Editorial - How to achieve peace in Mindanao

It’s early to tell whether the peace effort initiated by the government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is headed in the right direction. It remains to be seen whether what has so far been achieved will lead to eventual solution to the decades-old peace and order problem in Mindanao.

Two weeks ago, President Aquino secretly flew to Japan for a meeting with MILF leaders led by its chairman, Al Haj Murad. The meeting was unannounced and the media learned about it only two days later.

However, what’s more intriguing was the fact that the results of the meeting had been kept secret by both parties. But government chief peace negotiator Marvic Leonen assured that no secret deal was made by the two panels.

Before the one held in Japan, the last peace negotiation was saddled with controversy when the peace panel created by the Arroyo administration and the MILF came up with the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, which was highly criticized by many sectors.

After the Supreme Court declared the MOA-AD unconstitutional, rouge MILF elements went on a rampage in Mindanao, especially in Christian villages, killing many people.

The Aquino administration should see to it that the resumption of talks should lead to more fruitful results this time. But for the negotiation to succeed, it should be open to the public to avoid public perception of another secret agreement.

Of course, the negotiation should be centered on how to economically develop Muslim areas rather than on the quest for Moro independence.

Undeniably, the Muslim areas in Mindanao are among the poorest in the country, which the Aquino government should prioritize in its economic development plan for the region.

The MILF, for its part, cannot just draw the card to push for an independent state. Mindanao is home to different cultures embraced by Christians, Lumads and Muslims that a Moro state, even in Muslim areas, will never be successful.

The reason why peace negotiations have failed in the past is that they were anchored mostly on MILF’s pursuit for an Islamic state. Peace will only be achieved if genuine economic development plan occupies the biggest place at the negotiating table.