Friday, August 15, 2008 Oledan: Deliberate Attempt By Radzini Oledan
THE search for novel and nuanced peace initiative must be put high on agenda. Without enduring peace, there can be no meaningful development in Mindanao.
The fundamental question that has to be posed is whether the various actors at the national and regional level have the commitment, political will, and capacity to free the region from the yoke of conflicts and social instability.
The root causes of the conflict in the region can be found in the socio-economic and exclusionary political configurations. Such unrepresentative governance systems place low regard on the rights and civil liberties of their citizenry, thereby, creating a conflict-prone political environment.
In the political interventions, there is a tendency to deal with symptoms or immediate causes, but not with the actual problems and their root causes.
It is also interesting to note that some of the people and institutions involved in the conflict resolution process are in fact themselves the engineers of these conflicts.
This only shows that while conflict prevention is a viable and alternative way of creating and sustaining peace, in practice however, it presents complex and delicate challenges.
One would have to recognize that in the bid to consolidate their hold on to power and subjugate the citizenry, the ruling elites will suppress any move towards genuine democracy and democratization, thereby creating fertile grounds for polarization and conflicts.
Many are prone to succumb to trappings of power and personal gain, and the ideals of democracy and economic well-being gave way to authoritarianism.
The lack of effort to inform the public on the agreement to end the decades old conflict is a deliberate attempt to keep out the public from any discussions. Local communities, it seems are only seen as passive recipient of development assistance.
There is very little opportunity for locals to participate and share their perceptions, develop skills, and genuinely exercise leadership for their own development.
I do know how any of us could be proud of being fence sitters while the war is raging in some parts of Mindanao. How, despite professing that we want peace to rein in the island, we also allow ourselves to be pawns in a mind game and divisive discourse of the "they" and "us."
The opposition on the ancestral domain takes advantage of the fear that Muslims will dominate the Christians. There is a challenge to transcend our own prejudices and biases, a requisite if we are to weave peace in our home front.
Hopefully, we can go beyond interventions in piecemeal manner which does very little to make a difference in the lives of Mindanawans.
There are bullets and bombs exploding in some communities right now. We only have to remember that like us, there are people out there who desperately want the war to end if only to enable them to live life with a semblance of normalcy.
Again, at the end of the day, there are cold bodies on the ground and there are warm bodies at cramped evacuation centers trying to make sense of their situation. There are shattered souls. Childhood lost.
