September 28, 2013 Saturday, the Aquino administration announced that the nineteen-day Zamboanga crisis has already ended. They confirmed that the aim of the government to bring the hostages into safety and protect civilians from being harmed has already been achieved.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), 167 MNLF rebels, 23 policemen and soldiers, including twelve civilians died, 247 MNLF rebels arrested while 24 surrendered since the onset of the crisis last September 9. 113, 389 people have been affected and relegated to evacuation centers while 10, 160 houses have been wiped out.
This infiltration was started by the faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by their founding chairman, Nur Misuari and ground commander, Habier Malik, tampering the villages in Zamboanga City. They burned homes and used hostages as human shields.
President Noynoy Aquino flew to Zamboanga and did his job as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), bringing about 4,500 soldiers to form front against the rebels and directing the operations.
Cause of the crisis
It has been reported that the root cause of this crisis is a “misunderstanding” between the government and the MNLF faction.
According to Inquirer.net, some of the MNLF rebels received false information in which the government allegedly signed an abatement package selling out the provisions in the 1996 peace agreement. “We have no plans in disintegrating the 1996 Peace Agreement, in fact the government is preparing to go to a tripartite (review) to present how the implementation will go,” Undersecretary of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Joe Lorena said in a radio interview.
Similarly, Atty. Chito Gascon, political affairs Undersecretary and part of OPAPP believed that MNLF misunderstood the planned termination of the tripartite review on the 1996 peace agreement they signed with the government. This termination of review was equivalent to the expiration of the peace agreement that in turn justified the ruckus started by some of the MNLF rebels.
Meanwhile, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that the cause is due to the lack of inclusive consultations for the Mindanao peace process as reported in Inquirer. He said that with this recent MNLF crisis, bombings in Central Mindanao, and the Sabah conflicts that all happened this year, it is apparent to assume that consultations for peace talks had not been inclusive.
There have been ongoing peace talks between the government and the MNLF faction. According to a GMA news report, OPAPP and MNLF have a scheduled meeting on September 16 but Misuari could not attend because of the outburst in Zamboanga City in which he and the rebels are to be blamed. It is Misuari who rejected the proposals about the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement, contradictory to the senior members of MNLF who support this agreement and call for peace and unity within themselves and the region.
In the academe, some professors from the University of the Philippines expressed that maybe the MNLF felt blotted out when the government focused their attention on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a 12,000 Muslim rebel group who are close to signing the peace pact, the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement. Some professors also noted that a light treatment was given to MILF during peace talks compared to MNLF, which was stricter as GMA news reported.
The OPAPP also expressed that the MNLF spokespeople had different explanations regarding the crisis. One called it as a peaceful rally but with armed weapons while the other one called it as an independent march.
Bangsamoro Framework Agreement
Since the 1970s, Muslim rebels have been fighting for independence and autonomy in their homelands in the southern part of the country. MNLF signed a peace agreement during 1996 that granted limited autonomy to the Muslim minority in Mindanao.
Under President Aquino’s administration, the MILF was recently concluding the talks with regards to an enhanced ARMM autonomy which could become the new political entity for Muslims in Mindanao. At the same time, Misuari also established his plan to pursue an independent Bangsamoro state.
According to the OPAPP website, Bangsamoro refers to the original settlers of Mindanao, the Sulu archipelago and the other nearby islands like Palawan during colonization. Their descendants, spouses, relatives are considered to identify themselves as Bangsamoro. It also refers to the new autonomous state under the framework.
This peace pact between the MILF and the government is called the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement. This agreement allows the creation of a transition commission, which is responsible for the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law and if needed to amend the Philippine Constitution as well. MILF armed forces will be converted to law enforcers, civilian police forces who will be accountable for the central and the Bangsamoro governments.
The core territories of the Bangsamoro state are the current ARMM provinces namely Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Marawi City, the cities of Cotabato and Isabela, the six municipalities in Lanao del Norte and barangays in six municipalities of North Cotabato that voted for involvement in the ARMM. The groups have the right to choose if they want to be part of the Bangsamoro or not.
In 2016, the elections for the new Bangsamoro government will begin. This new government will be in ministerial form that allows the MILF and other political forces to form political parties and participate in elections through democratic and peaceful means. The parties to get legislative seats will elect the chief of the Bangsamoro government .
Rehabilitation
With many lives lost in the skirmish, it was estimated that Php 4 billion is needed in the restoration of Zamboanga city. Aquino expressed that the government is ready to respond through a Php 3.28-billion rehabilitation plan for rebuilding the city. He also shared that they prepared Php 6.1 billion in calamity fund, according to a report by Solar News. The rehabilitation includes establishment of houses, continuous relief assistance, educational assistance for students who lost their parents, cash for work, supplementary feeding program and temporary settlements while the building of houses is ongoing and livelihood assistance.
Classes were also suspended in 38 public schools caught in between the skirmish. This composed of 12,000 students to miss regular classes at least for the next three months, according to the Department of Education.
On a different note, the government also launched investigation regarding whoever is behind the supply of ammunition to the MNLF rebels for them to sustain such skirmish within almost three weeks.
More importantly, a team of prosecutors has also been in Zamboanga city to collect evidence needed in filing cases against the MNLF rebels whose skirmish killed many people not only soldiers but civilians as well.
People in Zamboanga City are now free to roam around the city, soldiers can now rest, and operations like the city hall and other commercial establishments can now resume; nevertheless, the effects of the standoff between the government and the MNLF still remain and needs to be addressed at the soonest possible time.
