POLITICS: Duterte visits Misuari to talk peace

08/20/2016 | 12:07 0 Posted in Local Issues

No talks with Abu Sayyaf

President Rodrigo Duterte is a very determined man TO PUT IT MILDLY, in fact he is a very hard nut to crack, the toughest that I know about. But, he is not a stupid man; he is a very shrewd strategist and a ruthless administrator who knows how to milk the only available cow.

Behind the bland face and all the trashy language that he dishes out even without any provocation, there is the knowledge and foresight that only Ravana possessed since he had ten heads, and consequently, ten brains.

That is only one aspect of his personality; he has his ears (from his ten heads, glued to the ground and catches every vibration in his beloved motherland.

Thirdly, as Mayor of Davao for 22 years, he has gained deep insights into all the trouble spots and the troublemakers of his country having been quite close and seen the goings on with his twenty eyes (remember ten heads?); he has seen the degeneration of at least a couple of generations.

Hence, for observers like me, it is not at all surprising that:

Even before he could attend the June 30^th inauguration, the groundwork of contacting and sending feelers to all the parties, who were waging a war with the Filipino state, had been initiated, and
The process of surrender by the drug peddlers and addicts had begun.

It is in this backdrop that observers were not surprised when Duterte took it upon himself the task of undertaking a trip to the South to personally meet up with Nur Misuari the Founder-Chairman of the Moro national Liberation Front (MNLF) the foremost and undisputed leader of the Muslim community who had been waging an endless war with the government forces since 1972.

The intention of travelling to Sulu Province was mainly to convince the aged Misuari to emerge from hiding and talk to him regarding his plans for the region and the MNLF; he stressed on the importance of Misuari being involved directly since he was the only man who could assure an end to the rebellion and eradicate the poverty of his people in particular and the populace of the South in general.

In an impassioned appeal to both the rebels and the soldiers, he exhorted then to lay aside the guns and shun violence; this would be a golden chance to give alleviation of poverty through peace a chance. He declared that his only motive in becoming the President of the Philippines was to usher in peace in the troubled areas so that the bloodshed may end.

The fault for his going into hiding since 2013 cab arrtrbuted to his groups deception because they reneged on their word and conducted an attack in Zamboanga just to thwart the rival faction of the MOROS called MILF which the MNLF thought would gain the upper hand if they succeeded in getting a peace accord with the government; that would have been the cause of a loss of face for the MNLF; the siege resulted in the death of more than 200 people and an innumerable number were displaced permanently.

Almost the whole town consisting of more than 10000 homes was devastated in the attack which went on for many days; the MNLF had also succeeded in signing a deal with the then government in 1996 and Misuari was named the Governor when the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was formed.

The amount of money pumped in by the government proved to be a waste of time and no benefit could be given to the impoverished population.

The previous government led by benign Aquino III had finally declared that the ARMM experiment was an utter flop; the already incensed Muslims thereby got another grouse against the central government.

The main reason for the continuance of the rebellion is sometimes attributed to the poverty scene which is horrific; but, informed sources have known for a long time that such peace deals first require a ceasefire due to which the local unauthorized cash/tax collecting rebels lose their regular income. They continue their illegal collections leading to the failure of ceasefire and the peace efforts.

We are ready

The President informed on Friday that the government side is ready with their plans and proposals and instructions had already been issued to all concerned particularly the Presidential peace Advisor Jesus Dureza to send feelers and initiate talks with Misuari.

He asserted that he would like to get all splinter groups of Muslims on the negotiating table since talking separately was not advisable and feasible; the MNLF considering such a move as transgressing on their hold over the Muslims might be a hurdle as seen in the siege.

In so doing, they may have to divide the government contingent into two parts to deal with MNLF and MILF simultaneously; Duterte also mentioned that he had already requested Misuari to declare a ceasefire while the peace process was underway.

However, he also cautioned that the government was prepared to repulse any attack that might be launched in the duration of the peace process. On his part, he had declared that there should be no chance that Misuari was detained or something happens to him; this would be disastrous and that may be the end of any talks for peace with the Tausugs.

Since Misuari is quite advanced in age (at 77), and there should not be any pursuing or detaining him; this could lead to disastrous consequences with a total breakup of the future talks.

He was deliberately talking to both popular factions and was prepared to carve out separate region for them based on the Bangsmoro Basic Law but the law should be more practicable and strong.

He laid his heart out when he stated that, perhaps, he was the only President who wanted so much to have peace in the South. It was an opportune time to usher in peace and permit the troops to relax with family and friends.

He made a fervent appeal to all concerned to stop this war.

The soldiers are the most stressed since they are unable to lead normal family lives; moreover, the strife is also taking its toll on the progress of the Filipino society as a whole.

Besides, the fighting takes its toll on the forces on both sides; he exhorted the residents of the south to ensure only one thing, no Filipino should be displaced, after all they are the original residents of this land and it is not any fault of theirs that this problem has cropped up, he said.

For the Defense forces, he stated that he was willing to convert the Presidential plane into a transport plane for carrying wounded soldiers and also promised them the best medical facilities that money can buy.

He went on to recommend peace since with the advent of peace they could introduce 24 hour air services which will bring a lot of visitors and commerce particularly in Sulu where the runways are not open for 24 hours a day.

With infrastructure come investors and with investments comes prosperity, Dutete said.

Regarding the Abu Sayyaf, he just said they will have to be found and eradicated, even Misuari says that they are not listening to reason; they had beheaded two Canadian citizens when their demands for ransom were not honored and the continue to hold a Norwegian hostage somewhere in Jolo.