MALAY peacemakers were due yesterday in Kuala Lumpur to witness the end of 10 long hard years of stop-start negotiations. A peace treaty was to be signed between the Philippines government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, (MILF) bringing to an end 40 years of bloody rebellion. On Monday, however, the Supreme Court imposed a temporary restraint order on the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo which means the signing could not take place.
The order was granted on a petition from Catholic politicians in the southern island of Mindanao who claimed that they had not been consulted during the negotiations and did not know the details of the deal. The court ordered government lawyers to come before it on Aug. 15 to present their case along with that of the petitioners. The concern of the Catholics is that some 712 villages are to be added to the existing autonomous Moro region, even though the treaty apparently stipulates that villagers must vote on whether or not they wish to come under Moro jurisdiction.
The sense of frustration felt by all parties in Kuala Lumpur was palpable but both the MILF and the Philippine government reiterated their commitments to a peaceful solution. Nevertheless, there was a brief exchange yesterday of mortar rounds between government troops and MILF fighters with each side blaming the other.
There are clearly many, not least in the military, who resent the deal the Malaysians have brokered and who choose also to ignore that the territory being ceded, along with broad political and economic powers, is largely the ancestral domain of the Moro people. They also overlook the stark fact that the rebellion has brought about the deaths of more than 120,000 people and seen some two million more driven from their homes. This was a rebellion which, even with the covert help of the Americans, the Philippine armed forces found themselves incapable of suppressing. There was only one way to end the bloodshed and that was by negotiation.
The Malaysians are to be congratulated for their perseverance and patience. The hope is that the government will be able to convince the Supreme Court that the deal is indeed legal and should not be stopped. The problem, as ever in such territorial settlements, is that there are always certain individuals who lose out and will understandably protest. However, the question to be weighed by the court is whether the greater good is being served by the disadvantaging of a few. In any event, the government will doubtless be arguing that the provision for a plebiscite at the end of the year will enable communities to express their preferences.
The plebiscite itself may excite dispute, and thereafter as the Moro administration begins working properly there are bound to be some jurisdictional quarrels. But the fact remains that the treaty will bring the opportunity for lasting peace and with the safe exploitation of Mindanao’s mineral resources, also prosperity for both the Moro people and the whole of the Philippines.
