Aquino must step down now for us to make the first step toward real
peace. That would give meaning to the sacrifice of the Fallen 44.
All of the “peace pacts” signed since 2012 with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, especially that requiring the enactment of the Bangsamoro
Basic Law (BBL) were made solely by President Aquino and a handful of his
people.
The hastiness of the pacts’ signing reflected ulterior motives. Aquino
lusted for a Nobel Peace Prize.
His
adviser on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Teresita Deles, had made
the signing of a peace pact with the Islamic insurgents, whatever it was, her
career’s goal. And she, with negotiator Miriam Coronel, could have conceivably
joined Aquino in getting the Nobel. Law academic Marivic Leonen made his legal
imprimatur on the peace pacts his pole vault into the Supreme Court, and the
quicker it was inked, the faster he could get to be the youngest justice of the
High Court.
Not even
Aquino’s Cabinet was consulted on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro
and on the BBL. Not the National Security Council, not the Liberal Party, not
Congress even if — or because — it was under his thumb. Not the MNLF with which
the Republic had signed an agreement binding under international law; not even
the governor of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao and its legislative
assembly, which has been the nation’s attempt at peace with Muslims in
Mindanao.
These
pacts were signed at the peak of Aquino’s popularity, and when he was confident
that with his billions of pesos in pork barrel and disbursement-acceleration
plan funds, Congress would acquiesce to it. Nations would even cheer for it –
after all, what country in the world would say that it was against this “peace”
deal. Our rich neighbor, Malaysia, which provided crucial financial support,
refuge and military training for the MNLF and the MILF in order to counter our
Sabah claim, certainly cheered him on.
The BBL
bill, the entire peace pacts are Aquino’s and his small clique’s promises to
the MILF, not the Filipino nation. His mandate to serve six years as head of
government did not give him the right to dismember the Republic, or to push it
to a path that could last forever. He gave to the MILF something –the integrity
of the RepublIc–that was not his to give. When he steps out of power, and maybe
even lands in history’s dustbin, he can take his BBL with him.
The
gullible, the simpleton, a few dumb entertainment-world has-beens, the MILF and
its sympathizers, are saying: Choose, the BBL or war. It is a false choice.
The real
choice now is on the one hand, embracing Aquino’s pact with the MILF that would
dismember the Republic and lead to more wars in the future, and on the other,
embarking on a new road to real peace.
The path
to real peace can only start with the ouster of Aquino. As long as he is in
power, the MILF will claim that this President promised to give them their own
nation-state, that he must keep his promises.
Only with
Aquino gone can the nation claim that this arrogant President didn’t consult its
representatives, whether we wanted the dismemberment of the Republic or not. We
have to begin again.
How do we
begin, after Aquino is gone?
First,
the new President has to tell the MILF: “Sorry, Aquino rushed his peace pacts
with you in his foolish fantasy of being a Nobel laureate and promised the moon
and the stars to you, which we cannot give.”
“We’re
truly sorry that Muslims and other national minorities were oppressed through
the centuries. But we don’t have a time machine to undo that, just as the US
can’t undo the injustice done to the 566 Native American tribes by setting up a
51st State of Native Americans. Australia can’t create an Aboriginal
Nation-State for the aborigines the English colonizers nearly exterminated.”
The new
President has to tell the MILF: “Sorry but the agreements that set up the
Republic – the 1897 Biak-na-Bato Constitution, the 1899 Malolos Constitution,
the 1935 Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, and the 1987 Constitution – all
rejected the notions of a Moro nation, Ilokano nation, Visayas nation, even a
Cordillera nation.“
These all
envisioned a single Filipino nation, with one territory, one government, one
armed force. The territories in Mindanao you call Bangsamoro are not yours;
they belong to the Philippine Republic.
Second, a
“Council of State” should be organized, representing our elders. I would
suggest all past living presidents, Senate presidents, House speakers and
Supreme Court justices. To recognize the role of the incumbent Congress, there
could be more representatives from the two chambers to join the Council.
It is
this council that would undertake an in-depth study of the Muslim problem –
they might even discover that the concept of a “Bangsamoro” is a myth – and
reach a consensus on how to address the Muslim problem and what kind of peace
agreement to offer the MILF.
It would
be the Council of State’s representatives who would negotiate a political
settlement with the MILF. If such a settlement isn’t acceptable to the MILF,
and we have to choose between going to war to preserve the Republic, or agree
to give up a territory to the Muslims, at least we would be doing so as a
result of a national consensus, not because of the ideas of a small clique.
In the
meantime, a ceasefire agreement with the MILF would have to be signed, but in
such a manner that it would not allow – as they have done in the past 14 years
– to expand their forces and modernize their armaments.
To wait
for Aquino to step down in 2016, or a year and a half before we can start this
process, is a long, long time. We have to start now.
Aquino
must step down now for us to make the first step toward real peace. That would
give meaning to the sacrifice of the Fallen 44.
FB: Rigoberto Tiglao
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