Will I still live in the Philippines?
It’s Monday morning here in the Philippines. In another 36 hours or so, will I still be living in the Philippines?
Well, I’m not planning to move, but there is a legitimate question as to whether or not I’ll still be in a part of the Philippines. How can that be? Well, the Government of the Philippines has been in negotiations for years with the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), and tomorrow a partial Peace Agreement will be signed between the two parties. This is not the full deal, but a step down the road to peace. The agreement that is scheduled for signing is the Ancestral Domain issue that is the most contentious of all issues being negotiated.
But, how does this tie in with not being in the Philippines any longer? Well, according to rumors (the agreement is not being made public), a number of areas of Mindanao will be given Autonomy and will be governed by the MILF under this agreement. The good news on that (for me) is that according to rumors about the agreement, Davao is not included in the MILF Automomous Area that has been negotiated.
Over the past weeks, Vice Governor (former Governor) of North Cotabato, Manny Piñol has been quite vocal on this issue, because it is rumored that parts of his Province are to be included in the MILF area. He wants to ensure that the people of the Province have the opportunity determine their own destiny. Do they want to be part of the new region, under MILF control, or do they wish to remain as part of the Province of North Cotabato, Philippines? Well, it would seem that the vast majority of peopel there wish to remain part of the current Province.
In addition to the outcries from North Cotabato, demonstrations are slated to take place later today in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, and also in Zamboanga City. Government officials in each of these Cities fear that they will also be included in the Ancestral Domain to be given to the MILF.
What would change once this agreement takes effect? Well, the area would be governed by the MILF. It would operate under Shariah Law with it’s own Police Force. It seems like the area would come as close as it possibly could to being a totally different country, without actually being so. According to reports, the entity could send it’s own representatives to the United Nations – now that, to me, is already a new country!
All reports so far are that the new area would comprise only a portion of Mindanao, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the island. Could Mindanao survive being split like that? Or will it only lead to additional fighting to put the whole island under one type of control or the other? For me, I would prefer to see Mindanao remain whole, and remain under 100% Philippine control.
One good thing about all of this – it is my understanding that the way the agreement is worded, it will require a Constitutional Amendment of the Philippine Constitution. With that, it would make me less concerned, because usually changing the Constitution, in any country, involves a lot of reflection, and serious thinking.
Of course, as a lover of Mindanao, and a resident of Mindanao, I hope that long term Peace can come to the Island. I just am not sure that this is the right path leading to a lasting Peace.
photo credit: Keith Bacongco
UPDATE: As of Monday afternoon, August 4, 2008, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has issued a Temporary Restraining Order stopping the signing of the agreement in Malaysia tomorrow. There will be a hearing on August 15 for the court to consider arguments from North Cotabato Province and Zamboanga City against the agreement. So, for now, there will be no signing until at least after August 15.
Bob
Hope this is not too much of an “off topic remark” but can you tell me the “source” of your information about current events here in the Philippines. I watch the local and national news sometimes but do not have the language skills to fully follow and can’t ask my family for continual translations. So, would appreciate a bit of a pointer in the right direction, you seem so well informed, OK you have to be interested to be informed and you are, i would like to follow too, hence my plea for help (if its secret Bob no probs
)
another off topic remark….not completely un-related, but the NPA recent increase in activity is also very concerning, i would be interested (very) in a discussion of this topic, but don’t feel well enough informed about the issues
i have learnt quite a bit about the moro issues here thanks
best regards
Hi rick b – Last week, the Philippine Daily Inquirer got ahold of a copy of the MOA, and published a lot of details about it in a number of different articles on their site. For my Philippine news, I generally rely on a number of sources:
1. ANC – ABS-CBN News channel on TV
2. Inquirer.net on the Internet
3. GMANews.TV on the Internet
4. SunStar for local Davao News
I also have a number of Google News Alerts set up for various Philippine related keywords.
Regarding the NPA, they don’t concern me. Yes, in recent months they have stepped up their attacks a bit, but in general, the NPA seems to shy away from harming foreigners, so I don’t get overly concerned about them.
thanks Bob, i will look at these sources
hope you are right about the NPA, i have had discussions about the NPA with some guys at my tennis club and they think (generally) due to economic pressures, the NPA issues will become more prominent, due to for example pressures of poverty from disenfranchised young men
thanks again Bob
Hi rick b – No problem, Rick!
Guess you’ll have to unpack your bags Bob!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7540672.stm
Just joking, but it is a step in the right direction.
Hi John in Austria – Yep, but that is only good for 2 weeks or so… and, actualy, the title of the article meant more like “will I be living in the Philippines, or the Bangsamoro Juridical Entitiy” – I don’t have any plans of moving!
The problem that I see arising is the ’split’ of power with the Islamic region will create nothing more than what it is today…an impoverish region virtually devoid of investement due to the corruption and nepotism which permeates the much of the Country. Islam and Christiananity may be two arguably diffeent religions but pinoys will still be pinoys…and the new region will suffer the same dilemma…corruption, graft and greed to the point of economic distress, which will lead to unrest, turmoil & poverty for its troubles of which will be convienantly
blamed on the “Christian” counterpart….in otherwords same …same!!
Hi Bob
Since the NPA was mentioned, I have always found it interesting that Globe cell towers are attacked regularly (including 5 last week in the Bicol region) and Smart cell towers are never attacked. This only happens I believe that PLDT (smarts parent company) pays off the NPA to not attack them. This part is never mentioned in the news.
My two cents on this is that this will not prosper in the Supreme Court. It will not suceed a constitutional challenge.
The best thing that this MOA will do though is to hasten Federalization of the entire archipelago.
Otherwise, the Boholanos will demand their own State or Nation too. Also the Warays, the Hiligaynons, the Illongos, the Ilocanos, the Igorots, the Ivatans, the Cebuanos, etc….there will be no end to it.
It’s really high time to change the Constitution and for Federalism. The Manila government is just too inept to run the whole country.
Acording to some press reports I read on this subject, a little over 80% of the land area of Iligan was to be included in this ” deal “. Seems like such a shame if this happened. I thought it was a very nice place when I visited there. I guess now it will be a wait and see if I ever go back there again. If I don’t at least I can always have a fond memory of it the way it was.
Hi Bob, Why do they allow splinter groups. It sounds like the Palestinian problem and that doesn’t bode well for peace. I don’t know what could be better than living with religious freedoms. They sound like a bunch of freedom busters to me. Be ready to run boys.
Hi Bob – Interesting topic and comments. Gives us hope for an autonomous Ilocandia!
Found your website by accident by typing milf and philippines on google, but I must say you have a very informative site and I will be coming back!
Hi Bob!
This MILF treaty has been of considerable interest to me. I have been searching to try to find a proposed secession map for this event. I have seen the launguage of the agreement which is vauge and generalized at best. I find some humor in the notion that some cities in heavily Muslim populated areas are resisting inclusion into the ARMM. Hmm do the poulations fear rule by inept terrorists? I think that most of the populations are hard working peace loving people who are tired of being victimized by these thugs. I told my wife that maybe the MILF wants a delay in the provincial votes so they have more time to influence the votes with threats and violence. Even the Muslim population knows that there are more Muslim victims as a result of the cowardly bombings and shootings. They are probably terrified at the thought of having their captors legitimized by the government. I plan to live by General Santos City in the future so I hope the experiment in chaos and anarchy is kept at a distance.
Hi brian – The Moros will argue to you that they are not Pinoys. They claim that they are not Filipino, and that Mindanao is being held by the Philippines, against their will. They say that the region will prosper under their control, after being neglected by Manila. On some of their arguments, I cannot disagree.
Hi Neil – Ha ha… I hadn’t thought about that, but it wouldn’t surprise me. You are right, it is always Globe that gets attacked.
Hi Dr. Sponk Long – I tend to agree with you that Federalism is the way to go. My only argument with Federalism as it is planned in the Philippines is that they intend to set up a Parliamentary system, and I do not believe that the Philippine Republic is mature enough for a Parliamentary system. Politicians here change political parties on a whim, and that would not work well under a parliamentary system.
Hi Bob New York – Under a Bangsamoro Juridical Area, I do not believe it would be a “no-go” area, although I do understand your feelings and sadness that your beloved place would be included.
Hi John – I don’t think it is a matter of anybody “allowing” splinter groups. If a group splits from the main group, I don’t see how you would be able to stop it.
Hi Paul – Don’t miss Dr. Sponk Long’s comment!
Hi Dude22 – Glad you found the site. Keep visiting!
Hi Tom Ramberg – I hear you, and understand your concerns. The two people (both Muslim) who are resisting the MoA, which surprise me, are the Sultan of Sulu, and the Governor of Sultan Kudarat.
My guess about the resistance from the Governor is that he fears for his office and his political power. That just stands to reason when the governments in those areas likely become a free for all of power and wealth grabbing. Remember the terrorists are not farmers, they just wait for peoples crops to mature then take them by force. They are not carpenters, they just occupy structures built by others. According to the treaty that I read the ARMM will receive infrastructure improvements from the central government, probably because they have no plan of making improvements on their own. I think that maybe the indian reservations in America might be similar to the end result here. Hmm might be interesting to see a Muslim casino! HA HA!
Hi Tom Ramberg – Yes, you are probably right about Governor Mangdadatu, and I don’t really blame him for that.
Hi Bob – lot’s of info from your readers on this one. I especially appreciate Macky’s views, as I don’t know the history of all this.
Word from Mlang is that they are not at all happy about this development. They are on night alert and the potential for trouble, no matter how this goes, is high.
Two subjects I detest talking about are religion and politics. Mix them together (which inevitably happens) and you get this kind of mess.
Hi Randy C – I had not thought about the “religion and politics” thing. The truth of the matter, though, is that the battle is not really religious. Most people think – “Christian vs. Muslim” and thus it’s a religious fight. The truth is that the heart of the matter really has nothing to do with religion. It is a battle of one group of people who owned the land vs. another group who took it from them. Honestly, if this issue were left up to Mindanaoans to decide, it could probably be cleared up in a way that is good for both sides. But, it is still an issue of a bunch of people from Manila trying to impose their solution on the local people, and that rarely works well.
Remember the old saying – “Hi, I’m from the government, and I’m here to help!” It rarely works out that way!
Hi Bob,I have no answers,but question how far back a modern world can go to satisfy everybody,i mean should the US gov give the US back to the Red Indians.As far as i see it unity is strength,nationalism causes wars.We have Scottish and Welsh nationalists here wanting independence from England but they do not realise that they could not survive economically if they had full independence.As for Mindanao if the ARRM region were to get total independence one day,they could not survive economically,so what would they do next,invade the rest of Mindanao and take over the whole Island,thats how i see it,regards Chas.
Hi chas – Thanks for sharing your view of things. In many ways I agree, although in other ways I disagree. For example, let’s say that the Island of Mindanao were to become independent from the Philippines. I believe that Mindanao could survive, perhaps even prosper under such a scenario. After all, Mindanao is a land rich in resources, many of which are taken for the benefit of other parts of the Philippines.
Hi Bob…You never know what is going to happen until it is all over ,then we pray it was a good decision…
PS Bob sorry to say i can’t make the seminar Saturday the 9th.
Hi Bob,Yes, i agree Mindanao as a whole could survive easily economically,but i meant that the ARRM as a independant region could not survive economically,regards Chas.
Hi Bob
The Christian Filipinos who moved into these (former only Muslim areas) areas did so when it was a part of the Philippines, so it was legal to do so. Indonesia is doing the same moving Javanese ethnic Muslims to Papa New Guinea so they can be the majority in that country. The natives are a totally different ethnic group and usually Christian. I dont think Thailand is going to go this same route in their 3 southern provinces which they took over a 100 years ago. Zamboanga city has been a Christian city for centuries. Sabah was a part of the Sultun of Sulu territory, but the people there are not clamoring for independence. Maybe because Malaysia is a wealthier country or amajority Muslim country. If you are right that MILF believes that the Christians took their land, then they may want more territory and this is just one way to get closer to that goal, if they had the power to do so.
Hi Phil R. – I certainly can’t argue with that! You are a wise man, Phil!
No problem on the seminar!
Hi chas – Yes, I understood your point there.
Hi Neil – Not saying at all that anything was illegal about the Christian settlers moving into Mindanao. All I am saying is that such mass migrations tend to lead to trouble over time.