Peace is at stake as southern groups see an anti-Muslim bias
JUST as the separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines sputters out, thanks to a tacit understanding between the government and the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a threat to the fragile new peace has sprung up with the much resented anti-terrorist bills.
바카라 웹사이트A ceasefire had been in place since January 1994 following several rounds of talks between the government and MNLF, aimed at implementing the Tripoli Agreement of 1976, brokered by Libya, according to which autonomy would be granted to Muslim minority ethnic groups in Mindanao under the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines.
Fresh controversy has risen, however, with the anti-terrorism bills which are inspired by fears that international terrorists—such as Ramzi Yusuf—might be aided by Muslim militants in Mindanao. Many of these organisations are known to have connections with fundamentalist groups in Pakistan.
바카라 웹사이트Filipino Muslims resent this tendency to identify all Muslims as terrorists. "The Muslim leaders I talked to were unanimous in saying that if this bill were passed, every Muslim would easily get into trouble," says Edd Usman, a reporter with the Manila Bulletin .
The complexity of the situation is heightened since though the Mindanao rebels are Muslims, they are also members of an indigenous ethnic group fighting for the 'restoration of its homeland'. One third of the 68 million Filipinos (eight million of whom are Muslims) inhabit Mindanao and half the country's 87 languages and dialects are spoken here. Though the Muslims of the region feel they are being besieged by Christians who constitute the majority in most areas of Mindanao, the MNLF claims to be fighting for all people of Mindanao, be they Muslim or Christian.
"There's a real problem when you're dealing with Mindanao because it really is several different things," says a diplomat. "Yes, it is a Muslim insurgency. Yes, it is an ethnic insurgency."
바카라 웹사이트Both the government and the MNLF leadership are quick to point out that most contentious issues between them have been resolved. But other issues remain, those pertaining to education, rights to oil and other minerals, and the basis on which the MNLF guerrillas will be incorporated in the national army.
The main quarrel still remains the exact territory which will constitute an autonomous Muslim region. In 1988, the government sponsored a plebiscite in 13 of Mindanao's 24 provinces. The resulting Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) comprised four provinces.
But the MNLF insists it must have all 13provinces, most of which now have Christian majorities. "We do not see any reason why Christians cannot be part of the autonomy," says MNLF negotiator Abraham Iribani. "I don't think Christians should begrudge Muslims living according to their own ethics."
To support his argument, he cites history. Under the Spanish and the US colonial regimes, Mindanao and other southern islands were considered separate political entities. In 1926, a US Congressman introduced a bill that would have officially separated Mindanao from the northern islands. But, goes a saying by MNLF founder Nur Misuari, "Our nation became a colony only on July 4, 1946",the day the Philippines gained independence from the US.
The government insists no concession can be made without a new plebiscite, and critics call the MNLF's territorial demand unrealistic. "They want something that is already economically viable," says Congressman Eduardo Ermita, a member of the government's negotiating team. "But the question is, how can you give something that the locals wouldn't agree to?"
The MNLF, is however, no force to be taken lightly. Founded in March 1968, it is the biggest of the three groups in Mindanao—the others are the rival Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which supports the peace talks but is not participating in them, and terrorist group Abu Sayyaf—which claims to fight for liberation. Hostilities continued through the '70s and Muslims claim that thousands of their people were massacred under the martial law regime instituted in 1972 by President Ferdinand Marcos.
The anti-terrorism bills, if passed, might newly heighten the unrest in the south. But, until then, both sides in the peace talks seem content to leave matters where they stand until further notice.
There is truth, it seems, in one observer's comment: "The manana (tomorrow) attitude has a lot of sense to it sometimes."