IN OUR house, we debate during mealtimes. While my sister and I have consistently defended the peace process, my 90-year-old father has been staunchly against it and not because he does not want peace for Mindanao, he just does not believe the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BLL) will achieve it.
I was born and raised in Cebu but I have my roots in Mindanao. My maternal grandparents were pioneers in the land once called, “the new frontier” and my mother together with all her siblings were born and raised there.
I spent summers in Mindanao as a child. I have many memories of slow boats and cots infested with bed bugs. Sleeping in the open air side by side with a boatload of passengers, we clutched our footwear lest they be stolen. I threw up at every trip at sea. Yet, believe it or not, my tears fell every time I left Mindanao. I couldn’t wait for the next summer to come.
My father insists the BBL will not work because Muslim Mindanao is not united. He said that when the government negotiated with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke away and continued the armed struggle. Now, as government negotiates with the MILF for the passage of the BBL, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), has emerged to take up arms.
I used to think that my father was simply jaded. I wanted to keep an open mind. But am I, like government peace panelists, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer and Teresita Deles, being naïve? Perhaps it is time I listened to my 90-year old father.
Does the MILF speak for Muslim Mindanao? If it does, why was it unable to effect a ceasefire during the Mamasapano massacre? Why is it unable to return the arms and personal belongings of the slain cops? Why is it unable to turn over the murderers of the slain 44? Is it a lack of clout or is it a lack of faith that stops them from cooperating with us?
Is the BIFF really a rogue force? Does the MILF sit on the peace panel while their brothers in the BIFF continue the armed fighting in the fields? Are we being blindsided by our desperate desire for peace? Will Muslim Mindanao ever lay down its arms?
Is it really plausible for the MILF to have been clueless about the presence of two international terrorists who trained 300 bomb-makers in their communities? The MILF staunchly denies ties with terrorist organizations but where does it get its funding? Who provides them training?
The MILF says security and justice are what they seek. Will they find these in autonomy? The MILF denies but does not categorically reject secession. Their representative, Mohagher Iqbal, says that if they are happy with the BBL, they have no reason to desire secession. This is not a satisfactory answer. With the BBL, the government is handing over a large chunk of our national territory and national coffers. Will this be a precursor to the establishment of a separate state?
For as long as I can remember, peace has been elusive in Mindanao. We often joked when we were young that one day, we might find ourselves needing passports to go visit my mother’s hometown. I hope this never happens.