Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Mayor welcomes SC order on territorial deal By Cong Corrales
MAYOR Constantino Jaraula joined Tuesday a group of politicians opposing the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Jaraula thanked the Supreme Court (SC) for issuing a TRO that stopped the signing of the MOA-AD last Tuesday.
It could have ended the 40-years of conflict that left 120,000 people dead, two million of internal refugees and kept Mindanao, the most resource-rich region of the country dirt poor, he added.
"Primarily, there was really no proper and official consultations with the LGUs that would be affected by the agreement," Jaraula said.
Jaraula blamed the composition of the government-negotiating panel whose members are not from Mindanao.
"Wala sila'y paki kung unsay socio, economic and political consequences sa ilang mga negotiations," he said.
The government-negotiating panel has Professor Rudy Rodil of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, as its chief consultant and two other undersecretaries whose roots came from Cotabato province.
The government peace panel Chair Rodolfo Garcia is well-respected among the religious and peace advocates in Southern Mindanao, having been the chief of the government Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) trying to settle skirmishes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MILF for four years prior to his appointment.
Other local government officials were harsher in their statements than Mayor Jaraula.
"Do not build a Berlin Wall among the people of Mindanao," said Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat as he led 10,000 residents in a rally the other day to protest the government-MILF agreement on ancestral domain.
North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol, who led a similar rally, said the SC decision "is a lesson for the government that no official can just decide for their people without due consultations."
"We won the battle. But because this is just a TRO, therefore, our victory is just temporary," Piñol said.
The rally in North Cotabato provincial capitol compound, mostly attended by students and teachers, urged the National Government not to include the province in the territory allegedly claimed by the MILF.
The students and teachers wore red t-shirts to show their "outrage" against the "insensitive" Arroyo government.
Rea Marie Jubelag, an officer of the University of Southern Mindanao Student Government, said: "The inclusion of North Cotabato in the expanded Armm (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao) is not the answer to the conflict here. In fact, it will only worsen the problem."
John Rey Kiel, another student leader from USM, encouraged his colleagues to join in "fighting what is best for us and for our future."
Pigcawayan councilor Rolando Dillera, president of the Councilors League in North Cotabato, also reminded the participants that the rally was not against the Muslims.
"This is not a fight between the Muslims and the Christians. But we, Christians, are just trying to defend what is right and due us. We can't allow the government to ink an agreement, which will later cause animosities between the Muslims and the Christians," said Dillera.
But Representative Abdullah Dimaporo (2nd District, Lanao del Norte) said many of these fears are "baseless."
Dimaporo said the agreement is not a peace agreement and that formal peace talks has yet to resume after the signing.
"The MOA is not the agreement itself. It is a declaration of both sides to sit down for the formal negotiations, and identify the agenda of the negotiation," Dimaporo said in a statement emailed to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
He said a plebiscite will be conducted on the affected 735 villages to ask the residents whether they want to be part or not with the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE).
Dimaporo said both parties will respect the results of the plebiscite and Congress will have to pass legislation before these villages can join the BJE.
"How can Lanao del Norte be dismembered and the boundaries of Armm be expanded without legislative action? This is solely a legislative authority, not the executive's," he said.
"We trust the Philippine negotiators and the President who will not do harm to us. In case we do not like the agreement, we can oppose it in congress. Definitely we can win in the plebiscite, whether we want 'No' or 'Yes.' There is therefore no reason for any worry on the MOA," Dimaporo added.
Dimaporo said the TRO issued by the SC is lamentable for residents in the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
He said the MILF, being "a proud people," will never comprehend this.
"Now is not the time for war. Our economy is suffering from the oil crisis," Dimaporo said.
He added: "We all saw what happened during the all-out-war of President Joseph Estrada against the MILF. The MILF were no match to our AFP, but the great damage were suffered by evacuating the poor families, and large sum of public funds used by the AFP which could have been utilized for schools and other much needed projects."
Dimaporo appealed for sobriety and restraint.
"Let us give peace a chance. Let us see the outcome of the peace agreement," he said.
