I belong to the Iranun , one of the Moro ethnic tribe in the Southern Philippines.
I advocates: Peace & Justice
by MANNY MOGATOReuters MANILA - A landmark deal between the Philippine government and the country’s biggest Muslim rebel group on a homeland for Muslims was welcomed on Thursday, but analysts and residents in the area said more needed to be done.
The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said on Wednesday they had hammered out long-standing differences on the ancestral domain of local Muslim communities, allowing for the resumption of peace talks stalled since December 2007.
The deal would expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), an area in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines that was carved out in an agreement with another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front.
The latest agreement, reached during talks in Kuala Lumpur, however does not guarantee the end of a near 40-year conflict that has killed 120,000 people and displaced 2 million on the resource-rich southern island of Mindanao.
While the Manila government and leaders of the MILF were rejoicing over the deal, Christian and Muslim communities in the south said they had mixed feelings. Many expressed concern that details of the agreement were not yet known.
“The Christian communities are afraid the Muslims would take back their farmlands,” said Emmanuel Pinol, vice governor of North Cotabato province, adding the groups would petition the Supreme Court next week to force Manila to divulge details.
“Our people are getting anxious and apprehensive. We want information on what was agreed upon and what are the areas covered by the Muslim homeland. I am afraid there could be chaos and violence if this information would not be made available.”
Pinol said some Christian communities were planning to arm themselves to defend property they had acquired from Muslims in the last 50 to 60 years.
Some Muslim rebels were also surprised when they learned a deal had been struck in Kuala Lumpur because they believed the government was reluctant to grant more rights to Muslims and other indigenous people in the south.
“We heard about it, but we’re still very cautious because the government is very clever,” said a guerrilla sub-commander who declined to be named. “There might be a trap, but it’s better than having no agreement at all.”
The two sides have been observing a cease-fire since 2003, although tensions sometimes erupt into fighting.
Analysts said it was premature for both sides to celebrate because the fundamental issues, such as the right of Muslims to self-determination remained unresolved.
“It’s definitely a positive development, giving the peace process a big push forward,” Benedicto Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance at the Notre Dame University, told Reuters.
“But, there are still a lot of issues to be resolved. I don’t really think a final deal could be sealed under this government.”
Oscar Sampulna, a senior executive of ARMM administration, said the agreement between the government and the MILF would not affect scheduled elections in the region next month.
“I don’t see how this agreement on ancestral domain can affect us,” Sampulna said, adding the ARMM was created by law and only another law could abolish, expand or touch it.
(Balita- Kaka Alih - July 18, 2008-10:30 pm-Huwebes)
Nuro, Upi…..Pinawalang bisa ng Korte Suprema ang batas na Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act 201 na pinasa ng Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) ARMM na siyang nagtatag ng probinsiya ng Shariff Kabunsuan..
Sa desisyon na binasa ni by Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, ay nakasaad doon na hindi naayon sa batas ang pagbuo ng RLA -ARMM sa probinsiya dahil ang House of Representative lamang ang may karapatan.
Ang Shariff Kabunsuan ay isang lalawigan ng Pilipinas na nabuo mula sa sampung bayan (Barira, Buldon, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura and Upi) na dating bumubuo sa unang distrito ng lalawigan ng Maguindanao.
Ipinasa ng Regional Legislative Assembly, ARMM’s noong Agosto. 28, 2006 ang batas na MMAA 201.
Ito ang ika-80 lalawigan ng bansa at ikaanim sa Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Ito ang unang lalawigan na hindi binuo ng Kongreso dahil nabuo ito sa pamamagitan ng kapangyarian ng Republic Act No. 9054 o ang Expanded ARMM Law.
Inaprubahan (ratified) noong Oktubre 29, 2006 sa pamamagitan ng plebisito ng mga botante ng 29 na munisipalidad ng Maguindano ang pagkabuo ng lalawigan .. Sa mahigit na 500,000 rehistradong botante ng Maguindanao, 285,372 dito ang pumabor sa pagkabuo ng Shariff Kabunsuan. 8,802 lamang ang bumoto laban dito.
Samantala magpapalabas na ng resolusyon ang Commission on Election (Comelec) en banc para maresolba ang posibleng maging epekto sa Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) election ng pagpapawalang bisa ng Korte Suprema sa pagkakatatag ng Shariff Kabunsuan.
Ayon kay Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, bagamat hindi pa pinal ang desisyon ng Supreme Court ay kinakailangang resolbahin ng komisyon ang usapin lalo pa’t malapit na ang ARMM election.
Naniniwala umano siyang maliit lang ang magiging epekto ng nasabing desisyon sa gaganaping halalan.
Sa hanay ng mga lokal na opisyal na iboboto ay mananatili umano na maghahalal ang regional assemblyman para sa unang distrito ng Maguindanao ang mga residente ng Shariff Kabunsuan.
