Although there is nothing definite, Pres. Noynoy Aquino has expressed his willingness on the idea that the Constitution be amended to finally achieve peace in Muslim Mindanao.
Leaders in that part of the country stress that they have abandoned pushing the idea of secession. Instead, they favor that some regions of Mindanao be given the right to self-rule. One of the dailies remembers that:
“Nearly nine years of negotiations under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had led to the drafting of a landmark accord that would have given expanded autonomy to a Moro homeland in 2008. The deal required constitutional amendments, and was scuttled by fierce opposition from Christian politicians, who feared losing land and clout to minority Muslims. . . . The Supreme Court later declared the deal unconstitutional.”
Should there be a Constitutional amendment to accommodate our Muslim countrymen’s dream for a self-rule or autonomy, how is “self-rule” or “autonomy” defined? Does it mean that they have to impose Islamic Law like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan or Pakistan?
Filipinos with different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds still live under one Flag and again, depending on the provisions of the proposed blueprint of the self-rule clause, if approved and goes well, will Christians in the Moro land be subjected to Islamic rule? Will there still be freedom of religion, movement and conscience? Does it also mean that the Muslims will get back their lands, by force if necessary, now owned and developed mostly by Christians?
Since secession is not what they are looking for, common sense assures that they will still be dependent to the government of the republic and that they will have no armed forces of their own. In simpler terms, they would be in a “federal” Muslim region.
It is unfair for me to speculate whether the government’s stand in giving way to amending the Constitution is the panacea of all the problems besetting Mindanao and the country in general. The first step in reaching peace is for the government and Muslim representatives to go back to the negotiating table after the Ramadan, thresh out their differences and find common interests to resolve their differences. Both must act in good faith otherwise, the much publicized forthcoming negotiations will again be worthless.
Amending the Constitution is a process. It starts from Congress and ends to the hands of the citizenry through plebiscite. In case of a plebiscite, where does the government get the resources when it is cash strapped by the spendthrift Arroyo government?
If the Muslim demand is accommodated, who can stop other indigenous and tribal groups to go to the government and ask the same “self-rule” given to the Muslims? -30-
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