Brewing imbroglio on the peace front?

This early, even before the GRP and the MILF Peace Panels officially meet, there are dissenting voices and conflicting signals being heard and felt in Mindanao. While the new members of the GRP Peace Panel are, generally, accepted, Mindanawons can claim for only two out of the five – Dr. Hamid Barra and Upi Vice Mayor Ramon Piang. The Chair, though from the far north, is accepted, because his writings and advocacy are well known among the Civil Society Organizations and the MILF. However, the heads of LGU’s outside of the ARMM, look at the present peace panel with suspicion. In the same way, the greater majority of the populace watch the peace panel with guarded vigilance. Then last week, a lightning bolt struck Mindanao with the public announcement of former Representative Lualhati Antonino as Chair of the newly established Mindanao Authority or MindA. The Chair of MindA enjoys a Cabinet rank and by law is the head ‘honcho’ in Mindanao. Secretary Antonino is a politician and a 3-termer Representative of General Santos City. As a politician, she has a share of friends and detractors alike. To say that she is controversial is an understatement. The controversy stems from her strong stance vis-a-vis the 1996 Final Peace Agreement that the GRP and the MNLF signed in 1996. Then Rep. Antonino, the late Congresswoman Clara Lobregat and Rep. Daisy Fuentes were popularly known as the Tres Marias who went to the Supreme Court to oppose the said agreement. As the chief ‘honcho’ of MindA, she has to deal with the realities on the ground including the peace talks and formula of settlement with the rebel fronts, particularly with MILF. The CSO’s aligned with the botched MOA- AD see the appointment as an obstacle to the peace process that seeks to carve an Ancestral Domain for the Bangsamoro people. Yet, on the other hand, Secretary Antonino represents the sentiment and thinking of the greater majority Mindanawons. We may NOT agree with her position on the peace process, yet the fact remains that her stance is popular and reflective of the settlers’ thinking, with few exception. It is interesting to note the phenomenal popularity of former President Estrada’s all-out- war policy that he actually won the May elections in Mindanao except in the ARMM. Secretary Antonino like her predecessor, Sec. Jess Dureza, is a politician. Politicians by nature are pragmatic people. They work in the realm of possibilities in order to navigate turbulent waters. With few exceptions, politicians do NOT have fixed and unmovable positions. Personally, I do NOT believe (until proven otherwise) that Secretary Lualhati or her daughter General Santos City Mayor Darlene Antonino Custodio belong to the said few exceptions. I believe she is open to reason and would listen to wise counsel. Moreover, her long stint in the House of Representatives remains a formidable social capital that may be needed to call upon when the push comes to shove in Congress. The other issue that is often the topic of discussion both in the national level and the local level is the presence of so many international players on the ground. First is the issue of Malaysia’s facilitation in the GRP – MILF Peace Talk. Former President Arroyo was the one who requested the help of Malaysia to facilitate the peace talk. There are several objections to Malaysia’s facilitation of the talk and they have bases for the said objection. Malaysia is NOT perceived as neutral facilitator. Malaysia is a principal in the Philippine claim and the Sulu Sultanate’s assertion that Sabah is part of the Sulu Ancestral Domain. The MNLF under Chairman Nur Misuari is, vehemently, oppose to Malaysia’s participation in the peace talk. Chairman Misuari may have an axe to grind against Malaysia for handing him over to the Philippine government in a silver platter when he sought ‘sanctuary’ in Sabah for his rebellion case in 2002. But at the crux of Chairman Misuari’s opposition is the claim of the Sulu Sultanate over Sabah. Second is the presence of other foreign players on the ground, particularly the International Monitoring Team or IMT. Both Malaysia and the IMT have ‘internationalized’ the MILF Rebellion. The IMT is tasked to monitor the ceasefire between the GRP and the MILF. In the reconstitution of the IMT, its role has been expanded to monitor also the civilian protection components on the ground. It is composed of Libya, Brunei and Japan. Third is the establishment of yet another group of foreign players known as the International Contact Group or ICG. Initially, the ICG is composed of the United Kingdom, Japan and Turkey as member countries. Lately, Norway has also joined this band wagon. Another tier (4th among foreign players) in the ICG is the so-called International NGO’s. They are the following: the Asia Foundation (US), the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (Swiss), the Conciliation Resources (UK) and the Muhammadiyah (Indonesia) . Fifth, there is, yet, another set of independent monitors both of the ceasefire and the civilian protection component that assists the IMT. They are the Non-violent Peace Force or NVPF and the Mindanao People’s Caucus. Last but not the least of the foreign players is the ubiquitous presence of American Special Forces under the so-called Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). They are equipped with high tech drones, ‘hummers’, fast naval crafts, helicopters and planes for their transport and marketing. They claim that they are on the ground to monitor the movement of the terrorist groups and to train their counterpart in combating terrorism. To add more voices at the ‘table’, there is the growing voice from the local groups seeking inclusion at the table. They claim that the locals have more legitimate right to be present in the talks since it is their land and their peoples that are the real issues of the negotiation. With more and more groups wanting to and petitioning GRP and the MILF to be present in the peace talk, the table, the sub-table and the sub-sub table are bursting to the seam! WHEW! There are two slogans that fittingly describe the ‘table’. The first one is the phrase that says: ‘the more, the merrier’ and the second that says: ‘too many chefs spoil the broth. With all these so many players at the table, new and old, we begin to surmise whether these players constitute the brewing imbroglio in the peace process in Mindanao. Abangan!