Wednesday, September 2, 2015

MILF: Editorial -- Appeal to the light of reason

Editorial posted to the MILF Website (Sep 1): Editorial -- Appeal to the light of reason

Peace and tranquility, as well as the horrors of war, are shared and tasted by all and sundry. They don’t discriminate; they deal in a straight-forward manner.

Frankly, there is no future for Mindanao except to embrace the ways of peace. We have tasted and seen the horrors of war. We are all losers and we are still reeling from them.

The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is a template for peace and tranquility. This is the way forward. Its passage into law can gradually establish peace, development and progress in troubled Mindanao.

However, there are four lawmakers from Mindanao who are obstructing the passage of this law. Frankly, we do not know why they are mad at the BBL. Astonishingly, those in Luzon and the Visayas are generally not hostile to the BBL
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Out of respect, however, we do not want to state their names. But those who are following or attending sessions of the House regularly know them very well.  Three are coming from the Zamboanga Peninsula and the fourth from Iligan City, who, in fairness, is not opposing the BBL in its entirety, because he is interested only for the exclusion of eight villages from his turf to the Bangsamoro territory.

Of course, we are not giving up on these lawmakers. Only those who persevere have something to expect, while a quitter is always a loser. These lawmakers are as humans as we are. They have feelings and in most likelihood they would respond to reason with reason. We are optimistic that they will finally see the light of reason that it is better to have peace with the Moros rather try to relive the past centuries of bloodshed with Spain.

Right now, we have identified varied ways to reach out to them. One emissary has reported back that there is no sense giving up on them. He still views with hope that a productive engagement with them is still very much possible. In fact, he added, one of the four has already shown good response.

But while we are doing our share of the burden without letup and hesitation, we are also aware of our limitations. It is better and more effective that the leadership of the House would deal with them; or better still, the government would deal with them directly.

http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/552-appeal-to-the-light-of-reason

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