Monday, July 10, 2006
Islamic body rebuffs RP gov't in Azerbaijan confab
INSTEAD of getting its objective of gaining observer status at the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Philippines got a big rebuff and found itself in an embarrassing position.
During the 33rd Session of the OIC meet in Baku, Azerbaijan, no less than its secretary general, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, pointed out the alleged violations of the Philippine government in its 1996 peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
"The GRP has violated the peace agreement of 1996 unilaterally by disregarding the MNLF participation as the principal party to the agreement, let alone the OIC, in any plan of action," Ihsanoglu said.
Ihsanoglu noted that the second phase of the peace agreement with the Moro rebels "can never be implemented because the Senate and Congress, instead of ratifying the agreement, have made an organic act--Republic Act 9054 on March 31, 2001.
"It is a solid stumbling block on the path towards the implementation of the 1996 peace agreement," he told representatives of the 57-nation pan-Islamic body.
Ihsanoglu also chided Philippine Congress for determining and fixing RA 9054 without the participation of the Moro rebels.
According to him, it is "crystal clear" that RA 9054 is contrary to the letter and spirit of not only of the 1996 peace agreement but also the 1976 Tripoli agreement.
"What the GRP has been implementing unilaterally is neither the Tripoli Agreement nor the 1996 Peace Agreement but RA 9054. RA 9054 has become the greatest impediment and stumbling block towards the implementation of the agreements," Ihsanoglu said.
He stressed that the plight of the estimated 10 million Muslims in Mindanao has not improved.
"They are still living under deteriorating political, economic, and social conditions, which are evident in the extreme backwardness and acute lack of educational and health services," he said.
Ihsanoglu blamed these conditions on the central government's control of natural resources in the Muslim areas and to the political marginalization of Muslims that is manifested in the absence of fair representation in government and judiciary posts.
He also cited "demographic reengineering" that has encouraged the migration of non-Muslims to the south in order to turn the Muslims there into a minority.
Moro intellectuals are closely watching the decision of the pan-Islamic body based on the report of Ihsanoglu.
"Not a flattering report, insofar as the Philippine government is concerned," lawyer Zainudin Malang, director of the Bangsamoro Center for Law and Policy of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Business Council, said in reaction to the report of Ihsanoglu.
There was no immediate reaction from the Philippine government.
In his weekly radio program "Kalinaw Para sa Mindanao" Monday night aired over RMN radio stations in Mindanao, National Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza did not touch on the comments of Ihsanoglu.
Instead, Dureza, who attended the OIC foreign ministerial meeting, talked lengthily about the country's bid for an observer status at the pan-Islamic body.
"The OIC secretary general even hailed President Arroyo for giving due accord to OIC dignitaries in their field visit in southern Philippine last May," he said.
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(July 10, 2006 issue)
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