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The Maguindanao Massacre, the Bangsamoro Problem and the Peace Process

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

By Soliman M. Santos, Jr.
Independent Peace Advocate
Quezon City, 30 November 2009

As a peace advocate who has considered Muslim Mindanao as my second region (after Bicol), I join so many others in their shock at and condemnation of what is now called the Maguindanao Massacre of 23 November 2009, likewise in expressing sympathies for the close relatives and friends of those who were killed, especially two fellow human rights lawyers, and calling for speedy justice and other necessary measures of redress and reform.  There will never be enough words to describe this almost unbelievably depraved and inhuman incident. (more…)

31.12.2009 Bangsamoro, Politics, Society No Comments

Thank you, Supreme Court of the Philippines

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

By: Atty. Fatimah Bin Guerra

Thank you, Honorable Chief Justice and Associate Justices for showing us how justice works in this country.  Thank you for issuing the TRO on the MOA-AD, for showing to the Filipino people how fast you can actually act upon cases filed by powerful politicians like Emmanuel Piñol and Celso Lobregat.  Indeed, the speediness at which you have acted on this case was extraordinary and phenomenal.  In 3 months time, you have struck down a document which took more than 10 years of painstaking negotiations to accomplish.

Thank you, too, for helping MILF base Commanders Ameril Ombra Kato and Bravo recruit more fighters and supporters.  Your decision vindicated what they have always believed from the very beginning — that this government will never be sincere in talking peace with the Bangsamoro people.  Now we are faced with the world’s longest running armed conflict that sees no resolution in sight.  Thank you for condemning Mindanao as the next Afghanistan or Darfur in Asia. (more…)

11.11.2008 Bangsamoro 2 Comments

Compromising for peace: an interview with Indonesian Vice Pres Jusuf Kalla

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Sharing with you the interview with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla who was incharge of the negotiations with GAM. This was copylift at http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/aceh/compromising.php – reconfiguring politics: the Indonesia – Aceh peace process.

I wonder if the Filipino Politicians and Leaders can also do this? Can they give peace a chance and solve the Mindanao root conflict and the Bangsamoro problem? If this Philippine Government don’t give MOA-AD a chance maybe we will just go back to our old call for re-Indpendence of the Bangsamoro people.

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Accord: How did you approach the problem of finding a negotiated settlement to the Aceh conflict?

Jusuf Kalla: I had been involved in Aceh since 2003. In early 2004 I visited Europe to try to meet GAM leader Malik Mahmud, but did not make direct contact. It was only after the December 2004 tsunami that I really had success. In January 2005, I set up a meeting with GAM with the help of a number of European ambassadors. Two weeks later, with the authority of the President, the first meeting with GAM took place. (more…)

10.11.2008 Bangsamoro No Comments

The MOA is NOT dead

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

By: Engr. Don Mustapha Arbison Loong

 
The MOA-AD is “dead”. This became the headline in newspapers when the Supreme Court (SC) declared the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as unconstitutional last October 14, 2008. The “death” of the MOA-AD had divided and polarized the country like never before in recent history. 

The debate on the MOA awakened dormant religious prejudice and discrimination between Muslims and Christians. While the people who were Anti-MOA celebrated, some Moros felt that they had lost something. Some other Moro sectors felt like an “anti-dote” to the Moro problem was deliberately withheld from them. Disillusioned MILF rebels renewed hostilities with the government forces. Suddenly, the dreaded “ilagas” emerge and revived past Muslim-Christian community conflicts. There is so much blissful celebration and emotional retaliation by each side respectively, yet only a few really know the issues involved that was “killed” by the Supreme Court decision.   (more…)

09.11.2008 Bangsamoro No Comments