Many
may not realize it. But our kids' future, and that of our grandchildren, are hocked
in the snarled Malaysian-brokered talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
and government.
The
talks involve more than just expanding the Muslim Autonomous Region of Mindanao.
The snarl also stems from mindsets.
MILF
chair Al Haj Murad demands they acquire additional territory by the stroke of
a pen. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita replies: The Constitution requires that
residents, in affected areas, have their say in a plebiscite.
Is
an immovable object running smack into an immovable force? How can constitutional
norms, backed by voters, be reconciled with sultan-like diktats, backed by guns?
Mindanao,
however, may become "the Philippines' sanctuaries of terror," warns
Kit Collier of Australian National University and Malcolm Cook of Lowry Institute
for International Policy.
A
weak state, the Philippines is at peace with it's neighbors, notes their new study.
"But since 1994, its lawless southern islands replaced Afghanistan as main
training ground and refuge for Southeast Asian jihadists. Most are Indonesians
belonging to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Mujahidin Kompak, and other Darul Islam factions.
"Graduates
of Mindanao's terror camps rival, in number, the older generation of Southeast
Asian Afghan alumni that forged ties with al-Qaeda. Veterans of Mindanao camps
took part in almost every JI-linked bombing since 2000." This include the
2002 Bali attack that killed hundreds. "New cohorts will pose a danger for
years to come..."
"Mindanao
is not Lebanon. But the dilemma is the same: how does one separate the terrorist
parasite from its unwilling host," without killing the patient?
"In
the Philippines.terrorists are embedded in a volatile Muslim insurgency with which
the West has no quarrel. The MILF.enjoys popular support, expresses legitimate
grievances. And peace talks are underway.
But
"like the Palesentians, MILF is riven by factions. And its leaders cannot,
or will not, exclude terrorists from areas they control". This is MILF hedging
( as ) Manila, beset by political instability, can not "make meaningful concessions.
"A politicized military and paralysis in the capital reinforce each other
in a downward spiral".
Indonesia
is forcing jihadists out "and across Mindanao's porous frontiers.State failure,
chronic insurgency, and proliferating ties between local and foreign terrorists
( here ) come together in a lethal cocktail.
"Combined
with a restive military and an impotent administration, the country has become
Southeast Asia's weakest link in the war on terror. (It ) places the entire region
at risk."
So
what is to be done?
In
Sulu, Filipino marines, backed with US technology, raze once inviolate hideouts
for Abu Sayyaf bandits. They shelter Indonesian terrorist. The sustained assault
is complemented by expanded intelligence efforts, like pilotless drones, and community
development programs.
The
MILF distances itself from the Abu Sayyaf's robbery-extortion record.
An
"embryonic Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, with the government and MILF negotiators"
is to ferret "lawless elements" in MILF territory. Many remain skeptical.
Japan,
Australia the US, meanwhile focus development aid for ARRM. Poverty incidence
in Tawi-Tawi, for instance, is comparable to Yemen and Maguindanao with Congo,
Philippine Human Development Report notes. Malnutrition, dirty water and shoddy
schools slice life expectancy in Sulu to 52 years - far short of Cebu's 72 years.
Collier
and Malcolm pitch for "security reforms." Only a better equipped Armed
Forces can "close down any remaining terrorist sanctuaries - and keep them
closed."
A
coup-tainted AFP needs to be professionalized and reoriented to: calls defense,
border security, and special operations. "Only then will they lose their
vested interest in an insurgency that has no end".
But
what about the mindsets in people?
The
2000 census pegged Muslims at 3.84 million. And nine out of 10 reside in Mindanao.
The Office of Muslim Affairs, however, claims there are 8.34 million Muslims.
Muslims
and Chinese constitute our significant minorities, Chinese, the late historian
Horacio dela Costa, SJ said in his 1975 paper: "The Filipino: An Identikit".
This was long before people could be killed for a newspaper cartoon and suicide
bombers who savaged the innocent were revered. Excerpts from this far-sighted
talk:
"The
ultimate answer..is integration into the national community. Whatever shape that
process takes requires consensus on two points:
"First,
the national community must.welcome pluralism and make it perfectly clear to all:
that in this national community, historically Christian, there is today, if there
was not yesterday, an honored place for Islam..
"We
must make it perfectly clear that indigenous culture has been modified.by cultures
other and older than our own, specifically from the Chinese.And this is an enrichment,
not a negation or distortion of our national values.
"Second:
On the part of minorities, there must be a willingness.to seek integration.They
must realize that the only way to win full acceptance in a national community
it to swear allegiance to it.and to make good this oath by deeds.
"By
this oblation, they do not diminish, but on the contrary, enhance their particular
cultural personality, since they make it contributory to a culture still in the
making..."
We have work cut out so our kids' futures are not hocked.
(E-mail: juan_mercado@boholchronicle.com) | 
