28.7.08

GRP-MILF JOINT STATEMENT ON THE MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT ON ANCESTRAL DOMAIN

JOINT STATEMENT


With the facilitation of the Malaysian Government, the Government of Republic of Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Panels have initialed today the final draft of Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). Having restarted the talks today, relying on the deep reservoir of goodwill and cooperation on both sides, the two Panels have crafted an important document that would contribute immeasurably to peace in Mindanao, progress and prosperity for the Philippines, and strong affirmation of Malaysia-Philippine bilateral relations and multilateral cooperation for peace.


The conclusion of today's session marks the end of the negotiations on the third aspect of the Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001. Both sides reached a consensus to initial the final draft pending its official signing by the Chairmen of the two Peace Panels in early August 2008, in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The ceremony will be witnessed by the Secreatary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines and the Foreign Affairs Minister of Malaysia.


The Parties look forward to continue the negotiation on the Comprehensive Compact and finally address the Bangsamoro problem and conflict in Mindanao.


The Panels conveyed their appreciation to H.E. Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi for the Malaysian Government's continued assistance in keeping the peace process on track, and to H.E. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's unwavering commitment in pushing forward the Mindanao peace process.


Done on the 27th of July 2008 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


FOR THE GRP: FOR THE MILF:



RODOLFO C. GARCIA (sgd) MOHAGHER IQBAL (sgd)
Panel Chair Panel Chair



WITNESSED BY:


DATUK OTHMAN ABDUL RAZAK (sgd)
Special Adviser to the Prime Minister

Collapse of GRP-MILF Negotiations Most Serious Threat to Peace

Collapse of gov’t-MILF talks on Moro homeland ‘most serious threat to peace’

By ISAGANI DE CASTRO, JR. abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=126527

The collapse of the talks between the Arroyo government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on an expanded Moro homeland is “the most serious threat” to the peace process and may eventually lead to war, according to an analyst.

Zainudin Malang, a lawyer of the Bangsa Moro Center for Law and Policy, warned that the collapse Friday in Kuala Lumpur of the government-MILF talks on ancestral domain “is the most serious threat to a peaceful and negotiated solution to the peace process.”

Malang, an analyst of the government-MILF peace process, said the “level of skepticism over the negotiating parties’ sincerity is approaching irreversible levels, if not so already,” he said in an e-mail sent to Newsbreak, in response to the collapse of the talks.

“Frustrations over past un-implemented peace pacts, coupled with flip-flopping stance on this latest peace process risks transforming the Mindanao conflict into an unmanageable type of war,” Malang said.

Backtrack on plebiscite

According to a report by Reuters news agency, the government’s attempt to push back the timing of a plebiscite that would expand the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was the reason for the collapse of the talks.

Reuters said government negotiators tried to delay the referendum on enlarging a previous Muslim homeland until after a political agreement was reached.

This would have reneged on a previous commitment to hold the vote six months after a deal on territory was signed, originally scheduled for August 5. MILF negotiators walked out of the meeting.

Both sides had hoped to wrap up the talks on an ancestral homeland last Friday in Kuala Lumpur ahead of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's annual state of the nation address tomorrow.

But Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, the former presidential adviser on the peace process, said Saturday there is still hope for the peace process.

“The peace process is a continuing effort. In the latest talks in Kuala Lumpur over the last few days to finalize the draft agreement, there remain some differences. Although the meeting did not immediately bring about progress in the ancestral domain issue, I am sure that the parties will continue to look for ways to hurdle the difficulties and move the process forward.”

‘A conflict of Darfur proportions’

Malang noted that the government-MILF peace talks have been going on for 11 years already, or since 1997 during the Ramos administration.

“During that period, we have already seen two all-out wars and countless other large-scale fighting,” Malang said.

In 2000, the first all-out war under the Estrada government, led to one million internally-displaced people. In 2003, under the Arroyo government, there were more than 400,000 internally-displaced persons.

“The four-decade long Mindanao conflict is one of the most serious yet under-reported conflict in the world,” Malang said.

“Ironic because this is a conflict of Darfur and Timorese proportions. It has already cost more than 100,000 lives and millions of internally-displaced persons.”

During eleven years of the peace process, he said “agreements and consensus points that would have led to an early successful conclusion of the talks have also been set aside due to pressure from conservatives and hawks.”

“The GRP-MILF talks is only the latest of numerous attempts to peacefully resolve, by way of negotiations, what is now the longest-running armed conflict in Asia. But precisely because past efforts have failed, this latest one may turn out to be the last one, should it fail,” Malang said.

Seek to clarify

In a forum last week on the draft agreement on ancestral domain, Malang allayed “fears” that the creation of an expanded Moro homeland will lead to oppression against the Christians by Muslims. He said the Moros will not be “treating Christians as unjustly as the Christians have treated the Moros.”

Malang said “fears” of both sides should not be used to block the peace process but should be an opportunity to “seek clarification.”

"Let’s not use it as basis to oppose any signing. Nothing has been signed yet. If we don’t see anything good in it, then let the people decide. Because a plebiscite, after all, is an expression of sovereignty, which can only be exercised by individual members or society and the polity, not by their elected leaders or their representatives,” he said.

Related Story• Gov’t backtrack on plebiscite derails peace talks with MILF

Statement of the Mindanao People's Caucus on the Collapse of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks

Press Statement
July 26, 2008

In the light of the renewed collapse of the GRP-MILF talks in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, it is obvious that the opponents of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Ancestral Domain have once again succeeded in frustrating the efforts of the negotiation. With veiled threats of constitutional challenge, legal battles, communal violence and plain hysteria, we missed to grasp peace just when the Peace Panels have come closest to it.

In the name of the women and children and ordinary civilians in the conflict-affected areas, we urge both principals in the negotiation to uphold, sustain and defend the consensus points in the negotiations. Let us not allow politicians and vested interest groups to hostage the peace talks with their own economic and political interests. Let us not be swayed by the noise of a few loud personalities who are desperately protecting their own interests.

We appeal to both parties to continue finding viable options and solutions until we finally reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

We express strong disappointment over some statements and threats which vowed to kill the peace agreement even at this time when the Peace Panels are yet to give birth to the MOA on Ancestral Domain. We do not deserve this kind of demeanor coming from political leaders who, instead of forging unity among its people, are in fact the ones fanning hatred and violence.

Today is the time for us to examine the interests of those who block efforts of the peace process. It is time that we come together to engage in a meaningful dialogue, surface the fears and exchange notes in order to achieve understanding and unity.

We appeal to President Arroyo to sustain the primacy of the peace process and defend this policy against political pressures and vested interests including those coming from her own allies. The postponement of the ARMM election could have been a good step towards that direction.

Obviously, we are racing against time. With the final pullout of the International Monitoring Team come August and with no discussion on the extension of their tour of duty, war looms in many corners of Mindanao. Ordinary people, not our politicians and leaders, will be the ones to pay the consequences of the opposition to the MOA. This is where our hearts just bleed, out of frustration and sheer desperation, at the kind of leaders who are at the helm in Mindanao at this point in our history. We need leaders who will bring the people to an era of peace and development, not those who irresponsibly condemn us to war and violence, while they spend their quiet evenings in the city life of Davao, Manila or elsewhere.

MPC reiterates its call for the formal resumption of the GRP-MILF peace talks and the signing of the MOA on Ancestral Domain as a critical step towards showing the concrete result and progress in the negotiation. (30)

Reference:

ATTY. MARY ANN M. ARNADO
Secretary General
Mindanao Peoples Caucus

Tokyo International Peace Building Conference Paper

Addressing the Gaps in Human Security Initiatives in Mindanao*

By: Atty. Zainudin S. Malang**

Thank you for inviting me to comment on the presentations in this session. Now, since I come from Mindanao, allow me to comment by correlating the presentations to some of my own observations on best practices and not-so-best practices in addressing gaps in community development and human security.

My first observation is the imperative of engaging local stakeholders in addressing these gaps. It is clear from earlier presentations that local stakeholders are not just important but even indispensable. The reason is that they have the most at stake, they are the ones most familiar with the situation on the ground, and therefore know more how to deal with it. Local stakeholders must be engaged not only in program implementation but, more importantly, they must be engaged from the very beginning – in program identification, design and conceptualization. The aid and donor community must always bear this in mind in their initiatives and programs. Mr. Hossain’s paper itself captures the essence of this approach and I quote:

“CDCs identify their own problems and challenges, formulate own strategies and development plans, and then manage, monitor, and implement all projects at the field level.”

In Mindanao, NGOs and civil society have repeatedly expressed concern that except in the program implementation stage, they have been relegated to passive roles by those who come from the outside and impose their brand of peace building.

My second observation is that any intervention or initiative to address human security gaps need to proceed from a well-rounded understanding of how those gaps arose and the environment in which the initiatives will be introduced. Conflict analysis and needs assessment are indispensable and necessary preliminary steps. A lack of or even flawed conflict analysis, prepared without adequate inputs from those primarily affected by human security gaps can lead to serious issues. This is particularly true with respect to gaps brought about by internal conflict where social-political divides, instead of being addressed, may manifest itself in the implementation of initiatives intended to address those very same gaps.

Case in point is the staffing pattern of aid agencies operating in Mindanao. Study after study have shown that the conflict was bred by social-economic-political marginalization of the minority in the hands of the majority. In fact, a UNDP commissioned opinion poll asking detailed questions among those who comprise the majority in the Philippines showed that almost half of the respondents showed a negative perception of the Moros in Mindanao, even to the extent of denying them employment for no other reason than they don’t belong to the majority. Presumably, this sentiment runs across the entire strata of Philippine society. And yet for decades, the staffing pattern of many agencies in Mindanao show a dearth of consultants and program managers with sufficient familiarity with the conflict, much less people who actually come from the conflict affected area. This deprives their programs of valuables inputs and local sensitivity. In one instance, a staff of a humanitarian aid agency told a group of IDPs to go back to the mountains and find some rootcrops if they wanted food. An official from another major funding agency also publicly questioned the logic of designing an assistance program tailor-made for the marginalized minority.

The other important understanding we must incorporate in addressing gaps is that of the socio-political environment in which a peace promoting initiative is being introduced. Is the conflict ongoing? Or is there a ceasefire? Has a peace agreement been signed? Is the peace agreement in the process of being implemented? Answers to these basic questions must be asked because the appropriateness and viability of programs depend on those answers. I have seen programs designed for a post-agreement situation in an area with unresolved conflict.

The third observation I would like to share is the need to periodically and earnestly re-evaluate not only programs but also the frameworks that inform them. What works and what doesn’t are questions the aid community must ask themselves repeatedly and, more importantly, actively seek candid answers from their target beneficiaries. I just came from 3 months in Aceh where I participated in a meta-analysis of past reintegration programs for former combatants for the purpose of identifying the gaps in those programs. In Mindanao, the latest human development index figures for the five Bangsamoro provinces show that they continue to be the lowest in the whole country even after decades of receiving peace and development funds.

Allow me now to share some positive developments in relation to that I have just raised.

The first positive development is that key actors from the aid and donor community have recognized the need to give greater role to groups coming from the conflict affected area. As Mr. Alim says in his presentation:

“There is now a growing recognition especially from the international community, of the important role that CSOs play in societal reconstruction.”

I notice that JICA, for instance, have directly engaged the Bangsamoro Development Agency which was established by agreement by both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). They have also directly funded Moro NGOs. Previously, funding and assistance to communities were largely coursed through institutions where Moros did not have an effective voice. Other agencies have also followed suit. CIDA (through its LGSPA program), USAID (through its GEM program) and AusAid, have also undertaken a pro-active hiring of technocrats and professionals from the Moro communities. Even Asia Foundation, whose Philippine country chief is here with us, has adopted such an approach.

The second positive development I have observed is that those who are trying to raise the level of human security in Mindanao are now more aware that the success of economic interventions cannot be divorced from the larger political peace process. Last year there was a concerted effort by all the aid agencies to exert firm pressure on the government not to launch an all-out military offensive, recognizing that no peace and development assistance can possibly succeed where there is widespread fighting. The peace process in Mindanao spans 3 decades. That period is marked by numerous frustrations and false expectations. It was only when the international community has taken a more direct and active role that the peace negotiations has achieved substantial gains towards addressing the roots of the conflict. I am pleased to mention here that Japan is one of those countries that have made substantial contributions.

The last positive development is that there is more attention now to the human rights concerns of Moro communities. For years, no one wanted to touch this area because human rights cases were viewed as a political hot potato for aid agencies. But after being reminded by human rights advocates that human security also mean “freedom from fear”, more funding is now being devoted to human rights training.

However, let me emphasize that human rights assistance to Moro communities is still in its inception stage. Save for the Asia Foundation, there is still a reluctance to fund legal representation to indigents who are subjected to warrantless arrests, torture, and harassment. This should be the core of any human rights assistance and yet the bulk of the funding is given only to conferences and forums. If we are to encourage marginalized communities to pursue legal and peaceful avenues for the redress of their grievances instead of resorting to rebellion, we must give them the means to do so.

With this, I end my comment. Thank you again for inviting me.
* Delivered at the Tokyo International Peacebuilders Symposium 2008, U.N. House, Tokyo, March 24, 2008.
** Atty. Zainudin S. Malang is a Convenor of several civil society organizations. He is also a newspaper columnist and is frequently engaged as a resource speaker on the Mindanao Peace Process, human rights, and the political economy of the Mindanao conflict. Atty. Malang holds a degree Master of Laws from Kyushu University (Japan) and a Master in Regional Integration from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). He recently completed an intensive 6-month joint peacebuilding program jointly administered by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Development Program.