Malacañang didn’t see MNLF uprising coming?

SOMBER AIR: President Noynoy Aquino’s chief peace negotiator has admitted that the bloody strife in Zamboanga has cast a “somber” mood on the piecemeal negotiations between Malacañang and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Of course, the mood will be somber. While everybody is crying for peace, innocent civilians are needlessly killed, wounded and traumatized by the fighting between government troops and warriors of the Moro National Liberation Front.

If Malacañang strategists did not see this unfortunate turn of events coming, they are either blind, insensitive or incapable of logical thought.

The uprising of MNLF followers of Nur Misuari is a consequence of Malacañang’s talking peace only with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front just because the White House picked the 10,000-strong MILF to represent the estimated 5 million Muslim population.

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INCLUSIVE PEACE?: The talks, overseen by Malaysian facilitators whose objectivity is in serious question, is not about INCLUSIVE PEACE, but for the delivery to the MILF of its own sub-state to be carved out of Mindanao.

Other stakeholders, especially those in the affected region, were generally ignored. It is only now, after the ink has dried on the Malacañang-MILF contracts, that there are attempts to kunwari consult other parties in interest.

Even the Congress, one of the three pillars of government, was not brought in before negotiations got under way, making the talks an undertaking only of President Aquino and his coterie. It is incorrect to call the Palace team the government panel.

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BASIC ERRORS: In sitting as representative of the Philippine government, the Malacañang panel gave the MILF a status of belligerency and engraved the error on official documents.

Just on the say-so of the US, the Palace plunged into negotiations without ascertaining first if the MILF is indeed the authentic representative of the Muslim minority. It is basic that the talking parties first check the credentials of the other side.

The Bangsamoro replacing the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao is largely for the MILF. Note that even in the transition council leading to its creation, the chairman and majority are all MILF members or nominees, seemingly the chosen few of Allah.

The creation of the ARMM is pursuant to the 1987 Cory Constitution. The act is one of the steps to peace laid down in the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF as overseen by the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Misuari lamented that the new pact with the MILF is “a total betrayal of his mother’s (Cory) promise to us after we helped catapult her into the presidency.”

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TIME TO PRAY: Will President Aquino disregard the 1996 agreement with the MNLF and throw out the ARMM just to establish a US client-state to be governed by MILF overlords?

It seems so, judging from the way the amateurs in the Aquino administration have been pushing the President to proceed toward a dangerous closure of the peace process.

Is it too late to embrace all stakeholders for INCLUSIVE PEACE? Having wandered too far out, President Aquino may not be able to handle a rebelling MILF emboldened by its American sponsors seeking a firm toehold in Mindanao.

Having allowed the gradual internationalization of the Filipino-Muslim question, Malacañang may not be able to fend off the meddling of Islamic neighbors and the big powers. It cannot even handle China.

It may be time to gather together as Filipinos, bow our heads and pray really hard. Will the President please break away from the MILF for a while and join the congregation?

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CHAOTIC TERMINAL: Seven weeks after its opening, the operations of the Southwest Interim Transport Terminal in the reclaimed bay area remains chaotic, particularly during the peak hours in the morning and evening.

The selection of the Uniwide Coastal Mall as site of the Southwest terminal of the Metro Manila Development Authority appears to be at the core of the problem.

The 10-hectare lot leased by Uniwide from the Manila Bay Development Corp. is about 85 percent occupied by the Coastal Mall.

Only 1.4 hectares was leased by MMDA from Uniwide to set up a terminal for buses serving 21 destinations in Cavite and five in Batangas, plus 300 or more city buses, jeepneys and public utility vehicles taking provincial passengers to various points in Metro Manila.

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BETTER SITE: The time and space numbers are daunting, not to mention certain business kinks disturbing the operations of the terminal.

The public utility vehicles enter the terminal only through a narrow entrance along the north-bound lane of Diosdado Macapagal Blvd. The spectacle is like a procession entering the “Gates of Hell.”

What went into the head of MMDA chair Francis Tolentino that he selected the Uniwide mall for the terminal? Why did he not consider a bigger property right across the street from Uniwide that is also owned by MBDC?

That vacant property is 3-4 hectares that, we heard, can be used as a terminal at no cost to the MMDA. It is accessible from three points – Roxas Blvd., Seaside Drive and Macapagal Blvd.

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NO CONSULTATIONS: As in the Mindanao issues, the problems at the terminal could have been avoided had consultations been held with all affected sectors.

Take, for instance, the size of the land (1.4 hectares) that cannot accommodate all the incoming provincial buses, not to mention the hordes of passengers transiting through it. Add the city buses and other public vehicles lining up on the crowded Macapagal Blvd.

Try passing by the area to feel the problem. The traffic buildup is so great that one has to wait for at least 15 minutes before he can cross the intersection of Macapagal Blvd. and Airport Road.

Whether day or night, the terminal operating 24/7 cannot handle the big number of passengers lining up for 30 minutes to one hour to get inside the crowded terminal.

Another thing the chairman should look into is the real ownership of the land. It might be best to deal directly with the owner instead of the tenant whose lease was cancelled way back in 2010 after it stopped paying rent in 2005.

Tolentino cannot be unaware that the Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered Uniwide to liquidate its assets so it could pay its creditors. Records show that to Manila Bay alone, Uniwide owes P800 million.

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