he Moro Islamic
Liberation Front is threatening renewed war, alleging that the government is
just stringing it along in the off-again on-again peace negotiations in
Malaysia. The way the MILF sees it, the current truce is being exploited by
government to undermine the support it enjoys from its constituency. It accuses
the government of insincerity in seeking a truly meaningful political settlement
to the 40-year-old secessionist problem in the South.
Given the threat, we expected the government to reiterate
that indeed peace remains the goal and the temporary cessation of hostilities is
just a means – by building confidence between the two parties – to an end, which
is the grant of meaningful autonomy to Muslim Filipinos without dismembering the
Republic.
But Gloria Arroyo and Eduardo Ermita, in their arrogance,
went out of their way yesterday during the AFP leadership turnover to reinforce
the MILF’s suspicion and deepen its fears.
Arroyo said the MILF should consider peace despite the
stalled talks. She was in effect saying she wants the truce to be maintained,
but this should be decoupled from the negotiations. This is a reversal of the
letter and spirit of the truce, which was declared in 2001 so the belligerents
could come to the negotiating table.
Ermita said the MILF threat was just bluster, its way of
calling attention to the need to speed up negotiations. He added the AFP, in any
case, was ready to meet any armed challenge.
Ermita is probably right. Saber-rattling is plain MILF
bravado and the AFP can whip the MILF guerrillas with one hand tied behind its
back or rather with one hand busy fending off the attacks of the communist New
People’s Army.
Both Gloria and Eddie, however, are kidding themselves if
they think the MILF will slink with its tail between its legs with their threat
of superior force. The secessionist rebellion has been with us for two
generations. Peace was struck with the Moro National Liberation Front, but
failure to fully implement the Tripoli accord spawned the more fundamentalist
MILF.
We are now in the same pass. The MILF leadership is in danger of being seen
by its membership as having been led down the garden path by Manila. If the
current leadership loses its credibility, this will only to lead to the
emergence of a less tractable faction with a more radical agenda.
