The CAB, and l<strong>at</strong>er the BBL, has been subject to consult<strong>at</strong>ions and forums particularly in but not limited toMindanao. The priv<strong>at</strong>e sector and big business, academe, religious leaders and officials both Christian and Muslim,and civil society organiz<strong>at</strong>ions have weighed in on the peace process and the agreements they have produced. Allsigned documents were immedi<strong>at</strong>ely posted online, widely covered by media, with infographics reprinted in majorbroadsheets. But the truth is th<strong>at</strong> few of those who are talking loudly today took much interest in all these then.They say th<strong>at</strong> peace is not an easy p<strong>at</strong>h; sometimes it’s like walking a tightrope. But there is no altern<strong>at</strong>ive to peace.War cannot end war. Religious officials, civil society leaders, business persons, academicians have spoken out wholive and work in Mindanao. They know how destructive war is, and how fragile peace is. Th<strong>at</strong> is why, to a person,they have <strong>issue</strong>d calls for peace very early on when thick haze still hung over Mamasapano. They called for aresumption of congressional hearings on the BBL.Some legisl<strong>at</strong>ors and politicians wish to demonize the MILF. But I can say,from working with the MILF in the past three years, th<strong>at</strong> they have earnedthe trust and respect of GPH peace negoti<strong>at</strong>ors with a ceasefire th<strong>at</strong> hasheld firm since the Al Barka incident in October, 2011. The trust of the AFPhas been won with successful joint oper<strong>at</strong>ions against lawless elements andto rescue kidnap victims, and some occasional PNP officials who wanderedinto hostile territory, in central Mindanao. And most of all, they have wonthe trust and respect of the whole-of-government for choosing time andagain to stay on the table through the stickiest negoti<strong>at</strong>ions, shifting fromwinner-take-all talking points to joint and mutual problem-solving to movethe multiple tracks of the peace process forward – not just in pursuing thepolitical settlement in the autonomous Bangsamoro , but also in the deliveryof the Sajah<strong>at</strong>ra Bangsamoro peace dividends, the crafting and adoptionof the Bangsamoro Development Plan, and the groundwork for the phasedand gradual decommissioning of MILF comb<strong>at</strong>ants in the context of thecomprehensive Normaliz<strong>at</strong>ion Annex.“I find it oddly strangeth<strong>at</strong> it is legisl<strong>at</strong>orsand politicians whohave not witnessed,or felt, first-hand thescourge and ravages ofwar in Mindanao whocome charging <strong>at</strong> ourpeace structures witha wrecking ball. ”To say so is not lawyering for them but speaking the truth in love, to borrowa line from scripture.I find it oddly strange th<strong>at</strong> it is legisl<strong>at</strong>ors and politicians who have not witnessed, or felt, first-hand the scourge andravages of war in Mindanao who come charging <strong>at</strong> our peace structures with a wrecking ball. Wh<strong>at</strong> is it like to liveyour life forever on the run? Wh<strong>at</strong> is it like to lose your home, and your wits, because bombs come raining from thesky? Wh<strong>at</strong> is it like to force your adolescent daughter to work abroad because there is no decent work for bakwitsor semi-permanent refugees? Wh<strong>at</strong> is it like to force your underage daughter to marry because there is no securityof home for her? Wh<strong>at</strong> is it like to know th<strong>at</strong> the little boy th<strong>at</strong> you suckled <strong>at</strong> your breast will not grow up to learnreading and arithmetic and how to make a living from his talents and acquired skills? Wh<strong>at</strong> he will learn best is howto point the gun and pull the trigger and, <strong>at</strong> wh<strong>at</strong> is supposed to be the prime of his life, he will wake up on manymornings with the knowledge th<strong>at</strong> this is a day when he may kill or be killed.This is wh<strong>at</strong> war has meant in Mindanao – not for one, or two, or three, but for thousands, for tens of thousands, forhundreds of thousands, and during the episodes of all-out war, for half a million people, even a million, of its people:Muslim, Christian, lumad.Th<strong>at</strong> is why Mindanao people – children and bishops and ulamas and businessmen and women and teachers and NGOleaders – th<strong>at</strong> is why their reaction to congressional freezing of BBL hearings is visceral, pained. Because they knowwh<strong>at</strong> the costs are, they know th<strong>at</strong> war is infinitely costlier than peace.If speaking this truth labels me as lawyering for MILF, I do not mind. Better th<strong>at</strong> than to shut up because it is not4 KABABAIHAN<strong>at</strong>KAPAYAPAAN March 2015
popular, or sexy, to speak up <strong>at</strong> this time in defense of peace. How oddly strange to be so viciously assailed forspeaking up for peace.People in Mindanao are also pained by the resurgence of our old biases and dualistic thinking of us versus them,expressed in the view th<strong>at</strong> the only good Moro is a dead Moro, or th<strong>at</strong> Muslims can never be trusted. We mustunlearn this dualism so we can move beyond our superficial analyses to a more discerning view of the peace processand our stakes in it.Mamapasano has, indeed, set back the peace process but let us use this lull to clearly spell out the stakes, not onlyfor Mindanaoans, but also for people from the north (Luzon) and the central islands (Visayas). We cannot prosperas a n<strong>at</strong>ion with a house divided. We cannot live the promise of life abundant while pockets of poverty and violenceand squalor remain in Mindanao.Let us <strong>issue</strong> primers on peace, let us hold fora such as this, let us write letters to the editor, let us lobby ourcongresspersons, let us reach out over and over again to Filipinos who are different from and unfamiliar to us. Let uskeep the flame of peace burning, to keep BBL <strong>at</strong> the top of the agenda, and to honor our fallen 67.And, finally - wh<strong>at</strong> is to be done?There is a well-loved Protestant hymn th<strong>at</strong> goes: “Once to every man/woman and n<strong>at</strong>ion, comes the moment todecide…” In the end, this is a moment of truth for every Filipino: Christian, Bangsamoro, or lumad. The President,PNoy, has put it this way: Am I for peace? Or am I for war?Shall we let our fears, insecurities, and falsehoods, rule us? Can we afford to sit on the fence, let the wind blow whereit will, and may the best or strongest side win?Let us not sell ourselves short. Not for nothing did we fight Spain, again and again, for three and a half centuries – tostrike out <strong>at</strong> injustice, for the call to freedom. Not for nothing did we fight the Americans – <strong>at</strong> the cost of becominga howling wilderness – to defend our sovereignty and freedom. Not for nothing did we fight against the darkness oftotalitarian rule, which triumph inspired the world with our people power revolution 29 years ago yesterday – toregain our freedom and once again light our way to a future of justice, democracy, and peace.I beg you, the young people here: as young Filipinos to whom the future rightly and irrevocably belongs, pleasedo not sell yourselves short. Insist on your say to how the future will take shape. Insist th<strong>at</strong> decisions th<strong>at</strong> willdetermine your future not be made on the basis of emotions – or more accur<strong>at</strong>ely, emotionalism – not on thebasis of alleg<strong>at</strong>ions and surely not on the basis of prejudices and petrified perspectives th<strong>at</strong> belong to the past andwill not serve in your quest to manage and overcome the challenges of the future. Please demand th<strong>at</strong>, when theBBL is put to a vote in Congress, it will be the future of the children – Christian, Muslim, and lumad; equally for thechild in Mamasapano as the child in Manila – th<strong>at</strong> will take center stage and not the 2016 electoral prospects ofpoliticians.Today we are called to stand beside, not against, our Muslim brothers and sisters in their quest for justice andselfhood within a house united, not divided. The most vociferous voices call for a stop to the BBL hearings, call for arevamp of the peace infrastructure in midstream. Perhaps the most charitable thing to say is th<strong>at</strong> they do not knowwhereof they speak.Let the blood shed <strong>at</strong> Mamasapano clear, and not blind, our vision in the quest for truth and justice. Let the sturm unddrang of these days be as a refiner’s fire to purify words of their dross.And may the peacemakers be blessed.March 2015KABABAIHAN<strong>at</strong>KAPAYAPAAN5
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