THE Bangsamoro Assembly that was held last November 27, 2017 was an historic event for the Bangsamoro people. It showed the strong support of the Bangsamoro masses in the ongoing peace process and the importance of enacting the Bangsamoro Basic Law 2017 as drafted by the Expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (EBTC).
In that event, we heard once again the strong message of President Duterte supporting the passage of a law that will address the problem of social and historical injustice. I would like to quote the message of the President to discuss how I see how the government wants to proceed in the peace process. He said, “I’d like to address myself to the nation this time. I plead to all Filipinos listening now to understand the problem and maybe, you know, just ponder on it and sleep on it tonight and maybe you’d be enlightened because of what we are now trying to solve is one of the hardest in my administration. Maybe, the hardest of them all. But as I have promised, as the centerpiece of my election, was really the federal setup of government. And one, we are talking about now with limited to the issues... As far as I’m concerned, actually, what is at stake here is the preservation of the Filipino Republic and to correct a historical injustice, was and still is.But let me discuss with you the second issue. Historical injustice. When was it? Well, many, many centuries ago.”
President Duterte is fully aware of the issue of historical injustice. In his message, he had a long discussion about the history of our country, the history of Mindanao, and the history of the Bangsamoro people. He also mentioned the history of the name Philippines and where it came from.
The issue of social injustice was also studied by various members of academe. We even have a full report of the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). In this report, the TJRC believes that a sound political decision needs to be taken to set the stage for a strategic approach to ‘dealing with the past’ in the Bangsamoro. Indeed, a firm decision is required, based on mutual consensus and taken at the highest level by both parties, to ensure that the recommendations concerning ‘dealing with the past’.
Meaning to say, we need to recognize the problem of social and historical injustice. And we need to move forward as a nation in doing so.
There were various reactions about the long speech of President Duterte. Some are positive and supports his message for peace. Some were also negative reaction and reacts on his statement which states, “So that’s it. Correction of the social injustice or the outright injustice. And then crafting something which would preserve the lives of Filipinos. But I will only work with one thing in mind: There must be one nation for all and one republic for all. A Republic of the Philippines for all of us, Moro and Christians alike.”
But I see this statement differently. The President’s statement must be seen in a three dimension approach. These three dimensions are as follows: Rule of Law:which covers the institution building authorities/ commission addressing problems on corruption, regulation, elections, transition mechanisms, etc.; Independent judiciary (the functioning and independence of the judicial courts); Horizontal and vertical accountability; Neutrality of administration and public services (capacity to maintain public services in times of crisis, archive quality); Land (experience on land registry and civil courts).
There is also the second dimension which covers the Democracy/ Good Governance which includes the following: Leverage accountability and responsiveness through elections, increase level of civic and public participation, enhance governmental and governance accountabilities through guaranties and monitoring, increase level of transparency of decision making processes, leverage citizen mobilization, focus on gender issues, mechanisms of protection of women’s rights and gender equality.
The last dimension is Transitional Justice which includes: combination of mechanisms in a holistic view, victims’ advocacy, expertise on reparations, expertise on Commission of Memory, experience on the dynamic of law elaboration, army’s role in the transition: neutrality, civil role, and management of the internally displaced situation.
These three dimensions were taken from the Rule of Law and Transitional Justice Towards a triangular learning. The case of Colombia, by EIUC First edition September 2013.
This is the way I look at the message of President Duterte. It has to be seen in many different angels and perspectives that need proper way of addressing the Bangsamoro peace process.
He also mentioned about countering violent extremism. But I can discuss that in some other time.