Pact with ‘Bangsamoro’ boon or bane?
By Butch del Castillo / Omerta
‘HUH?”
That was all I could say in disbelief when first I heard Malacañang’s excited announcement that a so-called framework agreement on the Bangsamoro had been reached in Kuala Lumpur between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF. The announcement said the pact was the “breakthrough” that both sides had long sought toward finally attaining long-lasting peace in strife-torn Mindanao.
The news was jubilantly met by the majority of Muslims in Mindanao. But the reaction of the people in the rest of the country was far more subdued, mainly because they had yet to be told of the terms of the agreement.
In fact, the spontaneous rejoicing on the part of our Muslim brothers only made non-Muslim Filipinos suspicious. There was a palpable sense of apprehension that the government may have conceded too much to the other side. If not, what could have made them so jubilantly happy?
The earth-shaking news rocked Mindanao. It came like a bolt from the blue. Most people weren’t even aware there were peace talks going on and being hosted by Malaysia.
As far as I was concerned, however, something didn’t add up. Even before I could read the agreement, I immediately saw something, a fundamental flaw, that made me reject the “historic” document.
That fundamental flaw, as far as I am concerned, is the acceptance and use of the term “Bangsamoro”—which, as defined in the agreement, would be an “autonomous nation-state” under the control of the MILF. Immediately I saw the incongruity of a bangsa within a bansa, or a nation within a nation.
It’s just like a play within a play. Each one has a different tale to tell. For crying out loud, what’s so objectionable about the generic term “Muslim Mindanao”?
On the day Malacañang made the official announcement on the framework agreement, the DWIZ noontime program Business is our Business interviewed the acting governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Mujiv Sabbihi Hataman, party-list representative of Anak Mindanao.
Hataman said the Bangsamoro would be a political entity, which would replace the ARMM by virtue of an executive order following the signing of the framework agreement.
He said there would be formed a transitional commission that would draft a basic law for the creation of the Bangsamoro. This draft law would then be submitted to Congress to pass with minimal or no changes.
When I pointed out that the use of Bangsamoro meant that it has not, after all, totally abandoned its separatist aspirations, Hataman tried to play it down with this explanation:
“Bangsamoro naman ’yan, eh. Parang ano lang ’yan… political entity in lieu of ARMM. Pangalan lang ’yan noong ano…hindi na ARMM kundi Bangsamoro na ang pangalan nya. [It’s just a name in lieu of ARMM.]”
I insisted that problems could arise in the future precisely because of that name. He said he foresaw no problems because before the new political entity is put in place, it would have to undergo a whole process from drafting of the basic law, enactment by Congress and ratification by the people (of Muslim Mindanao). This is what Hataman told the DWIZ: “Tingin ko, hindi ho. Baka magkaroon lang ng mis-appreciation lang d’yan. Kasi hindi ko makita ang problema. Unang-una, dahil idadaan pa ito sa proseso. Ang pag draft ng basic law, idadaan sa Kongreso at ira-ratify ng mamamayan.”
My point is if it is, indeed, just a name, why stick to the “Bangsamoro” label, which—apart from reminding us of Muslim Mindanao’s separatist ambitions, also evokes images of separate armed and police forces.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson hit the nail on the head when he asked whether the Bangsamoro would have a separate police force accountable only to the new political entity.
The other question is a basic one—will the new political entity, as a nation within a nation, have a flag of its own? Will its people pledge allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and consider themselves Filipinos forever? What about territorial accessibility by the country’s armed forces in case of a breakdown in law and order?
This new arrangement has led PDI columnist Rigoberto Tiglao to express fear that instead of a legacy of lasting peace, P-Noy’s pact with the MILF would be his “curse” on the nation.
The whole agreement, I’m afraid, is so lopsidedly in favor of the MILF.
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