DAVAO CITY -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) cautioned bishops and ulamas tapped by the Arroyo administration to help in the peace process to stay neutral.

"We trust your integrity, knowledge, and moral ascendancy in guiding men and women for their better spiritual life on earth. But please preserve this clout, credibility and trust of the people in you," MILF committee on information deputy chair Khaled Musa said in a statement.

What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers

Musa aired his appeal to Catholic bishops, Protestant bishops and pastors, as well as Muslim ulamas who are being tapped by the administration to conduct dialogues and consultations with "communities" to end the insurgency.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo requested the Bishop-Ulama Conference (BUC) to spearhead a civil society initiative to come up with a framework for lasting peace in Mindanao.

Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla and other leaders of the BUC have accepted the President's request for the Conference to oversee a "deep consultative process" on ending the decades-old Mindanao conflict.

The President wants to "hear the views of stakeholders in the private sector, the local government units (LGUs), and all those who will be affected one way or the other in what may become a framework for peace and development not only for Mindanao but the whole country as well."

Musa said though the MILF wanted all sectors of society, including the religious to involve themselves in real peace-making, "they should stay non-partisan."

"They should support the peace process and should strengthen what the parties to the conflict have already agreed," he said.

He said it is futile for these religious personalities to involve themselves in the present peace policy approach of government, saying these "dialogues and consultations" are mere tools to delay the real peace process.

"The government will not follow the findings and recommendations there from, because it has already that predetermined results in mind," Musa said.

He enumerated the factors that will compromise the integrity of these religious personalities even if they have the sincere intention to help resolve the conflict in Mindanao, to wit:

1. Peace efforts that draw instructions from the government;

2. Receiving or asking money from the government;

3. Using government facilities in these undertaking;

4. Getting funding from government for their conferences especially if these are held in Manila; and

5. Going with known government officials related to their peace agencies.

The MILF questioned the government's decision in using religious personalities in conflict resolution, saying the armed conflict in Mindanao is not about clash of religions but clearly the offshoots of "greed, hatred and mistrust" for the Bangsamoro people.

Musa said the involvement of ulamas, viewed as a religious sector, is a misdirected effort and alien to Islam.

"There is no clergy in Islam as understood in Christianity; everybody is under obligation to promote Islam. Strictly speaking, Islam is not a religion but an ideology with belief in one Supreme Being as the main part of its teachings. The various systems, political, economic, educational, etc. are drawn and guided from that uncompromising belief in one true Almighty, as contained in the Holy Qur'an. Ulamas (plural of aleem) are those who studied and acquired degrees in Islamic Laws and Jurisprudence especially from universities in the Middle East," Musa explained.

The government and the MILF peace panels were poised to sign a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) leading to the setting up of a proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE). Bangsamoro literally means "Moro nation."

But the signing of the accord was aborted after the Supreme Court granted the petition of opponents of the MOA for a temporary restraining order. (BOT of Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)

For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod.

(November 12, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.