Tuesday, April 28, 2015

It’s not just rebellion – Bangsamoro Conflict Monitoring System reveals

From the Manila Standard Today (Apr 29): It’s not just rebellion – Bangsamoro Conflict Monitoring System reveals

The Bangsamoro Conflict Monitoring System (BCMS) 2011-2014 Report of the International Alert, an independent peace building organization, revealed that the troubled situation in Mindanao is not purely about rebellion, but of several factors.

“There must be emphasis on violence, and not just on the conflict,” Ever Abasolo, International Alert Philippines methodology specialist, told the Philippines News Agency (PNA).

Abasolo said that talks about land, human trafficking, illegal firearms, were just some of the other issues the public should look at, adding that these issues would not be addressed even if the Basic Bangsamoro Law (BBL) would be passed.

Abasolo cited that civilians were also part of the picture by committing simple crimes like theft and robbery, and through conflicts between tribes and ethnic groups.

The BCMS Report revealed that for the past four years, illicit or shadow economies, and extrajudicial issues triggered most of the violent conflicts in Bangsamoro. Political issues (rebellion and political rivalry) were the other main culprits.

It was noted, meanwhile, that production and trade in illicit guns and drugs, kidnap for ransom, brought more violent conflicts than other shadow economies.

With regard to the number of violent conflicts involving the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the report said incidents declined in 2012, in time with the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro, and also in 2013 because of the comprehensive peace pact with the government.

International Alert also noted the violence caused by extrajudicial issues such as breach of contract, domestic violence, alcohol-related, among others. These issues affected ordinary citizens more than other members of the Bangsamoro society, the report said.

“Civilians were the major actors in conflict incidents, mostly as victims. In some instances, they were also the perpetrators,” the report highlighted.

For instance in Maguindanao, there was a high number of clan feuds reported in 2014. However, for 2011-2014, Lanao del Sur topped Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in terms of clan feuds.

About the BCMS

BCMS monitors conflict incidence (in Bangsamoro) to inform the public and policy makers about the situation there.

It is a real-time data according to Liezl Bugtay, BCMS project team leader. As her group affirmed to be pro-BBL, Bugtay said they hope to use the BCMS data to really educate the public.

To ensure accuracy, Bugtay said her team gathered the data from Philippine National Police (PNP) blotter reports and media reports.

“We go to PNP Regional offices and capture each blotter, then data encoding follows,” she told PNA.

She added that they have many levels of quality control and avoid double counting. As such, the encoder is not allowed to enter a report without a supporting police/media report documentation.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=757007

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