Friday, September 27, 2013

MILF: Military option no solution

From the MILF Website (Sep 27): Military option no solution



(In) a letter to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a leading newspaper in the country dated September 20, 2013, Abe Lukman of Zamboanga City considered the violence in Zamboanga City as a consequence of the past mishandling of peace agreements.
   
According to him, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) review of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the national government are now a subject of controversy of the Tripartite (Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC]-Philippine Government [GPH]-MNLF) talks. A look at what these peace processes had created is putting all parties concerned in a dilemma, if not in a state of confusion.

He said that, “Since the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, the 1986 Jeddah Accord, and the 1996 FPA, it now virtually appears that everything was only good for signing but not for implementing. Hence, the review of Republic Act No. 9054 creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which began in 2007 and continues up to the present, came up with 42 GPH-MNLF legislative points. But the MNLF problem is being held in abeyance as the GPH negotiates another peace deal with the MILF.”

“Nur Misuari blundered into declaring independence last month, which seemingly abrogated any peace agreement. Anyhow, those who know Misuari are saying it is only a matter of how to handle him—like how former President Fidel Ramos treated and handled him. But that kind of handling is hardly an option for the present administration—as Misuari has already been found out to be a leader only but not one with managerial ability to govern. His declaration of independence, to the contrary, is not really meant to attain the impossible. It is his way of getting something short of independence, to suit what he wants”, Lukman said.

The national government knows that the majority of the MNLF senior leaders have been questioning the leadership style of Misuari. Misuari cannot be underestimated; this is correct because there are still thousands among the masses who can be easily misled.

While suggesting a solution to the Bangsamoro’s centuries-old problem, Lukman said, “A military option as a way of asserting one’s primacy is not at all a solution. The Bangsamoro people have never been subdued or conquered—not by the Spaniards or the Americans or the Japanese. (Take note of the Kamlon defiance and the ongoing rebellion.)

What matters most is a genuine, peaceful political solution that must prevail under the stewardship of a strong, sincere, determined leadership with exemplary statesmanship, he said.

He finally stressed, “That parties should act together in imposing a fair, genuine and lasting political solution under an atmosphere of a thorough, sustained, orderly and effective brotherly consultation with all stakeholders.”

In a latest report from our information officer on the ground relayed to Luwaran on September 26, it said that sources from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police put the casualties of the Zamboanga siege at 106 killed on the MNLF side and 18 killed on the government side with 169 wounded. There were 207 MNLF rebels captured including those who surrendered.
9:59 PM 9/27/2013.

As of 6:43pm of September 26 government assistance to internally-displaced persons (IDP’s) in 33 evacuation centers in the city through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had reached 86.18 Million Pesos; 10,160 houses razed to the ground and 200Million estimated damages to properties.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/welcome/item/579-military-option-no-solution

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