Heavily armed Moro rebels gather in their camp in a village in
Mamasapano, Maguindanao province. The government and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) have announced a framework agreement aimed at settling
the 40-year guerrilla war in Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. Jeoffrey
Maitem/Inquirer Mindanao
The Philippines and Moro rebel group are set to sign a framework of
peace agreement today.
Just one month shy of turning 40
years, the Moro rebellion in the Philippines, officially comes to an end as the
Aquino administration and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are set to
sign today a framework agreement creating Bangsamoro.
While the stirrings for Moro
revolution emerged after the infamous Jabidah Massacre on Corregidor Island on
March 17, 1968, it was not until Nov. 14, 1972, that "the guns of the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF) started to speak," Salah Jubair wrote in
the book "Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny."
The first assault was in Jolo,
Sulu, a month after then president Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law.
Rebels put the town to the torch in an attack reminiscent of the World War II
bombing of Manila by Japanese invading forces.
In all, the Moro rebellion is
estimated to have claimed some 120,000 lives and kept Mindanao impoverished.
The preliminary pact provides the
"overarching architecture" for the process of addressing the
so-called Bangsamoro question, defining the powers and structures of a new
self-governance entity that will replace and have far greater political and
economic powers than the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
It also lays down the principles,
processes and mechanisms "that will shape the new relations between the
Central Government and the Bangsamoro."
Bangsamoro force
Although details are still to be
threshed out, the agreement enshrines the MILF's agreeing to "undertake a
graduated programme for decommissioning of its forces so that they are put
beyond use."
In turn, the government agrees to
"a phased and gradual" transfer of
law enforcement functions from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to a
Bangsamoro police force, which is also to be defined further.
Chief government negotiator
Marvic Leonen has said the decommissioning of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed
Forces, the MILF's armed wing, "can keep apace within the period of
transition" from the ARMM to Bangsamoro. This means within the next two years.
By mid-2016, the first set of
elected Bangsamoro leaders, to rule under a ministerial government, is expected
to assume power.
"The agreement heralds a
change of status of the parties vis-a-vis each other, from enemies to
partners," Leonen said.
With an estimated 12,000-strong
army, the MILF is the remaining Moro revolutionary group in Mindanao which
enjoys international legitimacy.
The self-styled Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Movement, a band of some 300 armed men led by erstwhile
commander Ameril Umra Kato, has been relegated by authorities to "a
lawless group" that will be subjected to joint pursuit efforts by
government and the MILF.
Although still posturing as a
revolutionary movement, the MNLF has disintegrated into various factions after
it signed a final peace agreement with the government on Sept. 2, 1996.
The MILF itself split from the
MNLF in 1977 over differences in strategy and political outlook.
Apprehension
National Democratic Front chief
Luis Jalandoni has expressed apprehension at the overdependence on legal and
constitutional processes for entrenching the Bangsamoro.
But MILF chief negotiator
Mohagher Iqbal said they were confident the government would fulfil its
commitments especially in the face of a very high international interest on the
Mindanao peace process.
MILF chief Murad Ebrahim has
praised President Aquino for his "unflinching commitment to justice and
reforms" which is "amply manifested by the exercise of his resolute
political will to resolve the Bangsamoro question on the negotiating
table."
In a statement, the MILF said the
framework agreement "is a template for real self-rule for the Bangsamoro
in Mindanao."
"It is a solid document,
[although] short of the ideal option providing for an independent state,"
it added.
"Of course, it is not a
perfect agreement, especially for those who wish for a better one. But for
those who have been in the negotiation since 1997, especially negotiators of
the MILF, the agreement is the best," the MILF stressed.
"There could never be
another like it, because so much blood, sweat
and tears have been invested in it, and there would have been no time in
the past and perhaps in the future that such agreement will ever be
possible."
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