The Bangsamoro Domain Deal: The Unraveling is Complete

Written on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 7:58 pm | by Ding G. Gagelonia

The Inquirer banner headlines came just 27 days apart, on August 3 and August 30, respectively.

In capsule, they show how a deal, no matter how well-intentioned, has unraveled completely due to the public uproar, fueled in large part by the revelations about the utter surrender of Philippine sovereignty to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

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About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

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10 Responses to “The Bangsamoro Domain Deal: The Unraveling is Complete”

  1. the jester-in-exile on August 30th, 2008 8:17 pm

    i’d add that any public sympathy for the MILF was lost after the attacks by macapaar and kato.

    now, the MILF is being looked at as no better than a roving band of bandits ravaging mindanao because they can’t get what they want by peaceful means. kind of like an unruly, spoilt child throwing a tantrum — it begs to be spanked.

  2. manuelbuencamino on August 30th, 2008 9:57 pm

    Parang ZTE nung nabisto at nagalit ang taong bayan biglang kinancel.

    Moot na daw sabi ni Devanadera sa Supreme Court,

    Moot na daw pero nagpapatayan pa rin sila sa Mindanao.

  3. Nick on August 30th, 2008 11:04 pm

    If the conflict persists, it is because The MILF is willing it to continue, and it is because The Arroyo Administration has made such a blunder in this whole negotiation..

    For such an important negotiation, involving peace in Mindanao, even the secrecy of The Arroyo Administration had to creep into the MOA-AD..

    When will this Administration get it? That keeping secret, keeping hush, especially on issues of national interest, will always result in an outcome contrary to the desired result…

  4. Bencard on August 31st, 2008 12:01 am

    it’s better to err in the pursuit of peace, and backtrack when it’s proven unacceptable by the approving authority, than intransigently persist in the name of “palabra de honor”. it’s been shown that moa or no moa, peace is still elusive in mindanao and that there is no substitute for the rebels laying down their arms and embracing the rule of law as a recipe for permanent peace. separation, under whatever euphemism, e.g bje, autonomous region, sovereign state, cannot solve the problems of poverty of the ordinary muslims. if anything, only their “leaders” will reap the benefits of power and wealth. other ethnic groups suffer the same poverty too. but they don’t demand separation or special favors. we have to solve our problems, suffer our misfortunes, enjoy the benefits of our labor, and live in peace under democracy and rule of law, as one nation.

  5. Ding G. Gagelonia on August 31st, 2008 3:49 am

    “Better to err in the pursuit of peace,” true Perhaps, Atty. Ben. But As Manuel Buencamino observes above, this is not the first time (or even second instance)that the Arroyo regime has back-tracked when its hand ‘is caught in the cookie jar.
    It it has am an impressive ‘track record’ of attempting to ram down ill-considered, even possibly graft-attended ‘deals’ and potentially-illegal edicts. Then when there are exposes and public uproar, Malacanang retreats in the guise of being “sensitive to the public pulse,” but really with the aim of avoiding damaging legal censure, with it’s political capital and credibility further expended, and eroded.

    As one well-known business leader tells his friends, “the governance by adhoc-ism” and tantrum-driven directives seem to be SOP. Do we deserve this??? Tsk, tsk…

  6. Bencard on August 31st, 2008 4:31 am

    what’s wrong with avoiding legal censure? that’s why we have review mechanisms, checks and balances, freedom of the press. no one has a monopoly on truth and correctness. only through a free discussion in the market of ideas do we gain insight as to what is good, beneficial and true, then let the rule of law takes its course. that is democracy.

    it’s easy to beat our breasts whenever an opposing side backtracks and to cockily crow “i told you so”. why can’t we just celebrate and be happy that what could be a mishap have been averted and that, hopefully, a better way could be found, for a change?

  7. manuelbuencamino on August 31st, 2008 10:23 am

    Bencard,

    “why can’t we just celebrate and be happy that what could be a mishap have been averted and that, hopefully, a better way could be found, for a change?”

    Why do we have to ride a car driven by a drunk and then celebrate if we don’t get into a car wreck?

  8. Bencard on August 31st, 2008 10:42 am

    because, like it or not, most of us are fools - sometimes.

  9. Ding G. Gagelonia on August 31st, 2008 5:53 pm

    Atty. Ben,
    I am far far from exultant nor do I have an ‘I told you so’ attitude. There’s nothing I want more than to be able to voice support for the commitment to pursue peace, but not peace at the price of surrendering the Republic’s sovereignty and dismembering it.

    My worry is the regime’s propensity for actions that are not backed by true love of country and a vision grounded on preserving national territorial integrity.

  10. Dean Jorge Bocobo on September 1st, 2008 2:48 pm

    It ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings. In this case, the Supreme Court. If they rule the thing as moot and academic, the MOA-AD could easily be resurrected by the same mechanism of its purported demise: mere proclamation by a moral dwarf and her incompetent sycophants. Puno hints of another anti-Solomonic decision coming, where they rule on some things, but not on others. The False Mother WILL have her half of the Baby. And Sulaiman will give it to them.

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