Indonesia

GPH-MILF must agree

Lyca Sarenas

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Muslim Mindanao has the highest levels of poverty and infant and maternal mortality, and some of the lowest rates of life expectancy and educational attainment

As the peace panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) conclude the Formal Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur — 3 months after their last meeting on April 11 — we are asking them to bring home a breakthrough for the Bangsamoro.   

The President sent Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda to Malaysia after a failure to reach agreement on Thursday, July 11. 

It has been almost 9 months since the signing of the historic Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), which sets the principles, processes and mechanisms for the establishment of the new Bangsamoro political entity by 2016.    

To complete the comprehensive peace agreement, 4 annexes (wealth-sharing, power-sharing, normalization and transitional arrangements and modalities) are supposed to be signed.  However, only the Annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities has been signed since the FAB signing.    

Based on the original timelines, the GPH and the MILF agreed to complete the annexes by December 2012. The panels are 6 months behind schedule. This leaves the Aquino administration only 36 months or 1,087 days to set up the “Bangsamoro” before the President steps down on June 30, 2016.

The completion of the annexes, specifically on wealth-sharing and power-sharing, are critical for the Transition Commission to begin its work of drafting the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The Transition Commission cannot proceed with the drafting of the Basic Law until and unless the GPH and the MILF conclude the negotiations on the Annexes. Without these, the transition period cannot realistically proceed and the Bangsamoro is imperiled.

After decades of protracted war and negotiations, the comprehensive peace agreement is expected to address the longstanding conflict and poverty in central and western Mindanao, where majority of Muslim Filipinos reside. The signed annexes of the FAB from the peace panels will hopefully correct the “historic injustice” committed against the Bangsamoro.

What’s at stake?

Muslim Mindanao has been host to the twin problems of poverty and conflict. Provinces with the highest proportion of Muslim Filipinos remain among the poorest and most deprived in the country. They have the highest levels of poverty and infant and maternal mortality, and some of the lowest rates of life expectancy and educational attainment.

The latest poverty incidence in the ARMM is 46.9%, more than double the national average of 22.3%. NCR’s poverty incidence is merely 3.8%. 

Life expectancy is lowest in the ARMM province; at least 17 years lower than the NCR. The probability at birth of not surviving to age 40 is at a high of 28.6% in Sulu compared to 9.6% in Metro Manila. 

For the past four decades, Muslim Mindanao has experienced continuing episodes of armed conflict and violence, resulting in huge humanitarian and economic losses. The “all-out war” during the Estrada administration in March 2000 displaced nearly a million people. The war in Buliok, Maguindanao and its neighboring areas in 2003 resulted in half a million displaced persons. The fighting after the failed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA AD) in August 2008 affected 600,000 people.

Needless to say, women suffer more than men from poverty and carry the burden of male-dominated decisions and actions in times of war.

As a result of the recent clashes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), an Army officer and 4 soldiers were killed and 7 civilians were wounded. More than 5,000 residents in Maguindanao and North Cotabato have likewise been displaced.   

While both parties have committed that these acts will not derail the talks, we believe that these incidents show that we cannot afford any further delays in the completion of the peace agreement.  

TICKING CLOCK. Members of civil society urge government and the MILF to reach agreement. Photo from Oxfam

CSOs in pursuit of peace

The various civil society groups working in Mindanao  remain committed to accompany the peace process.    

Since the signing of the FAB, CSOs have responded by organizing numerous information dissemination and consultation sessions with partner communities, both in the proposed Bangsamoro core territory and in other parts of the country, to ensure wider political support and gather the perspectives of as many communities as possible. 

These initiatives have to be sustained to ensure that the communities understand and accept the peace agreement. These will also increase the venues for meaningful participation and effective engagement between the communities and the decision-makers, especially in the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.

It is important to engage the Transition Commission to ensure that the Bangsamoro Basic Law will amplify the interests of the poor and marginalized. These may include, but are not limited to, state and non-state investments in farmlands and their impact on land rights, mining activities and their impact on agriculture, IP rights, women’s rights and the environment, direction of agricultural development, etc.

Civil society has to broaden its reach and influence other stakeholders, i.e., national and local governments, churches and religious leaders, academe, media, business, donors, and other CSOs, at the local, regional, national, and if possible, at the international levels. An educated constituency will be critical for the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro. 

Civil society groups should be able to collaborate or cooperate effectively to ensure that their advocacies are supported by the Bangsamoro. CSOs will have a greater role to play to ensure that there is a strong reform constituency for the Bangsamoro that will have inclusive and democratic institutions.   

Advocacy should alsotarget the local officials and members of Congress.  Considering the largely anti-Moro sentiment of people outside the Bangsamoro territory and the time constraints for Congress to adopt the Bangsamoro Basic Law, we need as many champions who can lead the lobbying efforts in Congress.   

Women’s rights in Bangsamoro Basic Law

It is also noteworthy that a number of women’s groups are making sure that women’s voices are heard and that the different concerns and priorities of women in the Bangsamoro territory are addressed in the Basic Law. These initiatives are anchored on the FAB provision that asserts the “right of women to meaningful political participation, and protection from all forms of violence.”   

These women’s groups are committed to work closely with the Transition Commission to guarantee that the new Bangsamoro Basic Law, at the very least, will not be discriminatory against women. 

The role of the media is also vital since it wields considerable influence in swaying public opinion.  We need to educate journalists to understand that the Roadmap to Peace entails a favorable environment supportive of the FAB. 

Signed annexes of FAB are the best Ramadan pasalubong the President can give to Muslim Filipinos, the best news he can report in his forthcoming SONA. – Rappler.com

  

Lyca Sarenas is Oxfam’s Mindanao Programme (OMP) Manager for Gender Mainstreaming and Women’s Rights. This piece is part of Oxfam in the Philippines’ State of Our Nation Op-Ed Series written in time for the July 22 opening of the 16th Congress and President Aquino’s 4th State of the Nation Address. The series highlights the key issues that Oxfam works for: disaster risk reduction, climate change, renewable energy, agriculture, fair trade, women’s rights, and the peace process. Visit www.oxfamblogs.org/philippines.

 

 

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