Southern Philippines imbroglio

‘Imbroglio” is Italian word that means “confusion.” Nowhere is this confusion made more manifest than in the proliferation of acronyms to refer to many structures, institutions and associations in the Southern Philippines. A simple enumeration of these would tell all sundry that there is, indeed, a serious imbroglio in that geographical area. It is tough to find the correct meanings behind the acronyms like RAG (Regional Autonomous Government), ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), SZOPAD (Special Zone of Peace and Development), SPCPD (Southern Philippines Council for Peace & Development), CA (Consultative Assembly), MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front), MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group), JI (Jama’a Islamiyya), BDA (Bangsamoro Development Authority) and SPDA (Southern Philippines Development Authority). Mind you, this is only a sampling of what goes on in local and regional arrangements as these structures and institutions continue to mutate. A newcomer to Mindanao would need a glossary of terms to navigate the ocean of acronyms to find his/her way around. As the saying goes, the more changes go in structures and institutions, the more things remain the same. But the real task is to find a consensus, particularly among Mindanawans and protagonists in the conflict, behind these institutions and organizations. The political imbroglio that ails us is the fact that we, Mindanawans, cannot get our acts together on the issue of governance and structures that the myriad of acronyms symbolize. We remain passionately divided over them! In fact these institutions and organizations are part of the painful political imbroglio that continues to bedevil the legality, unity and efficacy of institutional “accommodation” that these acronyms signify. This was the tragic comedy that the MNLF Chair, Prof. Nur Misuari, and President Fidel Ramos had to face when they signed the FPA (Final Peace Accord) on Sept. 2, 1996. Though the signing of the peace agreement was heralded with much fanfares and high optimism both in the home front and the international community, they did not last for long. Even before the ink in the agreement dried up, divergent views and differing readings had began to emerge as to the interpretation and understanding of the peace agreements. From Marcos to the present, every administration has to cope with the complex and highly volatile Southern Mindanao realities. They already have claimed tens of thousands dead and hundreds thousands displaced and the end is not yet in sight. The Government and the MNLF, notwithstanding the Final Peace Agreement remain poles apart. The same can be said of the GRP and the MILF Peace negotiation. Their positions, claims and counter-claims continue to change akin to the shifting sand of the Sahara. What was thought as “possibility of reaching an interim agreement on ancestral domain” few months ago, now, remains elusive and ambiguous as ever. I believe that the shifting sands, the increasing gap in conflict fault lines coupled by a deep crisis in the national leadership are not fertile grounds for peacemaking. The establishment of institutions as enumerated above was probably sincere and well-intentioned. But they have all practically “imploded” due to lack of managerial, financial and technical competence and support. Chiefs and leaders of these institutions are caught in a stifling bureaucracy, inadequacy of funds and instability of public policy as government in Manila changes. The “implosion” renders these institutions, basically, dysfunctional and this further deepens the existing imbroglio in Southern Philippines. But what else is new. In fact, people opine that the biggest imbroglio is the national governance. There is yet, another imbroglio that afflicts us in Mindanao. This has a strong international flavour. For lack of terms, I call this the “multi-donor syndrome” that usually follows or accompanies the peace process, here and abroad. The donor agencies and countries have pledged and spent billions of dollars in development assistance for Mindanao. Where these money go; how they are spent; and who benefit from them are issues and questions that constitute a bigger and more complex imbroglio. UNDP, USAID, JICA, CIDA, EU, AU, WB, ADB, etc. constitute another set of “undecipherable” acronyms that parallel the imbroglio on the ground. In fact, people are beginning to question whether these development agencies are for real or they simply perpetuate themselves thereby developing a new type of dependency that would require their continued lucrative employment and consultancy. Southern Sudan, Timor Leste, Southern Philippines, Haiti are but few examples of re-construction where concerned citizens are beginning to question the operation, ethics and praxis of these so-called development agencies and financial institutions. No doubt, they are part of the imbroglio in the Southern Philippines, notwithstanding their claimed grants, donations and gift for development. People are beginning to criticize the very development “plan” they are pursuing as being unresponsive to the development needs of Mindanao. Past and current modalities of development assistance have not had the desired impact on reducing poverty and providing adequate livelihood for a great portion of Mindanao's Christian, Muslim and Lumad populations. With fast dwindling resources available and the deepening poverty situation in Mindanao coupled by growing alienation from the national government should serve as strong “warning” and backdrop to the unintelligible development plan being proffered from the outside for Mindanao’s reconstruction. The imbroglio that faces us is not solely our creation. We believe that the national government and the so called international donor agencies (that continue to act as our big brothers) have bigger contributions to our imbroglio. In Southern Philippines and else where in the world, they, truly, act as “big” brothers by their bigger offices, bigger vehicles, bigger salaries and bigger fees and bigger contracts. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! It is high time to craft an alternative development approach for Mindanao given the present imbroglio and complexities of our problems. In my “peligrination” of devastated areas undergoing re-construction, a “proud rebel” opines the need not only for a new development and reconstruction principle but also a new type of partnership with these so-called donor countries. But the UN and multi-donor countries and donor agencies have their own agenda and though they go by the name “reconstruction”, it never happens on the ground! In fact their operations and witnesses fuel the imbroglio, ambiguity and waste of resources. Me thinks that these development agencies are primarily for the development of their employees, consultants and their so called international partners usually located in the countries where the funds are coming from. Well, altruism is not the rule but an exception in development assistance! A new paradigm of reconstruction needs to emerge to avoid the usual imbroglio. The first real question we need to ask is the viability of any re-construction work in the existing confused and dysfunctional structures and institutions. Similarly alternative governance is not possible until we have sorted out our imbroglio on the ground. In the final analysis, the problem we are facing is the biblical “no”! We do not “put new wine in an old wine skin”. By doing so, we not only spoil the wine but also burst the old wine skin. The biblical counsel is “to put new wine in a new wine skin.”