EDITORIA - Piece of, not peace in, Mindanao

Peace, or the desire for it, or even just going through the motions of seeking it, can be so heady that many have fallen or been made fools in its wake. Recent developments in Mindanao, which in the context of this writing are aptly labeled "peace initiatives," are no exception.

Shorn of all the peace talk, the only thing clear at the root of these developments but which nobody is acknowledging is the fact that the Moros want a nation of their own. This is understandable of course, which is why it is perplexing that nobody acknowledges it despite its clarity.

All the other issues at the periphery of the problem are just distractions to disguise the intent. The fact that these issues -- poverty, neglect, corruption -- are not limited to Mindanao but are also present in other areas that never rose up in armed rebellion should have raised red flags everywhere and everytime.

But it is always better to play deaf and blind for political expediency. And so government proceeded to give the Moros what they have always wanted on a silver platter. Anyway, if the whole thing blows in the face, this present government shall have long been gone and it will be the problem of whoever takes over the reins.

Because of the naiveté of this government, we now stand on the threshold of an even greater problem. For now that government has given an inch, the Moros will now want an arm. What they have longed to have for years, this government has given them in a snap. And with much fanfare.

This is not to say the Moros do not want peace. But peace is not the real issue here but just the convenient excuse. The real issue is real estate, a piece of Mindanao they can call their own. At the core of their hearts, the concept of one nation under one flag is a no-no if that nation is 80 percent different.

This is neither strange nor unexpected because that is the prevailing sentiment globally among Muslim countries. What is strange and unexpected was the swiftness and the ease with which the government fell for the whole thing.

The willingness of the Moros to come to the table was born of the realization that they cannot keep on with a proctracted war forever, especially since the sources of their foreign funding are not bottomless. How providential that, at the word peace, government would be willing to pay at patrimony's price.