The surprising announcement on Tuesday by Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Murad Ibrahim that his group would be open to something less than full independence for a Bangsamoro, or Muslim homeland, in Mindanao was welcome news. It has been more than thirty years now that the first peace talks between Moro fighters and the Philippine government began in Jeddah, and still there has been no permanent solution to the conflict that began when Spain tried unsuccessfully to control Mindanao during its 300-year colonial rule over the Philippines.
Three decades of armed conflict in Mindanao have displaced hundreds of thousands of Muslims, created a culture of arms and violence, and prevented the region from reaching its full potential. Murad announced at a three-day meeting of MILF members and supporters that the MILF was looking at the experiences of minorities in other countries to see how Filipino Muslims can accommodate their aspirations for self-rule. “We are open to discuss federalism, we are open to discuss a free state, we are open to discuss any other form of governance,” said Murad.
The current policy of allowing separate schools for Muslims in Mindanao, and Shariah courts for family legal matters, has been deemed not enough. Indeed, most of the Mindanao region remains the most underdeveloped and impoverished of the Philippines, despite its still plentiful natural resources. The one experiment in Muslim autonomy in the form of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has been declared a dismal failure by both Muslims themselves and by Manila. Only four provinces and one city opted to form ARMM in 1996 — one more province and another city joined later — and it has, unfortunately, never been successful. Riddled with corruption and neglect from both Manila and Filipino Muslims, ARMM was doomed to failure from its inception for being too little, too late.
Abhoud Syed M. Lingga, the executive director of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, has warned that the MILF could suffer the same fate as the Moro National Liberation Front if it also gives in to what is seen as insincere solutions presented by the Philippine government. He says that the various solutions to the political relationship between the Philippines and the Muslims should be evaluated and decided upon by the Bangsamoro people themselves in a referendum that goes beyond a mere “yes” or “no” vote on a single option. The truth of the matter is that the Organization of the Islamic Conference has never supported independence as a solution to the Bangsamoro problem. The OIC has always reiterated that the independence and territorial integrity of the Philippines has to be respected because of the fact that Muslims today are a minority in the Philippines.
While the Bangsamoro are different from the majority of Christian Filipinos in terms of their religious and social values, there are surely still ways of accommodating these differences, while still remaining a part of the Republic of the Philippines. With the US leading a global war against terror, and with a Muslim population yearning for peace and stability, for freedom from conflict and hoping for a better future, Murad has been forced to seek other options than fighting and total independence. The OIC and the Kingdom should back Murad’s initiative at exploring new avenues of conflict resolution. The Arroyo administration has already responded positively to these latest developments, and seems ready to continue talking along these lines. This is a rare and golden opportunity to stop the bloody conflict that Mindanao has been racked with for 30 years. All sides should seize the moment, as another opportunity like this one may not happen again for some time.
