November 15-21 (2009)

It is still possible for the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to sign the Comprehensive Compact that will finally put to rest the centuries-old Moro Question in Mindanao. Prime Minister Tony Blair had barely two months remaining in office when the Good Friday Agreement was signed on April 10, 1998.

The MILF believes it can be done! The GRP believes too it can be done! Two willing and positive-thinking peace partners can do the unthinkable. In addition, the GRP has a magic formula: Numerous and marathon engagements.

But two persistent questions nag the MILF’s mind. Like Blair, does President Arroyo have political will this time to brave the wrath of the spoilers? Will she be willing to face the threat of impeachment or another rebuff from the Supreme Court which ruled on the legality of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA-AD), which clearly is a political issue?

There are no answers to these questions now. Assurances, body languages, and gestures are as deceptive as they are unreliable. Believing and negotiating are heaven-and-earth apart. Believing is pure mental activity; negotiating is thinking, talking, arguing, researching, sometimes “shouting” --- and the adrenalin soaring up to the bursting level --- crafting, changing positions, scrapping agreed points, walkouts, impasses, and many more.

The other harsh reality is that even if the compact is signed within the time of Arroyo, but will the next president uphold the agreement? The answer can be yes, it can be no. If yes, then it is perfectly good; but if no, the consequence is fatal.

Perhaps, the best tip to do this and ensure a peace pact is signed with Arroyo still in power is: After the MILF agreed that it is dropping the option to secede (but not to foreclose the right to self-determination of the Bangsamoro people) but for the highest form of self-governance, then the GRP and MILF negotiators must list down the powers of an independent state and sub-state. An autonomous state has many variants: Federal state, autonomous republic, autonomous state, associated Free states, a commonwealth, etc. There are many existing models or practices related to shades of strong and real self-governance of peoples short of independent status. A revisit of the Moro Province established by the Americans in Mindanao is a very relevant effort.

In the MOA-AD, the right of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) to conduct its own trade with foreign country is not solely the right or prerogative of an independent state but even a sub-state has this. The State of California and Taiwan, both non-independent states, conduct their own foreign trade.

It is time the Filipino leaders like North Cotabato vice governor Emmanuel Piňol, Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, Iligan City Lluch Cruz, Senator-and-now-candidate for vice president Mar Roxas, and many more should not be afraid of their shadows. The price of peace, indeed, is really huge and painful; after all, the Filipinos, especially their leaders, deprived the Bangsamoro people their sovereignty, wealth, and future. What they are asking is only about 15 percent of what originally belonged to them.