Rep. Mujiv Hataman of AMIN Party List and Rep. Faysah RPM Dumarpa of Lanao del Sur had filed two different bills on anti-Discrimination. Their bills are now being consolidated into one.
This consolidated bill is now on the process of being formulated and framed. We would like to hear your views about this bill and help contirbute to its construction by making your comments on its draft posted here.
Please Click on the links below to read the bill and post your comments.
THE Organization of the Islamic Conference recently concluded its 33rd conference in Azerbaijan from June 19 to 21. I have been waiting for the Secretary-General’s report on the government-MNLF Final Peace Agreement since the OIC mission to the Philippines in May. Two groups prepared reports for the Secretary-General on the implementation of the peace agreement. One group was led by Ambassador Sayed Kassem El-Masry, the adviser to the OIC Secretary-General, and the other was composed of the ambassadors representing the Committee of the Eight (Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia). Senegal and Somalia did not send representatives.
The report of the Committee of the Eight was very diplomatic and neutral. It pointed out the discrepancy between the government and the MNLF’s assessments. The Committee’s recommendations, however, included support for the government’s bid to be an observer of the OIC during the 33rd conference in Azerbaijan, for government’s peace-building efforts in Sulu (the arena of hostilities between government troops and MNLF loyal to Misuari) and for Mrs. Arroyo’s promise to fully implement the government’s commitments.
Thus, I was surprised to read the critical report presented by the OIC Secretary-General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.
First, the report cited the “deteriorating political, economic, and social conditions, which are evident in the extreme backwardness and acute lack of educational and health services” of Muslim Mindanao. It further cites the continuing military operations that have displaced Muslim communities from their villages and the “continued demographic reengineering that has encouraged the migration of non-Muslims to the South in order to turn the Muslims there into the minority.”
The report presented the assessments of both sides.
For instance, the participation of Muslims in national government. The government says full participation, citing ARMM elections and the election of two Muslim party-list representatives, the appointments of Nasser Pangandamam, to the Department of Agrarian Reform, and of Mr. Zamzamin Ampatuan as the chairman of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, among others. Question: Why are elected party-list representatives included in the count? Did the government cause Mujiv Hataman and Ahmad Tomawis to be elected? Mujiv almost threw a fit when he found out that his election was counted as part of the government’s implementation of the Final Peace Agreement.
The participation of Muslims in the regional security forces. The government noted the integration of former MNLF combatants into the security forces in ARMM. The MNLF cited as a violation, among many, the fact that the government deployed the MNLF integrees in combat duties to fight the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the MNLF forces in Sulu last year.
Public education. The government noted the development of a road map for elementary education of Muslims by the Department of Education, inclusive of strengthening the madrasah. The MNLF said that plans mean nothing if sufficient funds are not provided. The ARMM continues to have the worst education indicators in the country.
Economic issues such as natural resources development. This is a highly contentious issue. The government says it continues to control and supervise matters of extraction of natural resources and minerals, but the ARMM has full authority over all areas of environment and natural resources within its territory.
The MNLF says: through Congress, the government has arrogated to itself the power to define strategic mines and minerals, which contravenes the agreement. The government removed “strategic minerals, such as uranium, coal, petroleum and other fossil fuels, mineral oil and all sources of potential energy: lakes, rivers and lagoons; and national reserves and marine parks, as well as forest and watershed reservation from the scope of the ancestral domain and the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.” Question: So what has the ARMM full control over if even water is not under its jurisdiction?
The MNLF report rebukes the government’s position. “Phase two of the September 2, 1996, Peace Agreement can never be implemented, because the Senate and Congress, instead of ratifying the agreement, have made an organic act—R.A. 9054 on March 31, 2001, as a solid stumbling block on the path toward the implementation of R.A. 1996.”
Unlike the half-full/half-empty view of the glass, the government sees it as overflowing while the MNLF sees it as broken. How can the OIC bring these two diametrically opposed views together? The tripartite committee meeting (government-MNLF-OIC), if it will take place at all, will be a very interesting one indeed. By the way, the tripartite meeting is contingent on MNLF chairman Misuari’s attendance. How is that possible when the government has introduced more evidence to prove Misuari guilty of treason? Abangan.
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