The only way out

The anger and despair at the Mamapasano massacre is understandable. The Fallen44 need not have died if we had a more responsible leadership. It adds to the grief that they could have been saved if it there had been the will to save them. Instead they were abandoned and made into sacrificial lambs. There can be no excuse for tha

Still it must not blind us to stop thinking of how to achieve peace. Then the deaths of the Fallen44 would not have been in vain.

As we have seen, any extreme option in settling scores will not work. Instead of fueling emotions we should look at options. There is a way to redeem our quest for peace with our Moro brothers. They are our brothers in humanity despite the historical roots that divided us.

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MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal may have said in a letter read by Rasid Ladiasan to the Senate that it “will remain a revolutionary organization” despite the ongoing peace talks. And it may be true that it has links to Al-Qaeda according to former DILG Sec. Rafael Alunan. It may have BIFF terrorists affiliated to ISIS on its territory. In other words, it will remain a militant organization until it has achieved a Bangsamoro state for its people, even if it has to make a pact with the devil to attain its goal. The devil may well be the terrorist organizations worldwide.

The objective of Al-Qaeda, as shown by the maps seized in the Bin Laden raid, is to create Islamic caliphates from Andalucia in Spain to the Middle East to Mindanao in the Philippines. Its affiliates like ISIS and Boko Haram are now carving out caliphates in Syria and Nigeria.

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This column warned the same would happen in the Philippines if the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as it has been drafted today were passed. It is deeply flawed. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) opposes it. The Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) of the armed forces are equally against it. So do many other sectors of thinking Filipinos. Former senator Aquilino Pimentel said the BBL infringes on Philippine sovereignty. Former Supreme Court justice Vicente Mendoza pointed to 5 provisions in the BBL that are unconstitutional. These were mentioned in Sara Soliven de Guzman’s column that appeared in the STAR’s Feb. 9, issue.

More threatening is the issue of control. If the Palestinian Authority is unable to control Hamas terrorists in Gaza, if the Afghan government is unable to control Taliban terrorists, if the Nigerian government is unable to control Boko Haram terrorists, if the Yemeni and Pakistani governments are unable to control terrorists in their country, what makes the Aquino government think the MILF can control the terrorists inside its territory?

Is there a way out? There is and I believe it is the only way out.

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As Bayanko viralled in social media, it favors a Bangsamoro federal state. But this state must be enshrined in a new Constitution based on a parliamentary federal system with set parameters and procedures for self-governing communities that comprise the union. A good example of this federal structure was done in Spain.

Sec. 2 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution states, “The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards.” This means the self-governing communities or autonomous units cannot break out of the Spanish State. As the Constitution was ratified by a plebiscite of the entire Spanish nation, any move to secede must first be approved by the Spanish people, unlike the BBL which looks to a plebiscite limited to those areas covered by the BBL to ratify it. This would mean that a Bangsamoro can secede from the Philippines simply by will of the Bangsamoro people.

When Arturo Mas, president of the autonomous community of Catalonia, wanted a referendum by Catalans to become independent, Mariano Rajoy, prime minister of Spain, said it would be unconstitutional. Catalonia could not secede.

The danger of a future secession by the Bangsamoro and Mindanao cannot be ruled out. It is imperative that a Bangsamoro state be locked in, not by simple operation of law, but into a Constitution where the member states or self-governing communities cannot unilaterally break out of the Republic without the consent of the entire nation.

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The dream of a separate Moro homeland has historical roots. Muslim Mindanao has a small population, a different culture, a different religion, different traditions and values, is rich in agriculture and mineral resources. So the jihadist temptation will always be there to secede from Imperial Manila which has long ignored it.

We have to identify the moderate Muslims, those willing to accept a Bangsamoro federal state enshrined in a new Constitution, and work with them. In their posting of Feb. 7 on the social media, Norodin Alonto Lucman and Robert Maulana Marohombsar, signing on behalf of the MILF, reacted to President Aquino’s TV speech of Feb. 6 which they called a declaration of war against MILF-BMIAF.

Norodin had posted earlier he agreed with Bayanko on a Bangsamoro federal state and declared his readiness “to fight for Federalism for the whole country (Philippines).”

In a separate message to Bayanko, he wrote, “Federation is what we are aspiring for including the MILF. We want the rest of the country stabilized through this system of brotherhood under the slogan Unity in Diversity which was advanced by our forefathers in ages past. Tell me what I can do and I will respond accordingly.”

Datu HJ Abul Khayr Alonto, chairman of one of the factions of the MNLF, also backed proposals for Charter change to resolve the constitutional infirmities of the BBL. So there appears to be a growing convergence between their views and the view of Bayanko.

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Can it be done? Bayanko adviser Jose Alejandrino told this column he believes it can. “All it takes is political will. In the Spanish case, the whole process of drafting a new Spanish Constitution by a 7-man panel to its ratification by the people took 18 months. In the Philippines’ case the process can be done in less time to coincide with the 2016 elections, provided there is political will, Alejandrino adds.

Whether we like it or not, we are in a revolutionary situation. The forces of change are pushing in different directions. If President Aquino and Congress ignore them, the whole situation could get out of hand. When that happens, it will spell the downfall of President Aquino and the established political order.