The peace negotiators of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) held a one-day question-and-answer session in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur Thursday, March 4.
After the traditional opening remarks from the Parties especially by Datuk Othman bin Abdurazak, the Malaysian country facilitator, the two Parties remained poles apart in their positions contained in their respective draft on the comprehensive compact, which embodies the negotiated political solution to the centuries-old Moro question in Mindanao. The government stuck to its reformist approach of resolving this problem through executive orders, legislative measures, and the promise to undertake constitutional changes, while the MILF consistently argued for a negotiated settlement with the Parties, which, after signing the compact, will entail the reconfiguration of the totality of relationships between Filipinos and Moros necessitating processes or measures in compliance with their commitments or obligations.
The session, however, focused mainly on the MILF new draft designed to be signed as interim agreement to preserve the gains of the peace process, among other matters, and from which the next Filipino administration will pick up and continue the peace process.
By way of a PowerPoint presentation, the MILF explained its new 7-page draft, which is an extract from its 38-page draft on comprehensive compact presented to the GRP Peace Panel, copy furnished to all members of the International Contact Group (ICG) during the 17th GRP-MILF Exploratory Talks last January 27-28, 2010. After the presentation, the GRP Peace Panel was asked by the facilitator to ask questions, which they did starting from around 10:00am and continued to the afternoon. Subsequently, members of the ICG also asked questions after the facilitator relaxed the rules in view of the ICG status as observer during meetings of the Parties. It has become a norm that the ICG could also ask for special session with the Parties jointly or separately, as what they did in previous meetings.
“We were practically grilled for day-long,” said one MILF peace panel member, who did want to be identified.
After the meeting, GRP Peace Panel chairman Ambassador Rafael Seguis, along with Secretary Nasser Pangandamen, was overheard to have said: “Now we understand the MILF view or perspective.”
The GRP peace delegation was headed by Ambassador Seguis, and accompanied by Sec. Nasser Pangandaman, Dr. Ronald Adamat, Atty. Mariano Sarmiento, Atty. James Kho, Ryan Mark Sullivan, Zoilo Velasco, and Jennie Laruan. The MILF five-man delegation is as follows: Mohagher Iqbal, Chairman; Atty. Michael Mastura; Maulana Alonto; Antonio Kinoc; and Jun Mantawil.
Members of the ICG both representing states and international non-government organizations (INGOs) are as follows: Ambassador Boyd McCleary and Christopher Wright, United Kingdom; Hitoshi Ozawa and Kei Ischikawa, and Naoki Hikota of Japan; Yasin Temizkan of Turkey; David Gorman of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue; Dr. Steven Rood and Herizal Hazri of the Asia Foundation; and Sudibyo Markus and Rudi Sukandar of Muhammadiyah of Indonesia. Absent from the ICG–INGOs were representatives from the London-based Conciliation Resources.
Friday, March 5, 2010
GRP insists on the ‘inside the box’ approach
(Speech of Mohagher Iqbal, Chairman of the MILF Peace Panel, during the Question-and-Answer Session in Kuala Lumpur on March 3, 2010)
Thirty four days ago today, we were here in Kuala Lumpur for a two-day 17th GRP-MILF Exploratory Talks. We exchanged drafts on the comprehensive compact on the first day, on January 27, but on the second day the Parties had never met directly for reason all of us know. The lesson learned here is that the peace negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), like all similar negotiations, has rules of engagement to follow and agreed agenda to discuss and pursue through to the end.
Right at the start of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks in 1997, we have agreed that the agenda of the peace talks is how to solve the “Bangsamoro Problem”. This problem involves a variety of social, cultural, economic and political issues and concerns. Therefore, the task of the Parties in the negotiation, on the basis of that agreement, is “to find a political and lasting solution to this problem … with the end in view of establishing a system of life and governance suitable and acceptable to the Bangsamoro people.” The Tripoli Agreement on Peace on June 22, 2001 entrenched this further by providing that the negotiation and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsamoro, free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and open new formulas that permanently respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people for freedom. If we have that almost impasse of the peace talks last January 28, it is because the GRP has offered to the MILF in its draft comprehensive compact the “old formula” contained in the Republic Act 6734, as amended by 9054, that established the so-called autonomy in Muslim Mindanao. Truth is that the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has never been the product of negotiation but a unilateral action of government through legislations or acts of the Philippine Congress. The So-called “enhanced autonomy” as coined by the government is nothing new; it has been offered to the MILF at least three times --- and each time the offer was made the MILF rejected it outright. The first offer was made in May 2000, the second in February 2003, and the third last January 27, 2010. The government also offered federal state to the MILF in April 2005 with the central government having exclusive powers over national defense, foreign relations, coinage and currency, and postal services, but the MILF rejected it simply because the government was not in a position to give it to us.
Let me remind you, Excellencies, the essence of that draft of the GRP has already been contained in existing laws and policies or programs of government like strengthening of the Islamic banking, the Shariah justice system, madaris system, etc. Why do we have to negotiate for something which is already given; and stated more seriously, why do we have to accept something that had already caused the marginalization of the MNLF and the irrelevance of its leaders --- who up to now are waiting for the GRP to comply with the spirit and letter of the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement on September 2, 1996?
If the peace talks is passing through a turbulent zone today --- and on the verge of signing nothing until President Arroyo’s exit on June 30, this year -- it is because the GRP is not very truthful to what is agreed by the Parties at the start of their engagement; i.e., for the MILF not to raise the issue of independence and the GRP the issue of constitution and territorial integrity. Up to now, the MILF has not breached this commitment, and we have declared time and again that the MILF will no longer pursue independence as solution to the Bangsamoro problem in favor of an asymmetrical arrangement of a “state-and-substate” arrangement. An offer of bogus autonomy is no solution at all --- and the MILF will never accept, knowing fully well that our people and the generations yet to come will suffer forever. It appeared crystal clear that the GRP has not changed its “inside the box” approach as far as its reference to its Constitution is concerned, when other states, which also have constitutions, like Sudan, Ireland, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and even Canada, have already succeeded to resolve conflicts in their borders to the satisfaction of the parties. They used their constitutions as vehicles --- and not as obstacles --- to solve their conflicts. As far as the MILF is concerned, the Philippine Constitution is a contested issue. We view this constitution as an instrument of perpetuation of the ruler-and-ruled relationship between the majority Filipinos and minoritized Moros. We have never been part of the decision-making since we were annexed as part of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946. Our part of Mindanao has continued to shrink and shrink, while our natural wealth is being carted away by outsiders without a share of the profit for our people.
In our joint statement on July 29, 2009, the Parties agreed to acknowledge the MOA-AD as an unsigned and yet initialed document and they also committed to reframe the consensus points with the end in view of moving towards the comprehensive compact to bring about a negotiated political settlement. The MILF indeed reframed the consensus points in both its 38-page draft on comprehensive compact and the 7-page paper on the Interim Governance Arrangement, while the GRP is so scared even to mention the word MOA-AD in its draft. Why is this so, after agreeing to that MOA-AD reframing?
I want to prolong this remark but there is time constraint. We have more important task to do this one-day session. But before I end my remark, I want to state here that if some of my statements are blunt and direct, it is not my intention to hurt the feelings of people especially my honorable counterparts from the government headed by Ambassador Rafael Seguis. It is my way of bringing my message as clearly as possible.
Thank you and wassalamu alaikum w. w.
Thirty four days ago today, we were here in Kuala Lumpur for a two-day 17th GRP-MILF Exploratory Talks. We exchanged drafts on the comprehensive compact on the first day, on January 27, but on the second day the Parties had never met directly for reason all of us know. The lesson learned here is that the peace negotiation between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), like all similar negotiations, has rules of engagement to follow and agreed agenda to discuss and pursue through to the end.
Right at the start of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks in 1997, we have agreed that the agenda of the peace talks is how to solve the “Bangsamoro Problem”. This problem involves a variety of social, cultural, economic and political issues and concerns. Therefore, the task of the Parties in the negotiation, on the basis of that agreement, is “to find a political and lasting solution to this problem … with the end in view of establishing a system of life and governance suitable and acceptable to the Bangsamoro people.” The Tripoli Agreement on Peace on June 22, 2001 entrenched this further by providing that the negotiation and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsamoro, free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and open new formulas that permanently respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people for freedom. If we have that almost impasse of the peace talks last January 28, it is because the GRP has offered to the MILF in its draft comprehensive compact the “old formula” contained in the Republic Act 6734, as amended by 9054, that established the so-called autonomy in Muslim Mindanao. Truth is that the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has never been the product of negotiation but a unilateral action of government through legislations or acts of the Philippine Congress. The So-called “enhanced autonomy” as coined by the government is nothing new; it has been offered to the MILF at least three times --- and each time the offer was made the MILF rejected it outright. The first offer was made in May 2000, the second in February 2003, and the third last January 27, 2010. The government also offered federal state to the MILF in April 2005 with the central government having exclusive powers over national defense, foreign relations, coinage and currency, and postal services, but the MILF rejected it simply because the government was not in a position to give it to us.
Let me remind you, Excellencies, the essence of that draft of the GRP has already been contained in existing laws and policies or programs of government like strengthening of the Islamic banking, the Shariah justice system, madaris system, etc. Why do we have to negotiate for something which is already given; and stated more seriously, why do we have to accept something that had already caused the marginalization of the MNLF and the irrelevance of its leaders --- who up to now are waiting for the GRP to comply with the spirit and letter of the GRP-MNLF Final Agreement on September 2, 1996?
If the peace talks is passing through a turbulent zone today --- and on the verge of signing nothing until President Arroyo’s exit on June 30, this year -- it is because the GRP is not very truthful to what is agreed by the Parties at the start of their engagement; i.e., for the MILF not to raise the issue of independence and the GRP the issue of constitution and territorial integrity. Up to now, the MILF has not breached this commitment, and we have declared time and again that the MILF will no longer pursue independence as solution to the Bangsamoro problem in favor of an asymmetrical arrangement of a “state-and-substate” arrangement. An offer of bogus autonomy is no solution at all --- and the MILF will never accept, knowing fully well that our people and the generations yet to come will suffer forever. It appeared crystal clear that the GRP has not changed its “inside the box” approach as far as its reference to its Constitution is concerned, when other states, which also have constitutions, like Sudan, Ireland, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and even Canada, have already succeeded to resolve conflicts in their borders to the satisfaction of the parties. They used their constitutions as vehicles --- and not as obstacles --- to solve their conflicts. As far as the MILF is concerned, the Philippine Constitution is a contested issue. We view this constitution as an instrument of perpetuation of the ruler-and-ruled relationship between the majority Filipinos and minoritized Moros. We have never been part of the decision-making since we were annexed as part of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946. Our part of Mindanao has continued to shrink and shrink, while our natural wealth is being carted away by outsiders without a share of the profit for our people.
In our joint statement on July 29, 2009, the Parties agreed to acknowledge the MOA-AD as an unsigned and yet initialed document and they also committed to reframe the consensus points with the end in view of moving towards the comprehensive compact to bring about a negotiated political settlement. The MILF indeed reframed the consensus points in both its 38-page draft on comprehensive compact and the 7-page paper on the Interim Governance Arrangement, while the GRP is so scared even to mention the word MOA-AD in its draft. Why is this so, after agreeing to that MOA-AD reframing?
I want to prolong this remark but there is time constraint. We have more important task to do this one-day session. But before I end my remark, I want to state here that if some of my statements are blunt and direct, it is not my intention to hurt the feelings of people especially my honorable counterparts from the government headed by Ambassador Rafael Seguis. It is my way of bringing my message as clearly as possible.
Thank you and wassalamu alaikum w. w.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Advocates convene for HR Forum
Human rights advocates from across the country convened today for a public forum at the University of the Philippines in Diliman to explore perspectives on human rights and the international humanitarian law.
The forum on Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity discussed the emerging issues surrounding the law's implementation.
The forum also explored perspectives from Mindanao where the Maguindanao massacre took place and where civilian women were killed along with lawyers and journalists, and then buried in shallow graves. The massacre catapulted the Philippines as the world's most dangerous country for journalists.
Two speakers from Mindanao who shared their perspectives are Amina Rasul, lead Convenor of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) and Ruby Rose Lora from the Initiatives for International Dialogue, an advocacy and solidarity institution promoting peace, conflict prevention, democratization and the right to self-determination in Southeast Asia.
“The International Humanitarian Law has a positive implication to the on-going peace process in Mindanao. This law will protect civilians especially in Mindanao where war and armed conflicts have resulted to grave human rights violations,” Lora said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross will also have a session clarifying its role in the implementation of the law. The academe and civil societies such as the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, Initiatives for International Dialogue and the International Committee of the Red Cross has been supporting government authorities in their efforts to promote the international humanitarian law. (IID)
The forum on Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity discussed the emerging issues surrounding the law's implementation.
The forum also explored perspectives from Mindanao where the Maguindanao massacre took place and where civilian women were killed along with lawyers and journalists, and then buried in shallow graves. The massacre catapulted the Philippines as the world's most dangerous country for journalists.
Two speakers from Mindanao who shared their perspectives are Amina Rasul, lead Convenor of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) and Ruby Rose Lora from the Initiatives for International Dialogue, an advocacy and solidarity institution promoting peace, conflict prevention, democratization and the right to self-determination in Southeast Asia.
“The International Humanitarian Law has a positive implication to the on-going peace process in Mindanao. This law will protect civilians especially in Mindanao where war and armed conflicts have resulted to grave human rights violations,” Lora said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross will also have a session clarifying its role in the implementation of the law. The academe and civil societies such as the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy, Initiatives for International Dialogue and the International Committee of the Red Cross has been supporting government authorities in their efforts to promote the international humanitarian law. (IID)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Mindanao peace group, poll watchdog to hold forum with presidentiables
By Rick R. Flores
DAVAO CITY – Peace votes from Mindanao are crucial in winning the 2010 national elections. And these votes may well account to more than 600,000, a huge number of internally displaced persons, who are keeping their collective support for a candidate who can provide a clear political platform in ending the conflict in Mindanao.
This is the gist of the Mindanao Leaders Forum with the May 2010 Presidential and Senatorial Candidates slated on March 16, 2010 to be held in this city, in time with the celebration of the 73rd Araw ng Dabaw.
Organized by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) and the Citizen’s Coalition on ARMM Electoral Reform (C-CARE), the event will bring in multi-sectoral groups, especially the bakwits (internally displaced persons) from Maguindanao and Lanao, face to face with the standard bearers of ten official political parties competing in the first-ever automated polls in the country.
Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, MPC secretary general, said the “goal of the discussion is to present the Peace Platform of the Mindanao stakeholders to the presidential candidates and elicit from each one of them his or her policy directions and programs on how Mindanaoans will be able to achieve genuine peace and development.”
“We would also be interested on how they view the situation of the IDPs, who until now, are camped in evacuation centers in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte,” Arnado said.
C-CARE chairperson Salic Ibrahim added that there will be 200 people’s organizations from all over Mindanao who will attend the forum together with 500 leaders from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and neighboring towns and provinces which are directly and indirectly affected by the armed conflict.
“This event is intended to provide a venue where leaders of civil society , peace networks, representatives of IDPs, humanitarian workers, indigenous and Bangsamoro communities, women and youth will be able to listen to the platforms for peace and development in Mindanao given the longstanding armed conflict that besieged the island for over four decades now,” Ibrahim said.
Arnado added that the participants would be interested to listen to a presidentiable’ s views on critical issues that have direct impact on the day to day survival of communities in conflict areas, war and displacement, ancestral domain, environment, mining and the peace process.
C-CARE is a poll watchdog accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) specifically in monitoring the elections in ARMM. It has been instrumental in opening formal mechanisms for people’s participation in ensuring fair and clean elections in the region.
MPC, on the other hand, is a broad movement of grassroots organizations which pioneered the Bantay Ceasefire, an independent ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the GRP-MILF talks. It recently joined the expanded International Monitoring Team (IMT) under the Civilian Protection Component (CPC).
Among those invited are Sen. Benigno Aquino II (LP), Sen. Manuel Villar (NP), Gilberto Teodoro, (Lakas), Eduardo Villanueva (BP), Richard Gordon (Bayan-VNP), Joseph Estrada (PMP), Nicanor Perlas (Ind.), and Jamby Madrigal (Ind.).
DAVAO CITY – Peace votes from Mindanao are crucial in winning the 2010 national elections. And these votes may well account to more than 600,000, a huge number of internally displaced persons, who are keeping their collective support for a candidate who can provide a clear political platform in ending the conflict in Mindanao.
This is the gist of the Mindanao Leaders Forum with the May 2010 Presidential and Senatorial Candidates slated on March 16, 2010 to be held in this city, in time with the celebration of the 73rd Araw ng Dabaw.
Organized by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) and the Citizen’s Coalition on ARMM Electoral Reform (C-CARE), the event will bring in multi-sectoral groups, especially the bakwits (internally displaced persons) from Maguindanao and Lanao, face to face with the standard bearers of ten official political parties competing in the first-ever automated polls in the country.
Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, MPC secretary general, said the “goal of the discussion is to present the Peace Platform of the Mindanao stakeholders to the presidential candidates and elicit from each one of them his or her policy directions and programs on how Mindanaoans will be able to achieve genuine peace and development.”
“We would also be interested on how they view the situation of the IDPs, who until now, are camped in evacuation centers in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte,” Arnado said.
C-CARE chairperson Salic Ibrahim added that there will be 200 people’s organizations from all over Mindanao who will attend the forum together with 500 leaders from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and neighboring towns and provinces which are directly and indirectly affected by the armed conflict.
“This event is intended to provide a venue where leaders of civil society , peace networks, representatives of IDPs, humanitarian workers, indigenous and Bangsamoro communities, women and youth will be able to listen to the platforms for peace and development in Mindanao given the longstanding armed conflict that besieged the island for over four decades now,” Ibrahim said.
Arnado added that the participants would be interested to listen to a presidentiable’ s views on critical issues that have direct impact on the day to day survival of communities in conflict areas, war and displacement, ancestral domain, environment, mining and the peace process.
C-CARE is a poll watchdog accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) specifically in monitoring the elections in ARMM. It has been instrumental in opening formal mechanisms for people’s participation in ensuring fair and clean elections in the region.
MPC, on the other hand, is a broad movement of grassroots organizations which pioneered the Bantay Ceasefire, an independent ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the GRP-MILF talks. It recently joined the expanded International Monitoring Team (IMT) under the Civilian Protection Component (CPC).
Among those invited are Sen. Benigno Aquino II (LP), Sen. Manuel Villar (NP), Gilberto Teodoro, (Lakas), Eduardo Villanueva (BP), Richard Gordon (Bayan-VNP), Joseph Estrada (PMP), Nicanor Perlas (Ind.), and Jamby Madrigal (Ind.).
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
TAF holds ‘Forum on Sustaining a Peace Process: Lessons from Peace Processes in Hard Times’
By The Asia Foundation
The prospect of forging a final peace agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) within the current Arroyo administration is getting slimmer as the national May 2010 presidential elections draw nearer. Talks have resumed but only after a tumultuous 18 months that almost shattered every single gain that the peace process managed to build. Time is not on the side of the Peace Panels as they face the challenge of forging something concrete and actionable. The idea of an interim agreement has been floated to reflect the need to transition the talks safely from the current to the next administration.
In this critical period for the GRP-MILF Peace Talks, The Asia Foundation is organizing a public forum entitled “Sustaining a Peace Process: Lessons from Peace Processes in Hard Times on February 24, 2010 Wednesday, 3:00-5:00 Pm at the Pacific Heights Hotel in Cotabato City.”
In partnership with the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies (http://www.morostudies.com/) headed by Professor Abhoud S. Lingga, the Forum will have as its resource persons the Deputy Country Representatives of The Asia Foundation in Nepal, Mr. Sagar Prasai (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/sagar-prasai); and in Afghanistan, Mr. Zoran Milovic (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/zoran-milovic).
Mr. Prasai and Mr. Milovic are in the country for an internal Asia Foundation training but have agreed with the Philippine office to share their time in bringing the experience of these two places down to Mindanao. Both country offices of the Foundation in Nepal and Afghanistan have been helping the governments of both countries to roll out some post-conflict mechanisms and facilitate democratic institutions.
The Forum on February 24 in Cotabato City is consistent with The Asia Foundation’s commitment to regularly provide opportunities for Asian dialog and learning. Back in 2008, also a critical year for the GRP-MILF Peace Process, and exactly 3 days before the supposed signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA AD) in Kuala Lumpur, The Asia Foundation also collaborated with the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies to conduct a Forum on the Aceh and the Mindanao peace processes in Cotabato City (http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2008/07/30/event-in-cotabato-city-forum-on-aceh-and-mindanao-peace-process/).
Mr. Ky Johnson (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/ky-d-johnson), the Deputy Country Representative for the Philippines will also join as a resource person in the Forum.
Mr. Tom Parks (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/thomas-parks), the Foundation’s Director for Conflict and Governance who is based in Bangkok, Thailand also agreed to provide his regional perspective on peace processes.
The forum is open to everybody interested.
RSVP: Windel Diangcalan, Asst. Program Officer, windel@asiafound.org or mobile: 0928.711.9404
The prospect of forging a final peace agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) within the current Arroyo administration is getting slimmer as the national May 2010 presidential elections draw nearer. Talks have resumed but only after a tumultuous 18 months that almost shattered every single gain that the peace process managed to build. Time is not on the side of the Peace Panels as they face the challenge of forging something concrete and actionable. The idea of an interim agreement has been floated to reflect the need to transition the talks safely from the current to the next administration.
In this critical period for the GRP-MILF Peace Talks, The Asia Foundation is organizing a public forum entitled “Sustaining a Peace Process: Lessons from Peace Processes in Hard Times on February 24, 2010 Wednesday, 3:00-5:00 Pm at the Pacific Heights Hotel in Cotabato City.”
In partnership with the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies (http://www.morostudies.com/) headed by Professor Abhoud S. Lingga, the Forum will have as its resource persons the Deputy Country Representatives of The Asia Foundation in Nepal, Mr. Sagar Prasai (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/sagar-prasai); and in Afghanistan, Mr. Zoran Milovic (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/zoran-milovic).
Mr. Prasai and Mr. Milovic are in the country for an internal Asia Foundation training but have agreed with the Philippine office to share their time in bringing the experience of these two places down to Mindanao. Both country offices of the Foundation in Nepal and Afghanistan have been helping the governments of both countries to roll out some post-conflict mechanisms and facilitate democratic institutions.
The Forum on February 24 in Cotabato City is consistent with The Asia Foundation’s commitment to regularly provide opportunities for Asian dialog and learning. Back in 2008, also a critical year for the GRP-MILF Peace Process, and exactly 3 days before the supposed signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA AD) in Kuala Lumpur, The Asia Foundation also collaborated with the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies to conduct a Forum on the Aceh and the Mindanao peace processes in Cotabato City (http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2008/07/30/event-in-cotabato-city-forum-on-aceh-and-mindanao-peace-process/).
Mr. Ky Johnson (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/ky-d-johnson), the Deputy Country Representative for the Philippines will also join as a resource person in the Forum.
Mr. Tom Parks (http://www.asiafoundation.org/about/profile/thomas-parks), the Foundation’s Director for Conflict and Governance who is based in Bangkok, Thailand also agreed to provide his regional perspective on peace processes.
The forum is open to everybody interested.
RSVP: Windel Diangcalan, Asst. Program Officer, windel@asiafound.org or mobile: 0928.711.9404
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Investigate the Killing of Edwin Bandila, We Pray
By: TAHER G. SOLAIMAN
CARMEN, NORTH COTABATO – “Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, cultivated one hectare and harvested 35 cavans . . . With Mal-Mar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin!”
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, thus, in her 2008 State of the Nation Address that she delivered on July 28, 2008, cited the case of Edwin Bandila as an example of how farmers benefited from the Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project (Mal-Mar) in the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao.
Yes, Edwin came from his farm in Barangay Ugalingan and was on his way home to downtown Carmen aboard his motorcycle with his wife when he was shot to death by a lone gunman near the Carmen municipal cemetery at 5:30 p.m. last February 11.
Edwin, together with his wife, Dolores, just passed by – and were, in fact, barely a hundred meters away from – a checkpoint jointly manned by elements of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army, when the assailant shot him with a .45 caliber pistol hitting him fatally on his shoulder and chest. He was declared dead on arrival at the Kabacan Medical Specialist Hospital in the neighboring Kabacan town.
The gunman fled toward the rubber plantation along the national highway.
Dolores, a teacher-in-charge of the Kibayao Elementary School in the nearby Barangay Kibayao, also in Carmen town, was unharmed.
Until his death, Edwin was the president of the Maridagao River Irrigation System Irrigators Association (Division 6), Inc. based in Barangay Ugalingan.
While the police and the military authorities claimed that “elements of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion and members of the Carmen PNP pursued the assailant along his supposed exit route but they failed to establish contact,” the relatives of the victim maintain that same authorities could have done better considering the proximity of the crime scene to the police and army checkpoint.
Besides, Camp Lucero, the base of the Philippine Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, is just about 500 meters west of the place where the crime was committed.
Sadly, certain unscrupulous politicians in the province of North Cotabato use the killing of Edwin in attacking their political opponents without the benefit of having conducted first a thorough investigation.
In the interest of fairness and justice, we call on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate thoroughly the killing of Edwin and prosecute whoever will be found responsible for the dastardly act.
Likewise, we call on those who try to use the killing of Edwin to bolster their own political ambitions to refrain from doing so, lest they can inflict uncalled-for harm to his bereaved family. These politicians should rather help the family attain justice speedily.
CARMEN, NORTH COTABATO – “Edwin Bandila, 48 years old, of Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, cultivated one hectare and harvested 35 cavans . . . With Mal-Mar, now he cultivates five hectares and produces 97 cavans per hectare. Mabuhay, Edwin!”
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, thus, in her 2008 State of the Nation Address that she delivered on July 28, 2008, cited the case of Edwin Bandila as an example of how farmers benefited from the Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project (Mal-Mar) in the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao.
Yes, Edwin came from his farm in Barangay Ugalingan and was on his way home to downtown Carmen aboard his motorcycle with his wife when he was shot to death by a lone gunman near the Carmen municipal cemetery at 5:30 p.m. last February 11.
Edwin, together with his wife, Dolores, just passed by – and were, in fact, barely a hundred meters away from – a checkpoint jointly manned by elements of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army, when the assailant shot him with a .45 caliber pistol hitting him fatally on his shoulder and chest. He was declared dead on arrival at the Kabacan Medical Specialist Hospital in the neighboring Kabacan town.
The gunman fled toward the rubber plantation along the national highway.
Dolores, a teacher-in-charge of the Kibayao Elementary School in the nearby Barangay Kibayao, also in Carmen town, was unharmed.
Until his death, Edwin was the president of the Maridagao River Irrigation System Irrigators Association (Division 6), Inc. based in Barangay Ugalingan.
While the police and the military authorities claimed that “elements of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion and members of the Carmen PNP pursued the assailant along his supposed exit route but they failed to establish contact,” the relatives of the victim maintain that same authorities could have done better considering the proximity of the crime scene to the police and army checkpoint.
Besides, Camp Lucero, the base of the Philippine Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, is just about 500 meters west of the place where the crime was committed.
Sadly, certain unscrupulous politicians in the province of North Cotabato use the killing of Edwin in attacking their political opponents without the benefit of having conducted first a thorough investigation.
In the interest of fairness and justice, we call on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate thoroughly the killing of Edwin and prosecute whoever will be found responsible for the dastardly act.
Likewise, we call on those who try to use the killing of Edwin to bolster their own political ambitions to refrain from doing so, lest they can inflict uncalled-for harm to his bereaved family. These politicians should rather help the family attain justice speedily.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
NATURE’S AND MAN’S WRATH: A Similitude or Sharp Contrast
By: Mike G. Kulat
A short recollection of events will tell us of a man’s unleashed fury in Maguindanao province and its peripheries started in August 7, 2008 when now presidential aspirant and National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno issued the “Ultimatum” for the surrender of alleged three “rogue” MILF commanders.
A day after the ultimatum, the two Secretaries ordered full military operations which they called “surgical operations” in around eleven municipalities of Maguindanao. The operation utilizing full might of the military such as artillery weapons, war tanks, war planes, Helicopter gunships and ground forces went on relentlessly for about a year-long period without distinction to combatants and non-combatants.
In a nutshell, the last accumulated report of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) showed that more than 703, 000 individuals of the mostly Moro populace were displaced or internally displaced persons (IDPs) and experienced a year-long untold miseries. The armed conflict too inflicted lost of lives from either sickness, caught in cross-fires and for various causes to more than 500 civilian lives. It also left more than 3,000 houses razed to the ground and damages to billions of crops, properties and infrastructures in war-torn areas. In brief, this was once hastily described by Under-Secretary and now GRP Panel Chair Rafael Seguis as “deplorable” condition of IDPs in Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Or “the biggest new displacement in the world” said the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in its April 2009 report launched May 1 in New York.
In all this undignified condition of civilians, we can only obviously recollect the leading role of the World Food Program (WFP), International Committee of the Red-Cross (ICRC) and the Community and Family Service International (CFSI) who are among the humanitarian bodies that able to sustain in assisting the IDPs from the war start until this days. Of course there are some government agencies and local humanitarian groups who also maximized their resources and efforts in helping appease the awful condition of the IDPs but then they did only as much, maybe due to limited resources too.
In contrast or resemblance, we saw nature unleashed its own rage and fury spearheaded by typhoons Secretary “Ondoy” and Secretary “Peping”. We similarly saw fears and devastation to the lives of the people of Metro Manila and surrounding areas. The latest figure released by media is that the affected individuals by the two typhoons are more than 3,000,000. It also inflicts a roughly estimated more than 300 individual lives and undetermined number of sick, missing and many sufferings from various causes. We believed this will still increase when validations of casualties and damages to lives and properties will come to a closure.
We witness heartbreaking cases of people being carried by raging flood-currents on top of their houses by water hyacinths as well as sudden destruction of billions of properties and crops in many provinces and cities of Luzon. We may never end in telling stories of nature’s rage and its effect to the lives of mankind. All of the above have been done in a matter of week.
In retrospect, although there are some resemblances in the two catastrophes, it can be proven that man’s wrath cannot equal the nature’s wrath. Man was able to sustain evacuation of a little less than a million for a year-long (August 7 -9, 2008 – July 2009) military ‘surgical operation’ in Maguindanao areas. On the other hand, nature’s fury (Ondoy and Peping) able to displaced more than 3,000,000 at the span of one week (September 27 – October 4, 2009).
In contrast, we appreciate and envy the Filipino people for their humanitarian efforts, volunteerism, and patriotic deeds and solidarity in an endeavor to help their fellow humans who are sufferings. A glaring sample of this heroic act, is one TV station foundation was able to generate around 47 - 50 Million pesos donations in a matter of less than 24 hour period. And from then on we witnessed and hear the outpouring of donations both from individual, groups or companies aside from the full force of the government in appeasing the condition of the victims.
These are scenarios never been seen or heard during the year-long sufferings of Moro IDPs in Maguindanao province. In humanitarian perspectives, is there any distinction or disparity between Filipino as human being or a Moro as human being, too? If then why there is discrimination in treatment in a comparable situation?
A short recollection of events will tell us of a man’s unleashed fury in Maguindanao province and its peripheries started in August 7, 2008 when now presidential aspirant and National Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno issued the “Ultimatum” for the surrender of alleged three “rogue” MILF commanders.
A day after the ultimatum, the two Secretaries ordered full military operations which they called “surgical operations” in around eleven municipalities of Maguindanao. The operation utilizing full might of the military such as artillery weapons, war tanks, war planes, Helicopter gunships and ground forces went on relentlessly for about a year-long period without distinction to combatants and non-combatants.
In a nutshell, the last accumulated report of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) showed that more than 703, 000 individuals of the mostly Moro populace were displaced or internally displaced persons (IDPs) and experienced a year-long untold miseries. The armed conflict too inflicted lost of lives from either sickness, caught in cross-fires and for various causes to more than 500 civilian lives. It also left more than 3,000 houses razed to the ground and damages to billions of crops, properties and infrastructures in war-torn areas. In brief, this was once hastily described by Under-Secretary and now GRP Panel Chair Rafael Seguis as “deplorable” condition of IDPs in Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Or “the biggest new displacement in the world” said the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in its April 2009 report launched May 1 in New York.
In all this undignified condition of civilians, we can only obviously recollect the leading role of the World Food Program (WFP), International Committee of the Red-Cross (ICRC) and the Community and Family Service International (CFSI) who are among the humanitarian bodies that able to sustain in assisting the IDPs from the war start until this days. Of course there are some government agencies and local humanitarian groups who also maximized their resources and efforts in helping appease the awful condition of the IDPs but then they did only as much, maybe due to limited resources too.
In contrast or resemblance, we saw nature unleashed its own rage and fury spearheaded by typhoons Secretary “Ondoy” and Secretary “Peping”. We similarly saw fears and devastation to the lives of the people of Metro Manila and surrounding areas. The latest figure released by media is that the affected individuals by the two typhoons are more than 3,000,000. It also inflicts a roughly estimated more than 300 individual lives and undetermined number of sick, missing and many sufferings from various causes. We believed this will still increase when validations of casualties and damages to lives and properties will come to a closure.
We witness heartbreaking cases of people being carried by raging flood-currents on top of their houses by water hyacinths as well as sudden destruction of billions of properties and crops in many provinces and cities of Luzon. We may never end in telling stories of nature’s rage and its effect to the lives of mankind. All of the above have been done in a matter of week.
In retrospect, although there are some resemblances in the two catastrophes, it can be proven that man’s wrath cannot equal the nature’s wrath. Man was able to sustain evacuation of a little less than a million for a year-long (August 7 -9, 2008 – July 2009) military ‘surgical operation’ in Maguindanao areas. On the other hand, nature’s fury (Ondoy and Peping) able to displaced more than 3,000,000 at the span of one week (September 27 – October 4, 2009).
In contrast, we appreciate and envy the Filipino people for their humanitarian efforts, volunteerism, and patriotic deeds and solidarity in an endeavor to help their fellow humans who are sufferings. A glaring sample of this heroic act, is one TV station foundation was able to generate around 47 - 50 Million pesos donations in a matter of less than 24 hour period. And from then on we witnessed and hear the outpouring of donations both from individual, groups or companies aside from the full force of the government in appeasing the condition of the victims.
These are scenarios never been seen or heard during the year-long sufferings of Moro IDPs in Maguindanao province. In humanitarian perspectives, is there any distinction or disparity between Filipino as human being or a Moro as human being, too? If then why there is discrimination in treatment in a comparable situation?
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