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THIS is the concluding part of a three-part series focusing on the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement (FPA). The inclusive dates from 27 August (Part I — "Let Us Give Peace A Chance"), to 03 September (Part II — "Break Not The Peace") up to 10 September (today’s column) encompass the 10th Anniversary of the FPA and the onset of "National Peace Consciousness Month" which is celebrated nationwide in September each year.
Let us revisit Government’s peace efforts of the past two decades and the remaining tasks that our elected leaders and civil society must relentlessly pursue to win enduring peace and insure the sustainable development of our beloved Philippines. There is no other direction the nation can take but to build on the gains, learn from the mistakes by whomsoever, and undertake structural reforms as a national team for a better future.
For any nation, a peace process is the key program to be undertaken with dissident forces of any color or ideology, given the realities and dynamics of regional and global developments that shake the foundations of the national socio-economic-political-security structure. Even far-away and unexpected shocks beyond its control threaten the nation’s stability and people’s well-being — take the 1991 Gulf War, the East Asian financial crisis of mid-1997, the 1996-98 El Niño drought, the massive 9/11 attack by the Al Qaeda on the US, and the inconclusive but destructive Israel-Hezbollah war of July-August 2006.
Bringing the military rebels to the fold
Under the auspices of the National Unification Commission (NUC), the peace negotiations with the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan-Soldiers of the Filipino People Young Officers’ Union (RAMSFP-YOU) commenced with the signing of a Preliminary Agreement in December 1992 for the immediate cessation of hostilities, and for peace negotiations to begin. This was welcomed by all sectors, in the aftermath of the nine bloody coup attempts or conspiracies carried out against the Aquino Government from 06 July 1986 ("The Manila Hotel Takeover") to 9 October 1990 ("The Federal Republic of Mindanao").
The General Agreement for Peace with RAM-SFP-YOU, signed on 13 October 1995, includes four important provisions: Cessation of hostilities; accounting of weapons and other war materials; amnesty; and disposition of military, police, and civilians involved. On the other hand, peace talks with the Alyansang Tapat sa Sambayanan (ALTAS), or the Marcos Loyalist Forces, commenced in January 1993. In September 1993, ALTAS submitted its proposals entitled "Issues of Grave Concern," and with that, the substantive phase of the negotiations started. On 25 May 1995, the Agreement on the Disposition of ALTAS Forces was signed. The essentials are: Cessation of hostilities; retrieval of equipment and weapons; amnesty; and disposition of rebel military and police personnel.
Our people owe a great debt of gratitude to author Colonel (Ret.) Gaudencio "Ding" San Juan of the Philippine Army for chronicling the blow-by-blow history of military adventurism during the Cory period in two well-documented volumes entitled "Demokrasya at Kudeta" (Volume I was launched on 28 August 2005, and Volume II comes out next week). Upon the concurrence of Congress on 12 February 1997 with Proclamation No. 723, (Amnesty), the Joint Committee on the Disposition of Personnel processed and took dispositive actions on the manifestations of individual RAM-SFP-YOU and ALTAS members. As of October 1997, 157 RAM-SFP-YOU and 10 ALTAS members had been reinstated in the AFP/PNP.
Peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF
As of its deadline on 01 June 1995, the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) had received a total of 7,166 individual applications, far exceeding the initial projections of only 4,000. A substantial percentage (85%) of these were filed by former members of the CPP-NPA-NDF. Five percent were from the RAMSFP-YOU and ALTAS forces. Four percent were from the MNLF and MILF, while the remaining six percent came from other applicants from the AFP and PNP. Most of these resulted in amnesty grants but some were denied, proving NAC’s commitment that the benefits of amnesty were not abused.
The CPP-NPA-NDF first entered into formal negotiations with the Aquino Administration, commencing with a sixty-day ceasefire agreement on 27 November 1986. The peace talks, however, hardly progressed as the GRP refused to recognize the "status of belligerency" of the revolutionary movement. Clearly for the GRP, the talks were only about negotiating the terms of surrender of the communist forces. According to the NDF, it decided to leave the negotiating table allegedly due to the GRP’s "insincerity," when police and military forces opened fire at marchers in a riotous rally at Mendiola on 22 January 1987, killing 16 and wounding many others. During the Ramos period, the Six Paths to Peace outlined earlier continued to be the basis for the GRP peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF. Four substantive issues were placed on the agenda: (1) Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law; (2) Socio-Economic Reforms; (3) Political and Constitutional Reforms; and (4) End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces.
A formal round of negotiations began on 01 September 1992 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Off and on, the two sides conducted both discreet and formal talks. Substantive results were achieved with the approval on 16 March 1998 of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and two supporting agreements: The Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), and the Joint Agreement in Support of the Socio-Economic Projects of Private Development Organizations and Institutes. These "breakthroughs" opened the preparations for the talks on socio-economic reforms at the beginning of the Estrada Administration. A total of ten joint agreements and joint statements were signed by both panels from 1992 until 2001. Unfortunately, the peace talks with the communist insurgents have made little progress since then.
Peace in the Cordilleras
Another peace-making initiative was undertaken by President Aquino early in her Administration with the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) under Fr. Conrado Balweg. The ensuing law (RA 6766) created the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) — aimed to ensure the Cordillera people’s right to their ancestral domain; promote their cultural heritage; and establish self-governance within the framework of the Philippine Constitution. RA 6766, however, was rejected by the Cordillera people during the 1989 plebiscite which, in effect, voided the law.
It now fell upon the Ramos Administration to conclude the unfinished business. On 22 December 1997, after many months of patient negotiations and Congressional hearings, a new Organic Act Establishing the Cordillera Autonomous Region (RA 8438) was approved. On that occasion, I stated:
"The CAR Organic Act realizes the long-held dream of long-lasting peace through autonomy for the Cordillera people. This is the culmination of the work started in the late 80’s by the GRP and the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA) and the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army and followed through by the Cordillera Consultative Commission (CCC). This law offers the newest and most solid opportunity for the Cordillera people to strengthen their unity, prove themselves capable of self-determination, and subsequently become more active contributors to the national goal of sustainable development."
Initiating peace with the MILF
Following the signing of the FPA with the MNLF, the Government (with General (ret.) Fortunato Abat as the GRP Panel Chairman) launched on 23 September 1996 the peace negotiations with the MILF (with Hashim Salamat as Chairman). To facilitate the process, a Joint GRP-MILF Technical Committee was formed to negotiate the Cessation of Hostilities and Agenda Setting. On 18 July 1997, the General Agreement for the Cessation of Hostilities was signed in Cagayan de Oro City.
The Government-MILF Ceasefire Agreement lasted for an entire 30 months until late April 2000 when Malacañang ordered the Armed Forces to assault Camp Abubakar, the MILF stronghold. The peace dividends gained during that relatively peaceful period in Mindanao, however short, proved that, indeed, Muslims, Christians and Lumads (indigenous people) could live and work as peaceful, law-abiding and cooperative neighbors. But that’s another story which we shall record in a future column.
The GRP, MILF and OIC all appreciate that building trust and confidence is a crucial though painstaking process. What is important is that all move carefully but surely towards an accord for enduring peace and sustainable development. Filipinos must realize that we cannot develop separately – as regions and communities isolated from one another. We Filipinos can develop only as one country, one Republic and one people.
Summing up
We must therefore enable Mindanao to march to the beat of progress – so that this historic island can reclaim the glory it had in the 15th and 16th centuries – when it was the vital center of a vast trading area, whose linkages stretched as far as China, India, the Arab countries, and the Mediterranean states. This was the rationale for the establishment of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMPEAGA) in 1993 which put together again the ancient Malay seafaring community that predated the entry of European colonizers into Southeast Asia.
That we could not have done a better accord than the FPA of September 1996 is for history to judge. But we must acknowledge that the FPA could not have been achieved without the consistent support of a great number of men and women of goodwill who helped to make it happen. Outstanding among them – although there were so many others – were the late DECS USec. Alejandro Wilfredo "Fred" Clemente, former Executive Secretary Ruben "Cadre" Torres, Rev. Eliseo "Jun" Mercado, and Lanao Sur Governor "Imam" Mahid Mutilan. No matter how meritorious and comprehensive any peace agreement may be, it is still leaders who can make it work for common people. The bottom truth is that, peace-making, peace-building and peace-keeping require whole-hearted dedication, patient effort, and continuing commitment on the part of all peace-loving and law-abiding citizens – day in and day out. Let us not break the peace, because the price common people will have to pay is to experience hell on earth over and over again – particularly for the innocents, the women, the disadvantaged, and the children who are always the first casualties of conflict and violence.
Our present crop of elected leaders at national and local levels should continue building upon these earlier peace and development initiatives and dividends, and to do their sworn duty to serve the people before they serve themselves. Dr. Lita Nuñez, former mayor of General Santos city and one-time Assistant Secretary of DECS, perhaps says it best in her doctoral thesis, The Roots of Violence, thus: "It is in the hearts of people from where we must remove the roots of violence – which are complacency, greed, hate, selfishness, vindictiveness, and corruption."
former mayor of General Santos city and one-time Assistant Secretary of DECS, perhaps says it best in her doctoral thesis, The Roots of Violence, thus: "It is in the hearts of people from where we must remove the roots of violence – which are complacency, greed, hate, selfishness, vindictiveness, and corruption."
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