I belong to the Iranun , one of the Moro ethnic tribe in the Southern Philippines.
I advocates: Peace & Justice
| Violeta M. Gloria/MindaNews | |
| Tuesday, 23 September 2008 21:31 | |
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ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/23 September) – Fourteen years ago, the city government honored Mindanao historian Professor Rudy Rodil as a “Buotang Iliganon” (good citizen of Iligan) for his membership in the government peace panel that forged a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Earlier this month, the city council passed a resolution declaring Rodil a persona non grata for his alleged participation in the “grand conspiracy to fool the people, cut Iligan City into pieces and of the biggest blunder the Philippine government has ever made which is the carving and giving of a big chunk of Mindanao to a rebel group, just to attain the simple word ‘peace.’” The resolution was alluding to the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) the signing of which was stalled after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against it. Rodil was vice chair of the government peace panel in talks with the MILF. “It hurts,” Saturnina Rodil, English professor at Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology and Rodil’s wife, said of the declaration. “The resolution is full of hate, anger and is generating hate. It truly hurts. We are taking it seriously but we are not letting it affect us. I said ‘us and we’ because I cannot separate myself from Ompong (Rudy),” she said. But Rodil said she holds no rancor in her heart for the local officials. “We wish them (local officials) and their families good health and happiness,” she said She said many Iliganons do not have limited views and that they would eventually realize that peace not war is the best option. She added that her husband had appeared twice before the city council whose members ignored his statements and did not show any respect for him even if reporters were around. The third invitation asked him to “explain to the city council why he shouldn’t be declared persona non grata.” Civil society leaders last week marked the International Day of Peace in Cagayan de Oro City with a conference that honored Rudil for his contribution to the peace process as a member of the government peace panel Rodil’s wife said the resolution declaring him a persona non grata was read during the program to provide context but that the conference participants ignored it. “Ompong is a whole lot busier than he was with the panel,” she revealed. “He is too involved in many activities now and has numerous speaking engagements, one after the other.” She on the other hand has been involved in providing relief and psychosocial therapy to war-torn communities. Mary Ann Arnado of the Mindanao People’s Caucus told participants to a peace conference here Monday not to be silent on the fate of Rodil. The conference was supported by the government and the UNDP Act for Peace Programme. “Rodil merely performed his mandate as member of the peace panel. I challenge the city council of Iligan to declare President Arroyo as persona non grata because it’s from her where Rodil got his mandate,” Arnado said. “The civil society must back up Rodil who was just loyal to what he ought to do as part of the negotiating team. We will not just demand to stop the war, not just call for a ceasefire but must also find a resolution to our problem so that we will not end up in a cycle of violence,” she explained. “This is not the time to blame each other. We will work for a peace that is not imposed but is anchored on justice,” she added. “Rodil deserves to be honored as we have honored him recently for his contributions in the peace process,” said Regina Antequisa, executive director of Ecoweb Inc. who also attended the conference. “There is a need to raise the level of people’s awareness on the impact of the conflict and to encourage community leaders and members to participate in the efforts to positively promote peace and in resolving conflict,” she said. (Violeta M. Gloria/MindaNews) |
