CAGAYAN DE ORO -- The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said on Wednesday they would pursue the passage of the Bangsamoro Law beyond the term of President Benigno Aquino III if Congress will not pass it before 2016.
Iqbal, however, assured an audience led by Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and leaders of interfaith nongovernment organizations (NGO) that the MILF will continue to engage the Philippine government “peacefully even if Congress would scuttle the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
"The MILF will not disengage from the peace process no matter what will happen to BBL," Iqbal told them.
Iqbal arrived here Wednesday a day earlier on his scheduled appearance at the Convocation of Xavier University where he and government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer will be bestowed the Fr. William Masterson SJ Award for their contribution to social development today.
He met with Ledesma and the NGO leaders for three hours during the “Peace Conversations” organized by Tulay sa Kalinaw Mindanaw and Balay Mindanaw at the Archbishop’s Residence in Cagayan de Oro Wednesday afternoon.
Iqbal said the MILF is facing three scenarios after the Mamasapano clash threatened to scuttle the 17-year peace talks with the Philippine government.
BBL scenario
He said the first scenario would be for the Philippine Congress to pass the BBL as it is without cuts and revisions.
"That would be the good BBL and good for us," Iqbal said.
A second scenario, which would be a disaster for the MILF, is for Congress to pass the BBL with so much cuts and revisions that it would be left with “nothing to imagine,” he added.
“This is the scenario that we feared most because a watered down BBL will not solve the Bangsamoro problem,” Iqbal said.
The third and last scenario, Iqbal said, is that Congress will not pass the BBL at all.
“We would rather like this because we can engage the next administration for the passage of the BBL,” he said.
However, he said it would be best if the BBL is approved in Aquino's administration.
Deep mistrust
Iqbal’s meeting with Ledesma and NGO leaders came as a surprise for many, especially that some of the alumni of Xavier University have opposed to the idea of awarding him and Ferrer.
Prof. Rudy Rodil, a former government peace negotiator, said the problem was the deep mistrust by the Christian majority to the Muslim minority.
Rodil said the roots of this animosity goes down to history when the Spanish conquistadores and Americans pitted the different tribes against one other in order to colonize the Philippines.
"That's why every time there is a major incident, we see an uproar from the Christian majority," Rodil said.
Iqbal also answered questions on the lumad rights, landownership and other issues during the talk.
“I was surprised that Mr. Iqbal do not look like a combatant. I am so excited to meet him,” Msgr. Rey Manuel Monsanto said.
Bishop Antonio Ledesma, S.J., D.D, Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, said that Tulay Kami is profoundly saddened by the uncertain future of the BBL despite the assurances made by the leadership of both houses of Congress of its passage by June this year.
MILF a revolutionary group
"Let us not forget that the MILF is a revolutionary group. It took arms against the government in the face of an undeniable history of intolerance, violence and exclusion. We need to know and recognize Bangsamoro history, its political and territorial sovereignty that was held sway even in Manila of Rajah Sulaiman," he said.
Ledesma said that Filipinos should take into consideration the 300 years of Moro wars waged against successive governments, Spanish, American and Filipino, their displacement and that of the indigenous people from most of Mindanao through waves of migration from Luzon and the Visayas.
“They revolted to achieve their aspiration to live their religious convictions and shared culture in peace. Their original call was for independence in quest of a true homeland. The BBL wants to achieve much less than this – self determination in a limited territory while preserving national sovereignty and national integrity,” Ledesma said.
Ledesma added the Mamasapano incident should not imperil the peace process and let the revolution wage by the Bangsamoro people stop, and let people in Mindanao turn factories of prosperity and not factories of war.
“Meanwhile, let the suspension on the deliberations on the BBL allow us to reflect on our broad aspirations as a people as we do not want war. We want peace,” Ledesma said. (Mindanews/Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro)