The government will hold a plebiscite early next year in more than 700 barangays to set up an ancestral homeland for Muslims, part of a deal with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Hermogenes Esperon, presidential adviser on the peace process, yesterday said the proposed Muslim homeland would also be empowered to collect about 75 percent of taxes from oil, mines and fisheries in the area.
Esperon made the statements a day after government and MILF negotiators hammered out a deal in Kuala Lumpur.
“The government has agreed to grant broader political, social and economic power to the Muslims based on a deal we have reached with the rebels,” Esperon said.
“The final political solution will still be negotiated, and, if needed, we will amend the Constitution to reflect what was agreed upon with the rebels. It appears we’re creating a federal system, but that is not what we have now in our Constitution.”
The deal would expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that was carved out in a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front in the late 90s.
Esperon said he could not reveal the full details of the deal with the MILF due to the confidentiality of the negotiations, but said it went beyond the earlier agreement with the MNLF.
Government negotiators on Wednesday reported a “breakthrough,” with the government panel led by former military general Rodolfo Garcia persuading their MILF counterparts led by Mohaqher Iqbal to temporarily drop the word “freedom” in the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domains that it is proposing to pave the way for the resumption of the formal peace talks.
The two panels met in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and will again meet on July 24 to set the date for the signing of the MOA which may lead to the establishment of a Bangsa Moro Federal Government through an amendment to the 1987 Constitution.
The GRP panel wanted the discussions on freedom shelved, anxious that the seven-letter word could be interpreted as a legal right to declare total independence.
Esperon said that in the meeting on July 24, the government hopes to finalize a draft agreement and fix the date for the formal signing of the deal on ancestral domain, which was likely within a few months.
“We promised to deliver a plebiscite within six months after the signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain,” Esperon said.
‘Freedom’
The draft agreement states that “the recognition and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsa Moro people, free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and open new formula that permanently responds to the aspirations of the Bangsa Moro people for freedom.”
Esperon said the government panel had previously proposed that the word “freedom” be replaced with “full measure of rights and freedom” while their MILF counterparts proposed either “freedom with full measure of rights” or simply “self-determination.”
The government’s position is to temporarily drop the word freedom so the provision on governance of the Bangsa Moro juridical entity will simply end with the phrase “respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.”
While the word does not have a juridical definition, Esperon said history dictates that freedom could mean “independence” which is against the spirit of the Constitution.
Esperon said negotiators are also working for the inclusion of a clause stating that Charter change will be undertaken only if there will be no other constitutional methods to establish the Bangsa Moro entity which he noted, is leaning towards the adoption of federalism.
Full Control
He said that if a peace accord is signed and the Bangsa Moro is established, its people will be granted full control of its land and the water 15 kilometers from the shoreline while the area beyond it will be divided 75-25 in favor of the Bangsa Moro people.
The Bangsa Moro area will include the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) territory and 712 barangays from Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga Sibugay and Palawan.
The ARMM provinces are Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Shariff Kabunsuan.
The barangays will only be included after the plebiscite.
“The matter of federal state is not definite. It has yet to become a product of final peace talks but we have mechanisms to solve that. We could go through constitutional amendment or go for the (charter change) proposal or the joint resolution of the Senate to go federal,” Esperon said.
Esperon said that after the MOA is signed, the formal peace talks will begin. “Whether it will take one month, one year we do not know but we would like to build on the goodwill that we have built,” he said.
Sona Item
Esperon said that while the GRP panel has not been rushing the signing of the agreement in time for the President’s state of the nation address (SONA) on July 28, they welcome its inclusion in the President’s annual report to Congress.
“Why not?” he said, adding it would be a huge accomplishment for the government to constantly gain headway in the peace process.
President Arroyo said the lasting peace in Mindanao that her government has long been working for will be attained sooner because of the success of the peace process.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said that while the signing of a peace accord will be a big boost to the efforts to attain peace in Mindanao and would isolate the legitimate secessionists from the terrorists, the government still does not discount the possibility of continued atrocities from other armed elements in Mindanao.
Too Early to Celebrate
The landmark deal was welcomed, but analysts and residents in the South said more needed to be done. Fundamental issues, such as the right of Muslims to self-determination, remained unresolved, they said.
They said the agreement did not guarantee the end of a near 40-year conflict that has killed 120,000 people and displaced 2 million on the resource-rich southern island of Mindanao.
The two sides have been observing a cease-fire since 2003, although tensions sometimes have erupted into fighting.
***********************************************************************
MILF deal may expand ARMM
by Nikko Dizon
A plebiscite will determine the composition of the new territory to be considered the ancestral homeland of three million Moros in Mindanao, which it is hoped would result from a peace agreement between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s adviser on the peace process.
The “projected” territory referred to as the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity is the “current” Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which may be expanded to include 712 barangays (villages) in five provinces in Central Mindanao, Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Thursday.
He said the five provinces were Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga-Sibugay and Palawan.
“The MILF has agreed that additions to the present ARMM will be subject to the conduct of a plebiscite… We promised to cause the [conduct] of the plebiscite six months after the signing of the MOA (memorandum of agreement),” Esperon told reporters.
He said the two panels would meet on July 24 to determine the formal signing date of the MOA, and the formal peace talks—which had stalled on the issue of ancestral domain—would resume after that.
“Whether it will take one month or one year, we don’t know. But we would like to build on the goodwill that has been built,” said Esperon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff.
But Fr. Eliseo Mercado, OMI, a former member of the government panel in peace talks with Moro rebel groups, said he was “90 percent” certain that a final peace agreement with the MILF would be signed this year.
75-25 sharing
Esperon said the two panels had also agreed that the jurisdiction and control of resources found within 15 kilometers from the shoreline would be with the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
“Beyond that, there will be joint control in the sharing of these critical resources, primarily fuel, oil and other such critical minerals,” he said.
The sharing will be 75 percent for the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and 25 percent for the government, he said.
As for land resources, Esperon said there were “existing arrangements,” and pointed out that the ARMM had its own Department of Natural and Environment Resources.
Esperon said there should be “some unification” between the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) regarding the issue on ancestral domain.
He declined to comment on how this could be attained.
The ARMM, composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Shariff Kabunsuan, was created after the Philippine government entered into a peace agreement with the MNLF.
Breakthrough
At informal talks in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, the government and the MILF reached a breakthrough in efforts to resume the peace talks.
The two panels agreed to drop the word “freedom” in reaching a deal to create an ancestral homeland for Muslims in Mindanao, and settled for the phrase “aspiration of the Bangsamoro people.”
In the earlier wording of the agreement, the MILF sought to “permanently address the aspirations of the Bangsamoro for freedom.”
The unofficial, draft agreement will thus read: “The recognition and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsamoro people free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and open new formulas that permanently respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.”
Esperon said the wording on ancestral domain would be negotiated once the peace talks resume.
He said the word “freedom,” which basically was about governance, was one of four contentious issues between the government and MILF panels in the peace talks.
He said the three other issues were jurisdiction and control of natural resources, the kind of organization to be established to “enable” the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity “to function efficiently,” and “the matter of providing for a clause proposed by the Philippine side that all these agreements must conform with the Constitution … or with the legal framework of the Philippines.”
Big difference
Father Mercado, who now heads the peace advocacy group Kusog Mindanao, told radio station dxND in Kidapawan City that the agreement on the choice of words could spell a big difference in the peace talks.
But he warned that the agreement did not automatically resolve all the issues hounding the peace process with the MILF.
“The MOA on ancestral domain is not the comprehensive agreement, as what others [think]. It will only pave the way for the resumption of formal peace talks,” Mercado said.
MILF civil-military affairs chief Eid Kabalu told Inquirer Mindanao on the phone that the separatist group was also optimistic about the signing of a final peace deal.
But he said this would depend on how fast the panels could agree on the issues pending resolution.
Still, Kabalu admitted that the Kuala Lumpur agreement resolved some of the stickiest issues that had been stalling the peace talks.
Possible federal state
Esperon said the new territory would cover a “considerable” land area.
If the residents agree to be included in the new territory through the plebiscite, their barangays or towns will comprise an expanded ARMM.
Esperon said the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity “would take a form more advanced than that of an autonomous region, and this could take the form of a federal state.”
An amendment in the 1987 Constitution may also be necessary depending on “the provisions of the peace agreement,” he said, adding:
“A federal state is not allowed within our current legal framework, and so if we go through that, then the agreement will not be executory until we have the enabling act which could come in the form of a constitution.”
Interviewed over dzBB in Manila, President Arroyo gave thanks for the agreement made by the two panels in Kuala Lumpur.
“Yes, praise God, yes, praise God,” she said.
She added that a peace deal could be concluded soon because the clashing views on ancestral domain had been resolved.
Ms Arroyo also said that “once a lasting peace is achieved in Mindanao, a speedy and lasting … development will ensue.”
She said that while certain areas in Mindanao were “very, very productive,” some parts were “very, very deprived” because these were “torn by armed conflicts.”
Resistance
In Kidapawan City, the provincial board of North Cotabato passed a resolution opposing the inclusion of the province in the proposed expanded ARMM.
In the resolution, the provincial board also authorized North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan to file a case with the Supreme Court in the event the province is identified as part of the projected Moro territory.
“The people of North Cotabato already spoke in 2001 when they opposed the inclusion of the province in the ARMM,” Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol said.
Piñol said North Cotabato’s opposition was based on documents indicating that the province was one of the areas being considered for inclusion in the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
Moro assignment
Esperon said another important development in the peace process with the MILF was the appointment of a Moro as head of the government team in the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), a body formed by the government and the MILF to address the prevalence of organized crime in Mindanao.
Brig. Gen. Muhammad Nur Askalani replaced Brig. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, the Marine Corps chief, in the AHJAG.
“I know he can handle this job well, knowing his experience,” Dolorfino said of his successor, who is also deputy commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.
Said Esperon: “Askalani is the first Tausug to become a general in the Philippine Army, and with his vast experience in Mindanao, I have no doubt that he can perform well for the Bangsamoro people.”
Askalani hails from the fishing village of Lugus Island in Sulu, a depressed province in the ARMM, which is always known as the hotbed of the Moro rebellion. With reports from Julie S. Alipala, Edwin O. Fernandez and Dennis Jay C. Santos, Inquirer Mindanao; Michael Lim Ubac in Manila
Anything cooked up by these crooks in fact should have been subject to scrutiny especially when this supposed granting of lands to these Moslems should have gone through a national referendum, because this may just be a ploy by these land and power grabbers. Baka sila lang ang lalabas na may ari ng mga lupang sinasabi nilang ibibigay sa mga moro! Kawawa iyon mga nag-kaingin ng mga lupaing iyan sa totoo lang tapos sa iba mapupunta.
The corrupt Arroyo government is dealing with MILF and disregarded Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)’s involvement in the current peace process. They control different territories in Mindanao and Sulu Islands. I smell blood. Gloria Arroyo wants the separatist rebels butcher each other. They should not deal with the evil regime. The so-called peace accord is only a show for her SONA. Federalism is a long shot.
Diego K. Guerrero Says:
I smell blood. Gloria Arroyo wants the separatist rebels butcher each other.
……
Precisely. Muslims on each others’ throat will give gloria the reason to declare martial law and become president for life. DO NOT underestimate the midget.
The Gloria Arroyo administration will do anything to extend its hold on power beyond 2010.Gloria is desperately trying to force the nation to amend the constitution.It will invent any excuse to do so shortly.
Here’s one dumb example from gloria’s political general turned ” expert “constitutionalist:
“A federal state is not allowed within the current framework. And so because of that, the final agreement will not be executory until we have an enabling act [for a federal state]. This will come in the form of an amendment to the Constitution,” he said.
“If there is a need to accommodate or amend the Constitution because of the provisions in the peace agreement [with the MILF], then we will go through that,” Esperon added.
Esperon: You are needed in the Recovery room in the Mental Hospital !
Patay kayong lahat diyan na mga rebelde, nakipag-deal pala kayo kay Ass!
Bwahahaha! The Ass doesn’t understand his own blah,blah, blah!
Gusto pang talunin si Fr. Bernas!
Kung sino ang malapit kay Ass, paki sapukin na lang!
Paano naging constitutionalist si Assperon? Eh! Ang kanyang background ay pandaraya at salvage.
Problem is Mindanao is the stronghold of the daya brigade of the Dorobo. I bet you niluluto na ni Dorobo iyong daya brigade niya sa Mindanao to make it look that it is the wish of the people there to give their lands to the Moslems they are paying no doubt to grab those lands for them. Tricky ang mga loko. Baka iyan Esperon na iyan balak din magkaroon ng bakahan sa Mindanao. Beat me how these crooks can acquire big lands even overseas with their meager salaries!!!
Chi,
Ang alam ko galit iyong mga kakilala kong rebelde (daw) na Moslem kay Assperon kaya bakit siya isinusulong sa negotiation na ito. I doubt na talagang mga MILF ang mga kausap nila. Mga pekeng Moslems din yata ang kausap para in the end, sila din ang nakinabang doon sa ibibigay na ancestral lands kuno sa kanila.
Remember mahilig bumaligtad ng salita si Pandack Omama. Baka mamamaya inaangkin na niya ang mga lupang kunyari ibinibigay niya sa mga Moslems at sabihin “ancestral lands” ng mga Piggies from Negros and Pampanga! Magnanakaw talaga!
Chi,
Ang alam ko galit iyong mga kakilala kong rebelde (daw) na Moslem kay Assperon kaya bakit siya isinusulong sa negotiation na ito. I doubt na talagang mga MILF ang mga kausap nila. Mga pekeng Moslems din yata ang kausap para in the end, sila din ang nakinabang doon sa ibibigay na ancestral lands kuno sa kanila.
Remember mahilig bumaligtad ng salita si Pandack Omama. Baka mamamaya inaangkin na niya ang mga lupang kunyari ibinibigay niya sa mga Moslems at sabihin “ancestral lands” ng mga Piggies from Negros and Pampanga! Magnanakaw talaga!
Carving out Philippine territory for the Moro population.
After generations the carved out territory will not be enough for their growing population. Will they again ask for more territory? They are growing in number in Metro Manila. Will they also ask for a carving out of that territory?
What does the Republic of Cebuanos have to say about this?
Just wondering..ano kaya ang maging stand ni Barack Obama dito if and when he becomes President..something to think about for us who will vote this coming November..A food for thought indeed..
There is a special place in my trash can for VIPs like Hermogenes Esperon, one of many….
Same shit, different day….
Oh yes…. So true!
I will always accord Hermogenes Esperon the respect he richly deserves….
Garbage in…. Garbage out….
Sadsad na Sadsad ang Public Support Ratings ni Gloria Arroyo!
President Gloria Arroyo:A reminder!
“We have a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles. It’s the idea that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted.”
Barack Obama
Hinahati-hati ni Gloria ang Pinas for her political survival. Unless the people unite to check on this kabastusan of Gloria, the help from Above won’t come!
chi Says:
Hinahati-hati ni Gloria ang Pinas for her political survival. Unless the people unite to check on this kabastusan of Gloria, the help from Above won’t come!
– – – – – – –
Right on, chi! God helps those who help themselves. Look at gloria … she helps herself to the national treasury.
No more talks. Time to act. All of you has the wisdom as to why the midget is doing these things..for her advantage and for the demise of the poor Filipinos, what can you do in action? Think about it. Just a question from somebody who is observing.
chi Says:
“Hinahati-hati ni Gloria ang Pinas for her political survival. Unless the people unite to check on this kabastusan of Gloria, the help from Above won’t come!”
Hinahati-hati at saka pinati-titulohan sa pangalan ng mga dummies nilang mag-asawa. Pag umabot pa iyan ng 2010, paghahatian na nila ng mga taga-Tsina ang buong Mindanao. One Million hectares sa China. One million sa kanila!