THERE is reason for optimism — with a liberal dose of caution — that the long-festering Mindanao problem in the Philippines could be moving toward a peaceful resolution. The largest separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has been engaged in negotiations with the administration of President Gloria Arroyo for some three years, during which time a truce between government forces and rebels have held on despite sporadic violations from both sides. Now those protracted peace discussions seem to have born fruit and some 30 years of bitter conflict in which more than 100,000 people have been slain may be coming to an end. Three days of talks in Malaysia brokered by the Malaysian government ended yesterday with final agreement on one of the most difficult issues, the ancestral land which will comprise the area likely to constitute an autonomous Muslim region. With both sides hailing the compromise deal as “a breakthrough,” plans are now going ahead for technical discussions in advance of formal peace talks in a few months.
Undoing the bitterness engendered by the long marginalization of Philippine Muslims is a tall order and much depends upon the creation of trust and confidence by both sides. The rebellion was a direct response to the brutal behavior of government-sponsored paramilitary groups during the Marcos dictatorship. Yet both sides have come to recognize the reality of their decades-long standoff and each is concerned that a failure now to resolve the rebellion could play into the hands of extremists on both sides.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, addressing the Philippine Congress during his visit to Manila, warned strongly against extremism and counseled patience and statesmanship by everyone involved. His words have been echoed by the MILF’s chief, Murad Ebrahim, who assured his supporters that the talks were not an exercise in futility but the only way to a just and honorable settlement. He begged his supporters to remain patient.
The hope is that the peace talks have now gathered sufficient momentum to become unstoppable but hard-liners among the rebels as well as in the Philippine military may yet try to sabotage the process. It is therefore most welcome that the Arroyo administration has accepted the presence of Malaysian observers to monitor the cease-fire in Mindanao. The MILF has requested that Pakistan also send monitors to the region.
No one should pretend that when the ink dries on the final peace deal, the problems will be over. Solving them will require responsible behavior on the part of both communities to make the solution work. Recent history has shown how difficult it is for regions ravaged by generations of conflict to forget the ingrained assumptions of violence and readopt the ways of peace. There will be disputes and misunderstandings. Nevertheless, none of these problems are insurmountable as long as the good will and growing trust that underpin a peace deal remain in place. What all sides in this battle have come to recognize is that there is no other way to advance except through negotiation and compromise.
