EDITORIAL – BBL: Simply too good to be true

Except for a few discordant voices, almost everybody is hailing the BBL or Bangsamoro Basic Law, a document proposing the creation of a Moro state in Mindanao. These people apparently believe that a piece of paper (actually it is 122 pages) can substitute for what actually happens on the ground in case the Philippine Congress is stupid enough to pass it, and Filipinos naive enough to approve it in a plebiscite.

And why is almost everybody hailing the BBL, including the multitudes who have not actually read the proposal? Because the problem in Mindanao has gone on for so long that people are frustrated, to the point that anything that takes on the semblance of providing a solution immediately becomes fashionable. Those who embrace the proposal are hip and peace-loving. Those who oppose it are gross, war-mongering freaks.

Never in the history of this country has an entire people -- well, almost entire -- been so mesmerized by a 122-page promise. It is an amazing thing really, considering that Filipinos are almost always a cynical and questioning lot. There is almost nobody in this country who, on standing up, does not get questioned over motives. Yet, with regard to the BBL, it is as if what it envisions is already in place, humming and ticking in all its resplendent glory.

What a naive people we are. And how so very blind. It is as if we are not aware of what is happening in the world around us. It is as if we do not know what places on earth are on fire. It is as if it is one big mystery who are fanning the flames and stoking the conflagration. But the one evident truth is they cannot live with one another. Even when they pack up and leave, they cause headaches in the places where they relocate.

This is not just an observation. It is a reality that has become the staple news for decades now. We do not propose to know the answer to the problem. Not even the United States and its western allies have come across a solution. But we sure as hell know that pursuing the direction we are now heading will only bring us to a situation we can only regret later.

We seem to rely too much on what is written in the proposal and not what our very own eyes have allowed us to see not only in our shores but, more importantly, in the larger arena where the same scenario is being played out on a much larger scale. We forget that mere words do not make a kingdom. It is so easy to craft words that are pleasing to the ear. Reality has a shriller ring to its voice.

Do not get us wrong. We are all for peace. We are all for development. We are all for unity and nationhood. But to achieve this difficult goal, everyone serious enough to believe in it must bring something to the table instead of take away from it. You add to the whole instead of taking it apart brick by brick. The BBL should be rejected and the Philippine Constitutioned strengthened. If you want one nation, you strengthen it, not chip it away.