YESTERDAY ( September 10, 2014), when the national anthem was played, President Aquino and all those on the stage at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall placed their right hands over their hearts-except for one man.
Mohagher
Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), faced the
Philippine flag as a sign of respect, but did not place his hand over his
heart.
NOT YET
Pledging
allegiance to the country and flag of the government he had fought for decades
would take time, even with a peace agreement signed and the draft of a bill
that would establish a Bangsamoro autonomous region submitted to Congress by
the President.
The meaning
of the gesture of Iqbal and his fellow MILF members when the national anthem
was played went largely unnoticed.
Certainly,
the INQUIRER learned, it was not an act of defiance. It was a process, not
something that could be imposed right away even if the MILF and the government
were close to completing the peace process.
Malacañang
informed
THE
INQUIRER learned that at the signing of the Framework Agreement on the
Bangsamoro at the Palace in October 2012, the MILF informed Malacañang protocol
of this peculiarity when it confirmed its officials would attend the event.
The MILF
said its officials, led by its chair, Murad Ebrahim, would stand at attention
and face the Philippine flag as a sign of respect.
The MILF
also said that, indeed, the Moros were Filipinos.
Iqbal told
the INQUIRER yesterday that there was really “no intention” behind his not
placing his hand over his heart when the national anthem was played.
“I have
been with the struggle for 40 years and then all of a sudden you are under the
glare of the cameras. There is no intention there, “Iqbal said.
He spent 17
of those 40 years as the MILF’s chief negotiator in the peace process.
It does
take time to adopt it, according to Maguindanao (1st District) and Cotabato
City Rep. Sandra Sema, wife of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader
Muslimin Sema.
MNLF, too
It also
took a while before Sema’s husband and his fellow members of the MNLF learned
to place their hands over their hearts as a symbol of allegiance to country and
flag, even after they reached a peace agreement with the government in 1996.
“There’s a
confidence-building measure that comes with it because they have fought for so
long,” Sema said.
Sema told
the INQUIRER that there was no question about President Aquino’s intention to
herald just and lasting peace in Mindanao .
But
Filipinos should also take time to understand who and what is the Bangsamoro,
she said.
“It’s time
to understand each other and support each other,” Sema said.
Bangsamoro
identity
Article 2
of the draft Bangsamoro law provides for a Bangsamoro identity.
Those who
at the time of conquest and colonization were considered natives or original
inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands,
including Palawan province, and their
descendants, whether of mixed or full blood have the right to identify
themselves as Bangsamoro by ascription or self-ascription,” the draft law says.
Their
spouses and children are also Bangsamoro.
Indigenous
people will have the freedom of choice and this shall be respected, according
to the draft law.
The
Bangsamoro parliament will also “adopt the official flag, emblem, and anthem of
the Bangsamoro” as part of the Bangsamoro identity.
The Office
of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said that as a Philippine
government entity, the Bangsamoro was “authorized to have its own flag under
Section 44 of the Republic Act No. 8491,” the Flag and Heraldic Code of the
Philippines.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/1208-pledging-allegiance-to-flag-takes-time-–-iqbal
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