Double Talk On Peace

Written on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 12:41 pm | by Patricio Mangubat

Government has just “retired” members of the peace panel. Yet, those nincoompoops out there say, they are still committed to peace. The announcement of Gloria the Queen of the Enchanted Kingdom came after the MILF says they’ll just wait for the next president before they again go and engage in b.s. talk with the GRP.

Does peace still have a Chinaman’s chance in Mindanao? Not in a million years, I think.

First, government has changed its tune, from giving up precious territory to disarmament. They think that they could disarm those Bangsamoros out there and talk peace. Yeah, bring it on. Guns have been part of Moro culture since the Spanish era and no way would they give up their arms just for Gloria. They’ll just do it probably if forced to.

Nur Misuari, meanwhile, wants to form an army of mujaheddins. That’s fresh. He thinks that he can form a 150,000-strong Bangsamoro army that would “police” the purported territory of the Bangsamoro. Where would he get P 18 billion to fund such a massive enterprise? From Malaysia or from Saudi Arabia? I think Saudi would give that amount. But, would the MILF join him? I think not. Murad is not a Misuari, but Murad. Also, Misuari says he’s forming a “peace army”. Yeah, that’s a peace army, alright. Amidst the sounds of gunfire, the sounds of wailing and dying men waifs in the air. After that, peace. And the only ones left standing are members of the peace army, yeah!

I am tired of all these b.s. If these groups are not committed to peace, then, let them kill each other perpetually. We’re trying to stop them from wasting precious lives but if they are blood thirsty, I think it’s time to let them be. Okey, spill more blood in Mindanao. Drown its people with blood. And maybe in the future, a field of lotuses will emerge from a blood-filled landscape.

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About The Author: Patricio Mangubat is a pseudonym. It means "country fight". Yet, the one behind this name is real. He can be briefly described as a long-time activist as well as a communication strategist. He blogs at The New Philippine Revolution.

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4 Responses to “Double Talk On Peace”

  1. Philman on September 4th, 2008 4:28 pm

    What is scary is the way this adminstration takes the extreme option in doing things. From a rush-rush, ready-to-sign peace deal with MILF to that’s is! no more negotiations. Its like the government people do not how to finesse strategy and tactics.

  2. Dean Jorge Bocobo on September 4th, 2008 4:46 pm

    Patricio,

    The argument is made, why should the MILF lay down its arms because then what leverage would it have with the GRP and the Filipino people. What would they gain by agreeing to disarmament, demobilization and rehab?

    How about the increased trust and confidence of the Filipino people?

    I applaud the happenstance that the President has suddenly discovered that nothing good ever comes of the govt giving in to illegal demands at the point of a gun. This has little to do with the so called “martial culture” of the Bangsamoro or their inseparability from their personal weapons. It is only the MILF, with its uniforms, long arms, grenade launchers and rogue armies and subcommands, that want to be awarded a new sultanate of their very own. We are not disarming the mass of ordinary Moros, just an insurgent rebel force.

    Perhaps it’s all for the best in the long run. We need to give DDR a chance. It’s a much better idea than paying ransom at gunpoint.

  3. danilo u. ignacio on September 5th, 2008 9:41 am

    DJB, I am quoting what I had replied to one of your articles in your “Philippine-American Commentary Blog” dated August 7: this is just a hypothetical question:

    “If you are a revolutionary leader Dean, say you’re sick and tired of the government’s corruption, will you surrender your arms without seeing to it and assuring yourself beforehand that the government will comply religiously with what it signs with you? What will be your recourse just in case the government will choose to prolong the war against you in the guise of peace by not complying with what it all signed with you? Will you rather beg to the government?”

    What if the government, in return, will just peel sarcastically its lower eyelid on you when you’ll demand their part in the agreement after you DDR yourself?

    I tell you DJB, if a party fails, let alone mischievously reneges, to fulfill and discharge its part in the agreement despite the fact that it signed with all its discretion, mind and rationality in the event of signing, then it is prolonging the war, like what the GRP has done to the MNLF though the MNLF wholeheartedly submitted to the Philippine Constitution as the framework of their negotiation. As such, had the GRP been truthfully telling the moros that a crow is black like it is in its mind, then you can not expect the MILF to behave today in the way which you indiscriminately call terrorism.

    Another quote: “Dean, how do you qualify an insurgent’s demand to be illegitimate? Say, when the Native Indians who are the First Nation and native inhabitants of America take up arms against the US Government and demand that their usurped indigenous rights over their native land be returned to them as they are discontented over being just resettled in reservation areas, would that be illegitimate? How do you differentiate terrorism from self-defence? In American dictionary, when Palestinians bear stones to defend themselves against heavy tanks of Israel’s occupation army, it is terrorism; when Iraqis take up arms against US occupation army, it is terrorism. Here, when the Moro people resurrect their rightful claim over their usurped lands and rights, they are terrorists!”

    “HOW ABOUT THE INCREASED TRUST AND CONFIDENCE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE?” My goodness! What a statement DJB! After several years of Filipino mischief, legalized stealing and land grabbing, cajoleries of corrupt and puppet datus/rajahs to exploit their own people in the name of the foreign colonizers-now in the name of the Philippine state, killings and massacres of Moros, etc., etc., in short: Rape of the Moroland by the Philippines at the tutelage of America and Europe-its masters, you demand this son of a…trust and confidence from the moros? As if it has been them who disenfranchised the Filipinos and denied of their rights over their lands? This is indeed a “physicist’s irony” you ever invented DJB! Congratulations!

  4. Bencard on September 6th, 2008 3:53 am

    patricio mangubat, if the muslims would want to form a “peace army” of their own, why not instead have them enlist in the afp or pnp and help maintain peace in places where they live as citizens of the philippines? why create a private “army” for misuari, murad or whoever, who could then turn their guns on the people they are supposed to serve and protect, after collecting the funds provided for that purpose?

    it’s been demonstrated that the bangsamoro is a rag-tag group without real leadership and authority. what right have the prospective signatories (leaders) to sign any proposed “peace agreement” and bind the entire moro population that said “leaders” cannot even control?

    if there is to be a lasting peace in mindanao, it can only be by a UNILATERAL action on the part of the muslims to lay down their arms and
    abide by the rule of law. the government’s duty is to treat them equally with any other filipino and give them equal protection under the law and the constitution - no more, no less.

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