Emporium Current Essays

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The peace accord between the Philippines government and the Moro and subsequent
election of Mr. Nur Misuari, the MNLF leader, as the Governor of a Muslim autonomous
region in the southern Philippines are bound to have profound impact on the economics
and political stability of the Muslim community in this South East Asian country.

In 1972, the Muslim in the southern Philippines initiated an armed struggle, under the
leadership of Mr. Nur Misuari, for an independent Muslim state in the region that has
been their ancestral homeland for centuries. The Muslims were furious over the deliberate
efforts from Manila to turn them into a minority in their own homeland by encouraging
the Christian community to migrate to the south. At the same time, they fcH that they
were being subjected to humiliation in a largely Christian country. These acrimonious
feelings were further fanned by disclosures in 1968 that army officers had ordered the
killing of Muslim trainees recruited by the Marcos government to raid the neighi/ouring
Malaysian state of Sabah. Subsequently, the Muslim Launched an organised guerrilla war
in the from of Moro National Liberation Front to achieve an independent state. And for
24 years, Manila and the MNLF remained busy in a bitter conflict that engulfed 120.000
lives.

However, three years ago, the Orgariisailon of Islamic Conference (QIC) entered the fray
and persuaded the two sides to resort to the negotiation table to seek a middle way and
bring permanent peace to the region. Finally, after protracted rounds of talks, a peace
accord was signed by the Ramos government and the MNLF, paving the way for the
formation of MuUim-lcd administration in the southern Philippines. The peace accord
calls for the creation of a new autonomous set-up m the Soath, termed as the Southern
Philippines Council for Peace and Development (healed by Mr. Misuari) that will
supervise the developmental programmes for the region It is supposed f» be transitional
administrative body that in three years will make way for a new, broad-spectrum
autonomous government led by tlie MNLF fo co\c,
14 provinces and nine cities in the^outh. Apart from providing for402

Emporium Current Essays

Emporium Current Essays

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the optional teaching of Islam in schools, some 5,570 MNLF fighters will be integrated
into the military and an MNLF officer will be appointed as deputy chief of the military
command in the South. Under the accord, Mr. Misuari ran as a candidate of the ruling
party forth governorship of a four-province Autonomous Region for Muslim Mandanao
(ARMM), which includes the provinces of Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi an Lanao del
Sur, and won it very comfortably, as no other candidate challenged him.

Apparently, the accords contain enough ingredients to enable Mr. Misuari to give the
much-needed self-respect and a sense of security to the impoverished Muslim
community. Apart from its significance in the political context, this accord is likely to
give new impetus to economic activities in a long-neglected region where most of the six
million Filipino Muslim live. Alexander Magno, leading analyst, commented on this
aspect of the accord thus: "This is not only about politics. The impetus is as much
economic. Mindanao is now after all the Philippines' front door in ASEAN (Association
of South-East Asian Nations)."

Being an ASEAN economy, the Philippines is vehemently promoting Mindanao as a

"bomm-town", which'had been a bat in the past, because of its geographic continuity with
a growth area in the eastern ASEAN region along with Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Contrary to some booming areas of Mindanao where the government has taken generous
economic initiatives, the southwestern part, mostly inhabited by the Muslims, reflect a
pathetic picture due to the cycle of underinvestment by the government and continuos
war. It is a hitter fact that the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, which falls
under the governorship of Mr- Misuari, is categorised by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) reports as the lowest in human development in the
Philippines.

However, economic dividends from peace are quit apparent The impending peace and
formation of Muslim-led administrations will not only initiate new developmental
projects and build a strong infrastructure in the region, but also attract heavy investment
to break the cycle of poverty. Following the peace accord, an urge ha's been witnessed in
the neighbouring countries to invest more aggressively in the region. Peace and human
development are directly proportional to each other. "A recognition of cultural and
religious diversity as well as decentralised economic and political governance are
prerequisites for any development," is how Kevin McGrath, UNDP representative in the
Philippines, linked human development with the descending peace on the southern
Philippines.

Aside from its positive impact on the Muslim community's socio-political standings, the
peace accord contains the germs of new

tussle between the signing parties and the extremists, who are not ready to accept the
draft of the accord. The Christian community, which has now outnumbered the Muslim
inhabitants in the region, is fiercely opposing the accord on the ground that President
Fidel Ramos has given "too much" to the Muslims to achieve peace. For obvious reasons,
the protests were spurred in the Christian areas by the accord that paves the way for a
Muslim-led administrative body. Local Christian leaders have resorted to a mounting
protest campaign, including candle-lighting and the display for inverted Philippine flags.
The intensity of indignation of the Christian community can be gauged from the fact that
in July screaming demonstrators tried to strike President Ramos with placards during his
visit to the region to marshal support for the peace agreement. Now some extremist
Christian groups have threatened to wage a new armed movement to sabotage the peace
accord.

Similarly, the Muslim extremist groups,, exoticaily the Islamic radical faction Abu
Sayyat, pose a serious challenge to the p^ace process. These extremists, who are in no
mood to accept anything less than an independent Muslim state, are likely to step into the
breach left by the MNLF. Thus, extremists on both sides are not going to sit calmly and
let Misuari and company have a smooth sailing in the coming days.

At the same time, the accord too, contains certain flaws, which would make it very
difficult for Mr. Misuari to have total control over the administrative body. Even Mr.
Misuari himself has complained that the Manila agreement was faulty because it did not
give police powers to the MNLF to deal with the lawless elements. Obviously in the
absence of police powers, the administrative body will not be in a position to project it
self as a "government."

However, the most pinching question faced by Mr. Misuari "is what could happen to the
peace process when President Ramos ends his term in 1998. Constitutionally, President
Ramos will not be eligible to re-run for the presidency in 1998. Being the co-author of
the peace initiative, who even did not hesitate to invite fierce opposition from the
majority Christian community, President Ramos has emerged as the protector of the
peace process. Ostensibly, his absence from the scene will give rise to uncertainly in the
MNLF camp. Nonetheless, by signing the peace accord, Mr. Misuari has taken a timely
and pragmatic step, which is expected to bring about a positive change in the lives of
Flipino Muslims.