Tuesday, September 16, 2014

MILF: Pledging allegiance to flag takes time – Iqbal

Posted to the MILF Website (Sep 15): Pledging allegiance to flag takes time – Iqbal



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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