Editorial posted to the MILF Website (Dec 9): Hard-earned Annex
With all fairness and objectivity, the Annex on Power-sharing is the most contentious of the three annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) so far signed. In terms of time and efforts, not to state of the tense moments, spent by the parties, this Annex is the most difficult of all, the FAB included.
With all fairness and objectivity, the Annex on Power-sharing is the most contentious of the three annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) so far signed. In terms of time and efforts, not to state of the tense moments, spent by the parties, this Annex is the most difficult of all, the FAB included.
Imagine, more than one year, to be exact from July 2012 to December 2013, had been spent by the parties to overcome their divergent positions leading to the final inking of the agreement; and if not for the excellent facilitation of the Malaysian facilitator, Tengku Dato’ Ab’Ghafar bin Tengku Mohammed, the outcome would not end well. This was not known until the last minutes of the last day of the 42nd GPH-MILF Exploratory Talks in Kuala Lumpur on December 8. Actually, the talks were set for four days only, but the parties have to extend for one more day hoping to settle the last hitches of the Annex.
Several factors contributed to the signing of this Annex. First, the parties are committed to finish and sign this agreement without delay, but the MILF would not sacrifice quality of the agreement with the need to finish it. To reinforce their commitment, President Benigno Aquino III sent two of his most trusted cabinet members, Sec. Teresita “Ging” Deles and Edwin Lacierda, to back up and give moral support to the GPH peace panel. The MILF reciprocated by also sending three of its most senior members to join the MILF peace delegation. Second, the two peace panels are evenly matched, so that what determined the outcome of their verbal tussle is their focus to solve the Bangsamoro Question anchored on the facts of history and the reality of the present. These are added-on factors to the “Straight Path policy” of President Aquino and the consistency and pragmatism of the MILF. Third, the two parties, in no small way, listen to the wisdom of the international community, represented in a modest way in the presence of the International Contact Group (ICG) whose membership comes from Turkey, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia (for states) and Muhammadiyah, Conciliation Resources (CR), Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CGD), and now Community of Saint’Egidio, replacing The Asia Foundation (TAF), for the international non-government organizations (INGO). And fourth, the prodding and push exerted by the friends of the peace process way back home, including civil society organizations (CSOs) and various stakeholders contributed a lot to this success.
Modesty aside, the Annex on Power-sharing is a class of its own. It can be open for scrutiny and we are optimistic that honest minds will have difficulty criticizing it. It is not a perfect agreement, because there had never been a perfect agreement in all times. It can only be surpassed when the agreement is about granting independence to the Bangsamoro, which has never been part of the agenda since 1997. The single agenda agreed by the parties was and still is: “How to solve the Bangsamoro Problem,” now refined into “Question”.
For the fault-finders, however, they are the breed that never sees good things in life, because they see the world as ugly and unfit for living. In their refined nature, they are the idealists whose utopian state would never happen, because there is no such thing, except in the mind. This is a world of imperfection, and as such, one has to struggle in all spheres of life not to achieve utopian perfection in this life but to install justice to every collective human endeavor and relationship. The Annex on Power-Sharing is one such product of struggle – it resonates with justice, not create a world of illusion that is merely confined to the fantasy of the imagination.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/706-hard-earned-annex
Several factors contributed to the signing of this Annex. First, the parties are committed to finish and sign this agreement without delay, but the MILF would not sacrifice quality of the agreement with the need to finish it. To reinforce their commitment, President Benigno Aquino III sent two of his most trusted cabinet members, Sec. Teresita “Ging” Deles and Edwin Lacierda, to back up and give moral support to the GPH peace panel. The MILF reciprocated by also sending three of its most senior members to join the MILF peace delegation. Second, the two peace panels are evenly matched, so that what determined the outcome of their verbal tussle is their focus to solve the Bangsamoro Question anchored on the facts of history and the reality of the present. These are added-on factors to the “Straight Path policy” of President Aquino and the consistency and pragmatism of the MILF. Third, the two parties, in no small way, listen to the wisdom of the international community, represented in a modest way in the presence of the International Contact Group (ICG) whose membership comes from Turkey, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia (for states) and Muhammadiyah, Conciliation Resources (CR), Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CGD), and now Community of Saint’Egidio, replacing The Asia Foundation (TAF), for the international non-government organizations (INGO). And fourth, the prodding and push exerted by the friends of the peace process way back home, including civil society organizations (CSOs) and various stakeholders contributed a lot to this success.
Modesty aside, the Annex on Power-sharing is a class of its own. It can be open for scrutiny and we are optimistic that honest minds will have difficulty criticizing it. It is not a perfect agreement, because there had never been a perfect agreement in all times. It can only be surpassed when the agreement is about granting independence to the Bangsamoro, which has never been part of the agenda since 1997. The single agenda agreed by the parties was and still is: “How to solve the Bangsamoro Problem,” now refined into “Question”.
For the fault-finders, however, they are the breed that never sees good things in life, because they see the world as ugly and unfit for living. In their refined nature, they are the idealists whose utopian state would never happen, because there is no such thing, except in the mind. This is a world of imperfection, and as such, one has to struggle in all spheres of life not to achieve utopian perfection in this life but to install justice to every collective human endeavor and relationship. The Annex on Power-Sharing is one such product of struggle – it resonates with justice, not create a world of illusion that is merely confined to the fantasy of the imagination.
http://www.luwaran.com/index.php/editorial/item/706-hard-earned-annex