STAR COLUMN: PEACE BASED ON JUSTICE / STAR EDITORIAL: PURSUIT OF PEACE
MANILA, OCTOBER 26, 2011 (PHILSTAR) COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva i(photo) Let me set the premises of this literally burning issue on the government's peace initiatives with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
As part of these peace initiatives, the government has restored the ceasefire agreement with the MILF in June 2001 during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who revived the peace negotiations with this splinter Muslim rebel group.
The ceasefire agreement was placed, as agreed by both sides, under the supervision of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) chaired by Malaysia. It provided among other things, mechanisms through which both sides — the Philippine government and the MILF — can seek redress for alleged ceasefire violations.
As confidence-building measures, the Arroyo administration agreed to the so-called "area of temporary stay" for armed MILF rebels to freely roam around without being captured or arrested by government authorities. It virtually allowed the return of the decimated MILF camps in various parts of Mindanao under the control of this Muslim rebel group.
But while they have these "area of temporary stay," the truce pact requires the MILF to turn over to government authorities any criminal, or lawless elements or ceasefire violator who enter or stay in these areas under their control.
However, the police or the military could not just go anywhere near the MILF areas without first giving notice to them, short of asking first permission to allow them entry.
Obviously, the term "area of temporary stay" is just a euphemism for territories now occupied by MILF in Basilan, Lanao provinces, North and South Cotabato and Maguindanao.
With this background, the uneasy truce pact has continued despite sporadic clashes, brutal ambushes on government troopers usually blamed on the so-called MILF "lost commands," and bombing attacks not only against military targets but at times hitting the civilian population as well.
Several violent incidents have nearly pushed to the brink the unsteady truce pact, the last of which took place right after the government was forced to scrap the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD).
This was after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in October 2008 the MoA-AD was unconstitutional before this was almost signed by Philippine peace panel with the MILF in Kuala Lumpur.
Riding on the issue of the scrapped MoA-AD, MILF commander Umbra Kato ran berserk with his men in hacking to death and lining up before firing squad hapless civilians in North Cotabato supposedly in retaliation to the government's insincerity in the peace talks with them.
Kato and his murderous men continued with their rampage but were never made to account for their heinous crimes by the MILF Central Committee leadership.
Thus, Kato is wanted for dozens of criminal cases authorities filed against them in connection with his having led a bloody two-year revolt after the aborted MoA-AD. However, the MILF Central Committee finally disowned Kato and his men only last month.
They found out Kato, the MILF's 105th commander operating in North Cotabato, has formed his own Bangsa Moro Islamic Freedom Movement.
Or perhaps, it could have been a goodwill gesture to jumpstart the stalled peace talks with the government now under the administration of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.
It came a month after President Aquino, with five key Cabinet members, flew all the way to Japan in August to meet with the MILF central committee leadership headed by its chairman Al Haj Murad.
But things turned ugly again in the peace front in Mindanao. Last October 18, 19 Army Scout Rangers were killed while reportedly trying to serve a warrant of arrest against a fugitive rebel leader hiding in the MILF's "area of temporary stay" in Al-Barka, Basilan.
Our soldiers intruded into a stronghold of the MILF's 114th Base Command in Barangay Bakisong in Al-Barka reportedly in search for Commander Laksaw Asnawi and to bring him back to jail.
Asnawi has standing warrants for his arrest in connection with his alleged involvement in the July 10, 2007 beheading of 11 Marines that also took place in Al-Barka. He escaped from the Basilan provincial jail, subsequently, after having been arrested by policemen at the Zamboanga City airport while en route to Manila to depart for Mecca, Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj.
Incidentally, Muslims all over the world are set to embark for their annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca that would culminate with Eid'l Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice.
Here in the Philippines, while we may be largely a Catholic country, President Aquino declared November 7 as a regular nationwide holiday. This is one of the two Islamic feasts — the other is Eid'l Fitr or end of Ramadan — that we observe with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
Hopefully, this spirit of religious tolerance in our country should augur well to encourage more responsible and peace-loving Muslim leaders to prevail over a few troublemakers who cause all these bloody killings and other heinous crimes perpetrated in our society.
In his press conference at Malacañang Palace last Monday, President Aquino declared his administration's every intention to push forward the peace process amid calls for the government to declare "all-out war" against the MILF rebels following this latest Basilan incident.
"We will not pursue all-out war; we will instead pursue all-out justice. All-out war is indiscriminate and borne out of anger. All-out justice is sober and fair; it is based on the rule of law, and leads to lasting peace," President Aquino declared.
As the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, P-Noy vowed to apply the "mailed fist of the State" to bring to the bar of justice all the perpetrators behind the Basilan incident, and other criminals for that matter.
P-Noy warned that "all-out justice" will be applied to those who also get in the way to prevent the long arm of the law from reaching them even if they may be inside the "area of temporary stay" of the MILF.
Well said, Mr. President. That is, if this presidential declaration is fully carried out to the letter and spirit of justice in the government's search for enduring peace in our country.
A peace based on justice should be the guiding principle government negotiators must always put premium on, not peace at all costs.
PHILSTAR EDITORIAL - Pursuit of peace (The Philippine Star) Updated October 26, 2011 12:00 AM
For an insurgent group, there are major advantages in pursuing peace. It is spared from military offensives. Its negotiators, who must be identified to the government, are immune from arrest.
Peace negotiations, however, do not stop the military from defensive operations, including the hot pursuit of any rebel who brings harm to anyone, whether soldier or civilian. A peace process is not supposed to stop the state from enforcing laws and protecting citizens from armed extortion, looting, and destruction of property. The government must keep this in mind as the two rebel groups with which the administration is exploring peace escalate their attacks on both military and civilian targets.
The peace process also doesn't prevent the state from stopping the flow of weapons and funds to rebel groups. Those weapons can come from several sources. Military and police arsenals can be raided or weapons seized from soldiers and cops. There have been cases of soldiers and policemen themselves selling government-issued guns and ammunition to rebel groups. The gunsmiths of Danao in Cebu are also sources, although their products are of poor quality. Many news features have been published about the illegal gunsmiths of Danao. If journalists can find the gun makers, it shouldn't be too hard for law enforcers to do the same.
Then there's the funding. Maintaining a rebel army, especially one with families and other non-combatants in tow for use as human shields, requires a hefty amount of funds. They can't subsist on camote forever; they need supplies for day-to-day survival. They need a lot of money for weapons and ammunition. How are the funds obtained? If they engage in criminal activities such as kidnapping, extortion and burning of private property to raise funds, they must be arrested.
Authorities can also scrutinize bank accounts, foundations and suspected shell corporations that might be used for rebel financing. A few years before the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden operated a charity foundation in Mindanao through which funding was believed to have been channeled to the Abu Sayyaf.
There are many ways of fighting an insurgency other than the use of military force.
A peace process can be pursued without sacrificing the duty of the government to enforce the law and keep the public safe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
