Editorial: Deal won’t solve Moro problem

THIS was the headline of a tabloid newspaper quoting Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Murad Ebrahim.

Every Mindanawon who has even an iota of concern for Mindanao peace, knows that as a fact. Moreso because this early, we are seeing the way mainstream media is reacting… as bomb explosions are immediately linked to the framework agreement when bomb explosions and kidnappings for that matter do become common fare in an election year. No one out there is making that equation. Just the framework.

Even the news story itself only lifts Ebrahim’s short statement, not giving due credence to the whole context of the conflict, the neglect, the historical wounds, and the utter disregard for legitimate claims, instead what is highlighted are the failures in the past.

Yes, the framework agreement for the Bangsamoro will not solve the Bangsamoro problem, but it is a right step toward establishing peace and inculcating what peaceful dialogues can mean for a people who are often at war.

It will help if the nurturing of peace and the spreading of a culture of peace is helped along the way by journalists and reporters alike, especially those in the national capital who have a rabid attraction to guns and gunbattles.

The “deal won’t solve Moro problem,” yes, because at the bottom of the Moro problem is really a people’s consciousness; first and foremost, the Moro people’s consciousness and how they were shaped by the history of unrest and abuse; second, by us, the people who work alongside with them and all the people in Mindanao; and third, by those who only wants to drum up conflicts.