About the peace talks with the MILF

As of this writing, President Aquino has not yet given his official or even his personal comment regarding the Supreme Court’s en banc decision last Tuesday to distribute with finality the almost 5,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita property owned by his family. But The Philippine STAR headline last Thursday gives us a glimpse of what’s going on in the mind of President Aquino when Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda who acts as the President’s alter ego reported that they have ordered the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to review the valuation of the Hacienda Luisita.

Will we see this act as another Presidential defiance of the Supreme Court ruling? I certainly hope it won’t go that far. Many Filipinos, including my mother’s family, lost a large part of our farm in Bohol because of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of Tita Cory. Now it is the turn of the Aquinos to relinquish their (it was supposed to be theirs for only 10 years) land to the poor just like the rest of us!

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I was taken aback by that news report that government peace negotiators headed by Marvic Leonen holding talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Malaysia have agreed that the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) could be replaced in order to accommodate the MILF in a political entity in lieu of giving them an independent Bangsamoro State. Leonen pointed out “The contours of that autonomous political entity are still undergoing discussion including its “territorial scope.”

While I may agree with Leonen who said that “a status quo in ARMM was no longer acceptable and must be improved” because the ARMM as it was designed is a complete failure. However I must say that this has a major flaw in the sense that the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) doesn’t seem to be included in this peace talks. I have written here many times before… in order to achieve peace in Mindanao all the stakeholders must be involved in the peace talks. So what’s the role of the MNLF in this if there’s any?

Some weeks ago, I met with Prince Omar Kiram, the cousin of Sultan Muhammad Fuad Abdulla Kiram I, Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Sabah (the 35th reigning Sultan) and head of the Sultanate and head of Islam in the Royal Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah and we had a long discussion about the history and the security problems that have plagued Mindanao for decades. So I texted him what he thought about this latest development and he texted me this reply and agreed to have it printed. Here’s his full text.

“Dear Mr. Avila, We maintain our stance that any so-called Peace brokered by Malaysia is suspect and will not favor the Filipinos. The MILF is a Malaysian surrogate armed & financed by Malaysia to sow chaos in Mindanao. It is a Malaysian plan to create an MILF sub state that it can control as a buffer zone to support Malaysia’s illegal Sabah occupation since 1963 to this day.

Malaysia being an illegal Sabah occupier must not be a peace broker between GRP & MILF. Malaysia is there to protect its interest not help the Philippines.

Allowing Malaysia as peace broker is like making Dracula a security guard in the Filipino blood bank. It is idiotic and defies logic and sanity. Malaysia must be replaced by Indonesia or Finland as peace broker as these two nations have no hidden agenda in Mindanao. Allahu Akbarr! Barakallah Ameen! Best Regards…. Prince Omar Kiram.”

To be totally honest about it… here we are at loggerheads with China on the Scarborough Shoal, which is mostly underwater, yet the majority of the Filipino people do not even know our history… that once upon a time, Sabah (it has lots of oil) belonged to the Philippines and in some kind of international sleigh of hand… the British government turned it over to the new State of Malaysia when in fact, sovereignty of Sabah or North Borneo was given by then Sultan Muhammad Esmail Kiram (the father of Sultan Fuad Kiram) and accepted by Pres. Diosdado Macapagal on Sept. 11, 1962.

We were merely kids back in those days and what happened later and why the sovereignty of Sabah fell into the control of Malaysia; I still have to check the history on this. But I do agree that Malaysia should not be the broker for this peace plan as they may have a hidden agenda on this case. Move it to Indonesia and perhaps we’ll get these talks on the right footing. 

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A friend texted me about the article we wrote last week about the Lockheed C-130 Hercules at the Ebuen Air Force Base in Mactan that were chop-chopped for junk. He said that unless seriously damaged we could have restored those planes at a very much lower cost than getting a brand new one. He also asked who got the parts that were removed from the planes? As I’ve said, PAF officials ought to respond to this query.

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