Monday, August 04, 2008 Mongaya: Bangsamoro state? By Anol Mongaya
MALACAÑANG bright boys finally produced a proposal that should make charter change a reality before the 2010 elections: the creation of a Bangsa-moro state.
On one hand, the creation of a Bangsamoro state will realize an age-old dream of the Moro peoples. After all, though Spain crippled the Sulu Sultanate’s ability to conduct slave raids in Visayas and Luzon, they failed to conquer the Moro state. The Filipino people, to the eyes of our Moro brothers, lived in lands conquered and oppressed by Spain for three centuries. The Philippine revolution of 1896 against Spanish oppression was a revolution of the Christianized inhabitants of the archipelago.
They believe the Moro peoples were only subdued during the American period with the help of Filipinos.
Today, the creation of a Bangsamoro shall realize their dream for a state but at the same time preserve the territorial integrity of the Philippines. For the rest of the country, the creation of the Bangsamoro should resolve the long drawn-out war waged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and undermine the extremist Abu Sayyaf. This should free precious resources from destructive military campaigns to productive economic programs.
On the other hand, we cannot proceed with the creation of a Bangsamoro state without changing the Philippine Constitution.
Now, if we proceed with the cha-cha, will this not open the Pandora’s Box that will include such evils as removal of term limits for incumbents?
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Should the coming elections of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) be postponed because of this development in the peace talks?
Sen. Mar Roxas, in an e-mailed statement, puts it this way: “The elections should push through regardless of the peace talks to strengthen ARMM voters’ belief in the electoral process. The credibility of elections in ARMM has always been doubted because of repeated incidents of goon politics, cheating, and violence against voters and poll workers, particularly public school teachers who man the election precincts.”
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The Quezon City police reportedly followed a stolen vehicle to the yard of the fence in Cebu City. I expected them to file an anti-carnapping case, not merely an anti-fencing complaint. Why did they suddenly become soft on the syndicate?
The series of front page news only talked of apprehended vehicles and a suspect who is now out on bail.
Meanwhile, several Cebuanos had been victimized by the syndicate, which is in cahoots with some local corrupt cops. After buying a super cheap luxury but stolen vehicle, these cops suddenly swoop down and confiscate the motor vehicle.
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Meanwhile, local wholesalers of sugar and other goods in the downtown area are again complaining about the activities of a certain George, a Chinese businessman engaged in selling goods smuggled through ports outside Cebu. These goods are brought here via inter-island vessels away from the prying eyes of the customs police and intelligence operatives.
Perhaps law enforcers should start looking away from the local international port where nothing significant happens anymore and go after the likes of this guy.
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Mayor Boy Radaza’s pitch for a Silicon Valley type of development direction for Lapu-Lapu City got me this e-mailed observation from my friend Michael Alan Hamlin of TeamAsia. I like to impress on readers of this column that Hamlin is no ordinary columnist of a Manila-based business paper and consultant for giant ICT firms in Asia. He is also co-author of the marketing books “High Visibility” and “Marketing Asian Places” and the author of “The New Asian Corporation.”
According to Hamlin: “Because there are so many ICT-related conferences and many places in the Philippines and elsewhere are seeking to become ICT centers, it will be important to think carefully about how Lapu-Lapu City can distinguish itself meaningfully and convincingly from these other places, and why attending conferences in Lapu-Lapu City is going to be a reasonable investment in terms of time for ICT executives, compared to other competing conferences, meetings, and other events.”
This should be food for thought for both the think tanks and detractors of the Big Pugapo.
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