Zenonida Brosas and Cecilia JimenezDeepening the PeaceZenonida Brosas, Co-chair, Joint Normaliz<strong>at</strong>ion CommitteeMaking a difference in a man’s worldBy JENNIFER SANTOS“I WOULD BE DANCING,” ZenBrosas says gaily, when asked wh<strong>at</strong>she would be doing if she was notinvolved in the security sectorand the peace process betweenthe Government and the MoroIslamic Liber<strong>at</strong>ion Front (MILF).Zen is currently co-chair of theJoint Normaliz<strong>at</strong>ion Committee(JNC) tasked to implement thedifferent phases of the Annex onNormaliz<strong>at</strong>ion. She adds th<strong>at</strong> shemight also be farming or gardening:“I want to raise flowers.”But life had a different p<strong>at</strong>h laid outfor Zenonida “Zen” Brosas.Zen has a bachelor’s degree inAgricultural Economics from UP LosBaños and a Masters’ and PhD inUrban and Regional Planning from UPDiliman.After college, not knowing wh<strong>at</strong> shewanted to do, she took on differentresearch assistantships in UP doingfeasibility studies for the Bureau ofImmigr<strong>at</strong>ion, the Development Bankof the Philippines, and other groupsor offices through friends’ referrals.She also did a project proposal for theDepartment of Agriculture on RuralDevelopment and other integr<strong>at</strong>edarea development projects. Wh<strong>at</strong>motiv<strong>at</strong>ed her to do all these, as wellas her current jobs, is the desireinculc<strong>at</strong>ed in her by her parents,to make a difference. They said,“Your goal in life should be to makea difference in someone’s life, be itanywhere or everywhere.”From freelance work, Zen took on afull-time job <strong>at</strong> the N<strong>at</strong>ional SecurityCouncil (NSC). “A friend of Dr. AllanOrtiz asked a friend of mine if heknew someone who could do a job <strong>at</strong>NSC,” Zen recalls. At the time, she wassupposed to embark on a six-monthUNDP w<strong>at</strong>er impounding project inMalaysia. However, her mother hada stroke and Zen had to weigh heroptions carefully.A career in n<strong>at</strong>ional securityIt was the start of an interesting20-year (and still counting) career inn<strong>at</strong>ional security, where, by tradition,men have ruled for decades.The N<strong>at</strong>ional Security Council (NSC)is the principal advisory body for theproper coordin<strong>at</strong>ion and integr<strong>at</strong>ionof plans and policies affecting n<strong>at</strong>ionalsecurity. It was cre<strong>at</strong>ed throughExecutive Order 330 of 1950, underthe Quirino Administr<strong>at</strong>ion.Zen started working <strong>at</strong> the NSC asdirector of the Socio-Economic Unitof the Policy Study Branch, a post sheheld from 1990 to 1998. “I came in asa director for six months. And thenthey recommended me to becomethe assistant director general.” Shewas also the assistant director forthe Inform<strong>at</strong>ion Management Officetasked to make project proposals on<strong>issue</strong>s affecting n<strong>at</strong>ional security witha focus on socio-economic factors.At NSC, she saw the connection of leftrecruitment and the socio-economicconditions of a person. “If you lose14 KABABAIHAN<strong>at</strong>KAPAYAPAAN March 2015
your job, will the left recruit you?Th<strong>at</strong>’s the bottom line. I couldn’tsee th<strong>at</strong> before. I couldn’t figureout the left’s basis for recruitment.”She learned how displacement,unemployment and poverty arefactors leading to the vulnerability of aperson to be recruited by the left.As part of her job, Zen worked withOPAPP on the GPH–MNLF PeaceAgreement as her first assignment.At th<strong>at</strong> time, although there werewomen in the staff, she was the onlywoman officer of NSC. She studiedthe agenda of the GPH–MNLF PeaceAgreement since they were workingon the Organic Act (Republic Act6734) which called for the cre<strong>at</strong>ion ofthe Autonomous Region in MuslimMindanao.In 1998, Zen was appointed assistantdirector general for Administr<strong>at</strong>ionand Legisl<strong>at</strong>ive Liaison and PolicyResearch Support. She held the postuntil 2010 when she was promoted toDeputy DG.In 2010, Zen was appointedundersecretary of the NSC andexecutive director of the PresidentialSitu<strong>at</strong>ion Room (PSR). Cre<strong>at</strong>edthrough Administr<strong>at</strong>ive Ordernumber 2, the PSR is where thePresident handles situ<strong>at</strong>ions of criticalimportance to n<strong>at</strong>ional security. Itprovides the President inform<strong>at</strong>ionin real time and a space for dealingwith security situ<strong>at</strong>ions. Zen makes ita point to review the PSR report everyday which she needs to finish by eighto’clock every evening.Zen was not involved in actualnegoti<strong>at</strong>ions during the GPH–MILFPeace Process. “My involvementwas giving opinions, comments withrespect to the things th<strong>at</strong> OPAPPwould send us.” But in the end, shewas appointed chair of the GPHTechnical Working Group (TWG) onNormaliz<strong>at</strong>ion.“When I arrived in KL for the firstmeeting, the MILF team was shocked.They never saw me during the timewhen Dean Marvic Leonen was GPHpanel chair.” But she felt she hadthe upper hand when handling themeetings because she already knewsome of the people involved in thenegoti<strong>at</strong>ions.“Iqbal has been known to me eversince we negoti<strong>at</strong>ed the CeasefireAgreement in 1996. We drafted th<strong>at</strong>mechanism.” Zen was anxious <strong>at</strong> firstbecause this was the first time th<strong>at</strong>she had come face-to-face with anMILF commander, her counterpart,Muhammad Nassif. To overcomeher anxiety and to learn moreabout the process, she befriendedher counterpart on the other sideof the table. “So, th<strong>at</strong> started theintroductions and during coffee time,I told my partner, usap tayo (let’s talk).”The Comprehensive Agreement onthe Bangsamoro and its Annexes,including th<strong>at</strong> of the Normaliz<strong>at</strong>ion,was signed in March 2014. Zen iscurrently the co-chair of the JointNormaliz<strong>at</strong>ion Committee (JNC) taskedto implement the different phases ofthe Annex on Normaliz<strong>at</strong>ion, makingsure th<strong>at</strong> the police structure basedon the Annex is set up, and theirrole on the decommissioning. “TheJNC, together with the Intern<strong>at</strong>ionalDecommissioning Body (IDB),determines how to secure thecomb<strong>at</strong>ants who will turn over theirfirearms <strong>at</strong> and come up with a socioeconomicpackage for them.” JNCmakes the policy and the Joint Peaceand Security Committee through theJoint Peace and Security Team whowill implement it.”Wh<strong>at</strong> excites Zen about herwork in normaliz<strong>at</strong>ion is thedecommissioning. “It will be a big,big accomplishment and it will showthe world th<strong>at</strong> after all, these peopleare reasonable. When someone saysth<strong>at</strong> the MILF is not to be trusted, myresponse is, just wait, everyone makesmistakes. The most exciting part isthe fulfilment of the objective of thedecommissioning which is to get theMILF to turn over their firearms andgive the rebels a civilian life. THAT ismaking a difference.”The challenge of peaceWith all the challenges the peaceprocess is facing, Zen is optimisticth<strong>at</strong> peace can be <strong>at</strong>tained and thepeace process will work. “I thinkwith the help and prayers ofeveryone, it will. We’ve gone a longway, decisions of individuals andpolicy makers would have to bepragm<strong>at</strong>ic. We have to be pragm<strong>at</strong>ic;we have to think of long-termsolutions, and not just for thisadministr<strong>at</strong>ion. We’ve been throughconflict a lot and the solutions ofbefore didn’t really work. So thisis making a difference in decisionmaking,I am hopeful th<strong>at</strong> this willwork, if we all cooper<strong>at</strong>e.”Zen adds, “Peace is something youwork for. Peace cannot be done by anindividual; it is a partnership. But youhave to have inner peace before youcan make peace with everyone.”Zen Brosas might not be dancing, orrunning a farm or planting a garden,but by the work she is doing, she israising more than crops or flowers.She has raised a consciousness ofthe work for peace, and how in thetraditionally male domain of n<strong>at</strong>ionalsecurity, a woman can and has, madea big difference.March 2015KABABAIHAN<strong>at</strong>KAPAYAPAAN15
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