‘Even vigilantes consulted
on MILF framework deal’

A leader of the local Ilaga in North Cotabato fires his rifle from the hip during hostilities between armed civilian militia and the MILF in 2008

THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT consulted a wide range of sectors, including local politicians, former Supreme Court Justices, and even armed Christian vigilante groups like the Ilagas, before agreeing to sign the Framework Agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In separate interviews, government negotiators detailed their efforts to reach out and consult as many groups as possible to make sure that any agreement with the MILF would be acceptable, or at least not be rejected outright by the public.

The precursor to the Framework Agreement, the 2008 Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) encountered strong opposition from politicians and their constituents in 2008. Critics insisted that there was little consultation with communities that were to be included in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. The MOA-AD would later be struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

This time, government peace panel head Marvic Leonen said the negotiators made sure that they reached out to all the stakeholders, especially to the local officials and citizens in the areas that would be affected by the agreement. As well, the negotiators also held a series of meetings with some of the most strident critics of the MOA-AD on the national level, including Senator Franklin Drilon and now Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

In addition, Leonen said the peace panel also talked to several retired Supreme Court Justices just to make sure that the Framework Agreement does not run afoul of the Constitution. This, Leonen said, is the reason the peace panel is confident that the Framework Agreement could withstand scrutiny by the Supreme Court. The panel also consulted several Cabinet members to ensure that any commitments made in the Framework Agreement would have the support of the line agencies.

Leonen said this is the reason why the Framework Agreement signed with the MILF last October 15 has not generated any significant opposition from any quarter, unlike the MOA-AD of 2008 where affected residents angrily staged demonstrations to protest their inclusion in the agreement.

Peace panel member Miriam Coronel Ferrer said that Leonen had even met with leaders of vigilante groups like the Christian Ilagas, who had regrouped in 2008 following the outbreak of violence that followed the rejection of the MOA-AD. The Ilagas are a group of civilian militia that had become infamous during the Moro rebellion in the seventies because of their brutal tactics.

Ferrer said the meeting between Leonen and the vigilantes was facilitated by some local politicians in the region who were known to be supporters of these groups.

“Ang mga vigilante diyan, nakausap rin yan,” Ferrer said. “Maraming times pumunta si Marvic sa kanila, facilitated by some of their leaders, to talk to them, to explain to them (the Framework Agreement.)”

(We have even talked to the vigilantes. Marvic went to meet them several times. The meetings were facilitated by some of their leaders. This is in order to talk to them, to explain to them the agreement.)

Ferrer said it was important to reach out to these groups if only to show that government was willing to listen to all sides, and to explain the peace process.

“Ang dami kasing pwedeng ma-misinterpret,” Ferrer said.

(There are just so many things that can be misinterpreted.)

Former North Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Pinol confirmed the meeting between Leonen and leaders of the Ilaga movement in a Davao hotel months before the announcement that government had reached a deal with the MILF. Pinol said he was present during the meeting between Leonen and “people identified with the Ilaga.”

“Their views were listened to (by Leonen,)” Pinol said of the meeting.

However, Pinol said that the discussions between Leonen and the Ilaga were “very general” in nature, and the Ilagas raised concerns that were closest to their hearts. These were “safety, stability, and property,” Pinol said.

Pinol added that while they appreciated the fact that the chairman of the government peace panel took the time to meet and discuss the positions taken by both the government and the MILF with the stakeholders, they wished that the government peace panel had returned for further consultations prior to the signing of the Framework Agreement last October 15.

This, Pinol said, because it was only now that the details of the Framework Agreement are filtering down to the grassroots level, and some residents are only now expressing concerns over the details of the agreement.

The concerns that are now emerging focus on three issues, Pinol said.

• Territory – Pinol said residents in North Cotabato are concerned that the Framework Agreement provided for the inclusion of 39 barangays in the province in the Bangsamoro entity, since these barangays are “non-contiguous.” There are also some concerns being raised over a provision that allows a local government unit to opt for inclusion in the Bangsamoro with ten percent of the population petitioning for inclusion. This, Pinol claims, could result in “instability.”
• Sharia Jurisdiction – There is need to clarify the scope and jurisdiction of Sharia or Islamic Law in the Bangsamoro territory, especially when placed side by side with the civil laws of the Republic. The MILF has said that Sharia or Islamic Law will only cover Muslims, and not non-Muslims.
• Land Ownership – Pinol claims that residents were concerned over the acknowledgement by the Framework Agreement of “the legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people arising from any unjust dispossession of their territorial and proprietary rights.” The Framework Agreement states that “whenever restoration is no longer possible, the Central Government and the Government of the Bangsamoro shall take effective measures for adequate reparation collectively beneficial to the Bangsamoro people.”

“This has caused some concerns on those who have properties in the proposed Bangsamoro area,” Pinol said. “Sino ang magsesettle ng disputes?”

Pinol however said that despite the concerns now being raised about the Framework Agreement, “this is still a better deal than the MOA-AD.” Pinol was one of those who questioned the constitutionality of the MOA-AD before the Supreme Court in 2008. The agreement was aborted after the Supreme Court ruled that the Executive had exceeded its authority in entering into a deal with the rebels that virtually guaranteed an amendment of the Constitution.

“Ngayon, may consultations, and very transparent. We have received assurances from the government. I know that it was very hard work on the part of the negotiating panel. considering the difficulty of getting the MILF to agree. In the end, you cannot please everybody.”

“You have to understand, sa level ng mga concerns ng mga tao, hindi konokover ang mga lofty issues like constitutionality,” Pinol said. “Ang concerns are security, safety, stability, and property.”

(You have to understand, the concerns of the people do not cover lofty issues such as constitutionality. The concerns are security, safety, stability, and property.)

Ferrer for her part said that the MILF had shown remarkable patience and flexibility by listening to the voices of other stakeholders in the region. As a result, the MILF agreed to work with the present provinces included in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as the core territory of the Bangsamoro, with some other towns and barangays that had voted for inclusion in the ARMM in the 2001 plebiscite.

“Yung MILF, nakinig naman sila sa boses ng iba,” Ferrer said. “They went back to the principles espoused by their late chairman, Salamat Hashim, that it is not the size that matters, but it is the kind of good governance that you can institute in a place.”

(The MILF listened to the voices of other people. They went back to the principles espoused by their late chairman, Salamat Hashim, that it is not the size that matters, but it is the kind of good governance that you can institute in a place.)

Ferrer said that in opting to drop the traditional claim by Moro rebels over 13 provinces and 9 cities in Mindanao, the MILF had taken a huge gamble. “They did a lot of explaining to their people,” she said.

“Look at Nur Misuari – he asked for 13 provinces, hindi rin nya nakuha, and it created hostility instead,” Ferrer said. The Moro National Liberation Front had always negotiated based on the claim over 13 provinces that were historically dominated by the Moros in Mindanao. In the end, the ARMM only covers the provinces of Lanao Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.