By Mohd. Musib M. Buat

September 26, 2008

While this writer was sipping his cup of coffee after taking his iftar (breakfast) the other day by a road side Moro café beside a mosque, he was joined by an old friend, Datu Pilandok-sa-ilud (counterpart of Datu Pilandok -sa-laya). After a brief exchange of ‘salam’, I asked him. “My old friend Datu Pilandok-sa-ilud, how is everything and what’s new?� He replied in this way, “I am alright despite all the troubles we have but I am more gladdened by the fact that the MOA-AD is very much alive.� “What made you think so,� I curiously asked him. He further elaborated:
Parallel of the legendary Phoenix bird

“The MOA-AD is an elegant document ever produced. It’s the talk of the town, Moros and non-Moros alike and it has become a subject of national discourse and debate. I am convinced that this is a wonderful document that I have ever read.� “Really�, I inquired. “Well,� he further explained, “it is like the legendary bird Phoenix that refuses to die, give up or surrender. No matter how many times you shoot it down on mid-air with poisoned arrows, it will always resurrect and stand up with wings proudly spread in the sky while flying.� “Ha-ha-ha!,� I exclaimed, “You are a visionary Datu Pilandok like a typical Bangsamoro.�

“You are perfectly right and I do agree with you Datu Pilandok�, I told him. According to the Webster’s Dictionary, the phoenix (phenix) is “[A] beautiful bird of Ancient Egyptian legend said to be the only one of its kind and to live 500 or 600 years, then burning itself on a funeral pyre and rising youthful from its ashes; an emblem of immortality; a paragon; a person of distinction or beauty.� That is what typifies the Bangsamoro, it is like a Phoenix bird that has arisen from the ashes of the past and reborn as a “new� Moro Nation (Bangsamoro). They have fought and resisted Spanish aggression for 377 years (1621-1898), under American colonial rule for about 48 years (1899-1946), up to the present Arroyo government’s neocolonial polity subservient to US hegemony, over a span of about half millennium (400 years).

Like the legendary bird Phoenix, the Bangsamoro refuses to die, nor surrender of what remains of their ancestral homeland and ancestral dominion. The MOA-AD represents the wings of the bird Phoenix, the Bangsamoro people its body, and its two legs the MILF/BIAF. Despite being shot down by the Magistrate’s arrow known as TRO, the MOA-AD like the bird Phoenix is still able to fly and navigate the sky to remind us that it is still very much alive.

The Moro youth and the future generation of Moros will forever treasure the MOA-AD as an achievement of the Moro Jihadic mind and pen and a product of the combined mental efforts of the Moro and government negotiators, in an effort to resolve the Mindanao conflict by striking a mutual balance between the opposing principles of sovereignty and self-determination. Unfortunately, it was not given the chance to be tested as the long wanting “new formula of peace� in the land of conflict. However, nothing is still lost. The MOA-AD like the bird Phoenix will still arise to fulfill its interrupted goal and mission. If not, it will become the ‘casus belli’ of the Bangsamoro people and future generation of the Moro youth to reclaim their homeland and redeem their pride and prestige (‘maratabat’) as an “unconquered� nation of the Malay race.

DDR is Hybernating?

“What do you think of the DDR,� Datu Pilandok asked. “That will be the subject of my column today, so please listen and I will read it to you,� I said. It is a continuation of my previous column (September 17, 2008/last updated September 22, 2008).

As soon as the DDR was announced by the Arroyo government as the new paradigm shift in the peace process, Moro intellectuals and MILF officials came forward to criticize it as a wrong policy direction on the part of the government. Like the proverbial ‘dragon’ or ‘serpent’, the DDR thing before it could rear its head, was immediately rejected (or its head about to be slain) by the MILF top officials. As a consequence, the ‘thing’ (DDR) got scared and went into hiding and is presently hibernating somewhere in a distant mountain cave waiting for a chance to reappear. Given the limited time left for the present administration to pursue this new paradigm shift, it is highly improbable that the DDR objective will ever fulfill its goal and objective. To highlight this discourse, let me quote a news item posted in the Luwaran web (September 18, 2008) which runs as follows:

“MILF: DDR is bad terminology

“The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) clarified that the use of the term DDR (demilitarization, demobilization, reintegration) is bad terminology that no revolutionary organization “worthy of its salt� would accept. Better use the term “disposition of forces and weapons�, the term that makes sense when dealing with ideology-based revolutionary organizations or movements.� If we may suggest, we better use the term “normalization�.

Asked whether he is trying to correct the statement made earlier by MILF vice chairman for political affairs, Ghazali Jaafar in a press statement last September 5, the official remarked: “Who am I to correct him. I just wanted to clarify loose ends that might be misunderstood that the MILF agreed to discuss DDR and not the MOA-AD when talks resume.

He said Jaafar and he mean the same thing, although clarified that the Vice Chairman just wanted to use DDR for the government to understand his message well.

DDR is a concept pursued by the United Nations whenever used in its proper perspective and applied in several post conflict situations in South America, Congo, Asia, and Africa. Subjects of the program were mainly ex-combatants and their families, who were impoverished by these long conflicts.

Sometimes, in 2006, the Swedish Ambassador to the Philippines, aided by several experts from South America, Congo, and Asia conducted a three-day forum on DDR at Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan. The participants were all senior members of the MILF. At the end of the three-day sessions, various recommendations were made including adoption of terms instead of DDR.

In a five-point policy statement called the “MILF Declaration Manifest� that was officially released . . . the rebel group described President Macapagal Arroyo’s DDR as “the new road map to peace� that many countries in the World use in resolving armed conflict with the underground.

Jaafar said the MILF acknowledged that the DDR “forms part of the comprehensive peace settlement.� But he said, it should be the last item, and not in the forefront, of the talks.
“When the DDR is taken up ahead of the Comprehensive peace settlement, it is to be designated to be a military approach. Not in the way of a political approach that President Arroyo promised in 2001 when she replaced all-out-war policy of President Joseph Estrada to the all out peace policy,� Jaafar further said.

There is no doubt that the MILF senior members and ranking officials are well familiar with concept of DDR in other conflict affected countries as a post-conflict agenda for normalization and is primarily addressed for reintegration into peaceful life of former combatants and their families who have been impoverished as a consequence of the armed conflict. DDR is also a two-way traffic because the legitimate regime or government has the equal obligation and responsibility in down sizing its armed forces and its defense budget as a prelude to normalization. The President should be properly advised by her advisers on DDR.

DDR: the most dangerous proposal in the MILF and GRP Peace Process

Atty. Lanang Ali, a senior member of the MILF Peace Negotiating Panel rendered a more candid commentary on DDR on the basis of the government’s new peace policy paradigm shift. In his column recently posted in the Luwaran web (September 25, 2008), he wrote in part, that:

“The most dangerous proposal in the peace process between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), was the 3-page government policy read by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita during a Malacanang Press Conference, announcing President Arroyo’s new paradigm on the peace process. Supposedly, the new paradigm was aimed to end all armed rebellion in the country. No revolutionary organization can consider DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration) without reaching first a peace agreement with the Philippine government. At first look it’s seemingly ambitious to realize its objective because it considers by engagement with all armed groups in the country, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), from here on will focus on DDR. What makes DDR impossible to achieve during this time is the fact that so far the GRP has not reached a peace agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the MILF.�

What makes of the DDR version of the government equally frustrating as a new peace paradigm is its vagueness and the absence of clear guidelines from the point of view of the Philippine government. Will it be a pre-condition for peace negotiation or will it form part of a comprehensive peace settlement? Or could this be another version of a counter-insurgency policy? How will this new peace policy deal with other ideology-based armed groups such as the Abu Sayyap (ASG) and the Jamaah Islamiyah groups? Indeed, this government version of DDR is like a ‘serpent’ or ‘dragon’ that has to be slain whenever it reappears from its hiding nest before it could commit havoc and devastation all over the land. The public sector and civil society must be like the legendary hero of Norse mythology, Siegfried who went forth to the ‘dragon’s lair and slew it before it could do further havoc in the land. Bereft of a clear direction, the government DDR version could run wild and create more conflicts than restoring peace. It is not a formula for peace but a demon set loose from hell, perhaps?

DDR in its proper perspective

Now let us briefly review DDR in its proper perspective. While DDR can help create an environment in which overall peace process, political, social reconciliation, social and economic rehabilitation, and long term development can take root, it cannot substitute for inadequate will on the part of the Parties to the conflict. Neither could a DDR policy substitute for effective peace enforcements; nor it can prevent conflict from recurring but it can help mitigate conflicts. Ultimately, DDR should form part or component of an over-all normalization process strategy during the post-conflict stage via implementation of the comprehensive peace settlement during the post-conflict stage. For clarity, let us define some terms based on available UN documents:

“Disarmament’ is the collection, documentation, control and disposal of small arms, ammunition, explosives and light and heavy weapons of combatants and often also of civilian population. Disarmament also includes the development of responsible arms management programs.� [UN, 2006, DDR, “Report of the UN Secretary General].

“Demobilization is a process that officially certifies an individual combatant’s change of status from being a member of a military grouping to being a civilian. The process of cutting formal ties with military command structure is a long process and difficult one. It requires important preparatory work that will assist the integration of ex-combatant to civilian life.� [See Prof. Aboud S. Lingga’s Paper on DDR]. The ‘Reintegration’ process being referred in the DDR concept here is different and not the same as the MNLF integration into the military and national police organizations of the Philippine government, but integration of ex-combatants to civilian life. There were, however, former MNLF combatants who had opted back to civilian life. With respect to the MILF combatants, this will be another story. It may be taken up in the comprehensive peace settlement if ever there will resumption of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks.