“Attempts to stop the signing of the agreed text of the MOA-AD through a petition for temporary restraining order are other forms of suppression of Bansamoros parallel to domestic political decisions,” Ebrahim said as he read from a two-page, 14 paragraph prepared statement to start what would turn out to be a two-and-half hour press conference.

The statement was titled “A Firm Statement Of Patriotism To Adhere To The MOA-AD: Honoring our Written Agreements.”

Ebrahim, vice chair for military affairs and peace panel chair until he assumed the chairmanship of the Central Committee shortly after MILF chair Salamat Hashim passed away in July 2003, was onstage the camp’s multipurpose hall with 12 other members of the Central Committee and the MILF peace panel, including its chair, Mohagher Iqbal, some of whom he called to also answer the media’s questions.

“All things considered, the negotiation of the MOA-AD is a done deal in accordance with modern treaty law practice,” thus, for the MILF side, “there is none to agree to any further as framework agreement except to honor the terms and stipulations in good faith,” he said.

On July 27, the government and MILF initialed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the MOA-AD, the last on the three agenda items of the talks – apart from security, and relief and rehabilitation — prior to the discussion on the comprehensive compact or the consolidated peace agreement.

Formal signing of the MOA-AD was scheduled on August 5 in Putrajaya, Malaysia but no signing was done because the  Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) afternoon of August 4, preventing the executive department from signing the agreement. Oral arguments had been done on August 15, 22 and will continue on August 29.

Mass actions welcomed the aborted signing of the MOA-AD as protesters – those who opposed the signing —  many of them politicians, said government did not consult with the people in the areas listed for possible inclusion in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) in Categories A and B. Under Category A, residents in the 735 mostly predominantly Moro areas contiguous to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will undergo a plebiscite within one year from the signing of the MOA, whether or not they want to be part of the BJE.

Under Category B, residents in 1,459 villages which will fall under “special intervention areas” will go through a plebiscite “not earlier than 25 years” from the signing of the comprehensive compact. 

Malacanang has been issuing several statements on the controversy, initially defending its role in crafting the agreement with the MILF, including consulting constitutional experts and exercising “due diligence review” but the Palace, particularly after armed attacks on three Lanao del Norte towns and in Maasim, Sarangani, had been changing positions everyday.

Datu Michael Mastura, lawyer and historian, and a senior member of the MILF peace panel, said he counted around “eight positions” of the government (MindaNews counted five)  – including renegotiation, review,  changing the negotiators, shifting the government’s peace policy from panels to communities and going through Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR) —  prompting Ebrahim to say the MILF hopes the government would put the peace process as part of the “national agenda.” 

None of the “eight” different positions of government has been communicated formally to the MILF peace panel but through the media.

Earlier, Mastura said the media has been “inflaming” the situation instead of enlightening the public. He noted most of the editorials and opinion pieces on the MOA-AD, a document the two panels view as “historic,” have been negative. 

The government and MILF peace panels are supposed to communicate through the Malaysian facilitator, Datuk Othman Abdul Razak.

Ebrahim acknowledge in his two-page statement, that the proposed BJE is “an abstract idea that is hard for ordinary people to connect to.”

He said it is “good to build public confidence around this conceptual framework at basic level, with a written instrument for the peaceful negotiated settlement of age-old Moro problem’ and armed conflict in Mindanao.” 

The MOA-AD, he said, has the ingredients of an “elegant formula,” fulfilling one of the objects of negotiation, “to put an idea before the public.”

“It does on paper equations of ‘trade-offs’ instead of ‘sell-out.’ More importantly, it is a firm statement of patriotism on behalf of all the Bangsamoros who claim it a birthright right to assert their distinct identity. It makes a plausible public expression of what political moderates and peace advocates demand in common as well as human rights activities march about in mass,” he said. 

“None of us thinks the MOA-AD will end the life of the country but it lets the BangsaMoro feel a sense of purpose with new ‘associative ties’ to the rest of the Philippines, redefining the relationship between the Filipino people and Bangsamoro people,” he said.

For the first time in the Philippines’ post-colonial history,  the Philippine government under the MOA-AD, finally recognizes the Bangsamoro as a distinct people with a homeland where they can govern themselves, have jurisdiction and control of their resources and realize their aspirations for freedom, self-determination, self-governance.  

On the government’s stand to revisit or review or renegotiate the MOA-AD, Ebrahim said, “the position of  the MILF is firm. The MOA is a final document, it is a done deal so we do not, we cannot allow renegotiations. This is a product of more than four years, specifically four years and eight months, between the GRP and MILF peace panels and was subjected to review many times by GRP… so I don’t know why they complain of flaws now.”

Murad said they  consulted their constituents on the agenda items of the peace negotiations and if there was a failure of consultation, “it is on the other side.” 

“Much of the uproar is coming from the other side. It is the obligation of the other party how they will be able to explain in a very comprehensive manner to their constituents” what the MOA-AD is all about.

The MOA-AD, Murad stressed, is “just a framework agreement where we start working on the compact agreement… We can’t understand the uproar… They are not specific which provision of the MOA they oppose,” he said.  

A reporter asked how the peace process could move forward when there is stand-off in the negotiations with the Philippine government saying it will not sign the document in its present for and the MILF saying the MOA-AD is non-negotiable.

Meanwhile, the recent skirmishes between their armed forces have displaced thousands of villagers.  

Ebrahim said the “tension going on now,” referring to the spate of attacks blamed on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the skirmishes going on between government and MILF forces, is “the result of the abortion of the signing of  the MOA.”

“We are now in a situation where we have to be firm in our positions… As far as government  is concerned, they should make up their minds. It is their duty to defend the document. This is not a document prepared only by the MILF,” he said. 

He warned of the “possibility of the peace process to collapse” if the government “will not change its position.”

If the peace process collapses, “the only option for the MILF is to return to armed struggle,” he said.  

“We have expressed our sadness over the situation (in Lanao del Norte). We do feel it should not have happened,” Ebrahim said, adding the attack was “triggered by the frustration and outrage by some of our commanders who became impatient over the peace process.”

An internal investigation is currently being done, he said. But Ebrahim also added that they have elevated the matter to the International Monitoring Team (IMT) led by Malaysia, to facilitate a joint investigation by the government and MILF ceasefire committees, before the IMT’s tour of duty ends on August 31.

Under the mechanisms set up by both panels, the joint ceasefire committee and the IMT are tasked to investigate the matter. Government has been reported as saying it will not talk peace with the MILF if the alleged erring commanders, Umbra Kato and Bravo are not surrendered to the Philippine government.  

Murad explained that as a revolutionary organization, they are not under the Philippine government and that they have mechanisms in the peace process to address the matter.

The remaining IMT members from Malaysia, Libya and Brunei and the lone non-soldier form Japan, will return home on August 31, the day their tour of duty ends.

The IMT’s stay can be extended only upon the request of both parties. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)