is enough! Nunca mas!

I pray to God that He will guide us in these trying times as we seek His Spirit in touching the hearts of the modern, well-placed and well-paid huramentados.

In ending, let me quote this message from Archbishop Orlando Quevedo in his open letter to the government and the MILF read during the State of the Bakwit Address (SOBA) at the Notre Dame University gymnasium in Cotabato City:“For the sake of our evacuees and in the name of our one God of Peace, end your war! Go back to the negotiating table. Let the thousands of evacuees return safely to their home. Collaborate with one another towards this objective. Together, rehabilitate their destroyed properties. Give them another chance for a truly human life.”

Para conaton taqui ara na hearing, prigunta lang yo este mga simple priguntada:

Hasta quando ba kita sera el diaton mga ojos na deberasan problema del Mindanao?

Hasta quando ba kita vive na un mundo que el diaton mga visinos ta trata kita como diaton tambien?

Amor con amor sin paga ba el diaton prinsipyo? Pabor abla conmigo.

Muchas gracias y era el paz—el deberasan paz-- taqui contodo na diaton corazon.