Ledesma: 3 strikes and the MOA is almost out

Source : Sun Star
Monday, 25 August 2008 09:15





OVER a decade of excruciating peace negotiations. Just when we are in the threshold of peace, we slid quickly back to ground zero.

Too many confounding factors came into play. We knew that the issue of ancestral domain had been discussed for quite sometime but the MOA materialized at a bionic speed under the watch of Retired General Jun Esperon, surprising leaders of the local governments units who were taken aback when they discovered that many of their barangays were included in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity which expanded the area of the present Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.


It was like a subterfuge even as I personally agree that the draft of the MOA on AD was not the end-all document that precedes the final talk on peace accord.

Instead of the MOA becoming an instrument of peace it triggered disenchantment on the part of the affected local government units. On the side of the MILF, adventurous field commanders thought the initialed MOA was a signal for them to intrude into the proposed barangays.

Forces under Kumander Umbra Kato for example brazenly moved into isolated barangays of Aleosan, Pikit and Midsayap in North Cotabato and Maasim in Sarrangani.

Later in Lanao del Norte, Kumander Bravo swooped right into the towns of Kauswagan, Maigo, Bacolod, Linmon and Kolambogan. They massacred and robbed helpless civilians while some were made as human shields when they retreated as military and police forces retook the towns. From being rebels they denigrated themselves into becoming brigands.

Because the MILF to echelon failed to restrain them the government has no other recourse but to take punitive action to neutralize these marauding forces.

As if the situation was not bad enough, politicians, notably those who had presidential ambitions, came into play with all their dramatics and sound bites trying to gain TV mileage in every turn. They knew that the MOA on AD would still pass through congressional scrutiny and finally the affirmation of the people in the affected barangays via the plebiscite. But they went raving all the way to the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order. The temper and the fighting escalate.

Some interlopers cried "all-out-war" not realizing that a vast majority of the Muslim communities merely want peace. Christians and Muslim civilians are caught in the crossfire. In the melee a TV camera caught the anguish of a Muslim woman crying out loud, "tulungan ninyo kami Madam Presidente."

These faces of desperation and adversities unveil the truth that the vast majority of peace loving Muslims, Lumads, and Christians abhor war and that all they wanted is to be left in peace, never mind if life is sometimes too hard for them.

Moreover, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made it quite clear that the military offensive is only undertaken to deal with Kumanders Kato and Bravo. It is not an all-out war. The message is clearly enunciated by the President: that the pursuit to peace will continue and that the government has not abandoned its goal to secure peace in Mindanao.

The MOA on AD however has to be "reviewed", a semantic that means the document has to be reevaluated to determine why so many had opposed it and why instead of contributing to peace it triggered war.

The sooner the MILF hierarchy impose punishment on Kato and Bravo by whatever means they said they have the better it is for the health of everybody. A protracted action against them will not redound to saving the peace process in Mindanao.

On the other hand, if they can prove that they are sincere in running after the marauding forces the MOA can still be salvaged and peace negotiation can still move forward.

But this one takes a lot of courage on the part of the MILF. In their recent statements, the MILF said they back up the adventurism of Kato, Bravo and their men.

This means that their acts had been sanctioned by the hierarchy. If this is the case how will the peace talk progress to another plane? Already the world community has condemned the atrocities committed by the wayward MILF commander.

It's strike three and there is a strong possibility the MILF might earn for itself the "terrorist" tag. Which is rather sad because we might lose the opportunity of forging a peace pact.