The Philippine Online Chronicles

One would imagine that Peace in Mindanao is something everyone desires. Yet by the talk around town, it isn’t. Not really. And so much for a nation supposedly of the Catholic faith, without grasp of what constitutes Just War is this facade of peace loving.  It is a clamour driven by rage, and anger, and a macho culture that strikes because it got hurt.  It is a nation not really looking at the chess board.  There is a Time for War, the Holy Bible says, and a Time for everything under the sun, but our nation is so driven by impulsive anger and rage that it understands neither War, nor Peace.

Nineteen lives were lost when the Moro National Liberation Front first stabbed the peace process in the back. It is an occurrence that has happened before. We give peace a chance, and the MILF rearms to live to fight and wreck havoc another day. It happened when Erap waged his all out war, and it happened during nine years of GMA’s rule.

Cynics may wonder between sips of coffee at your favorite coffee shop, who profits from this? The MILF seems to profit from it. Their weaponry is a match to our armed forces. And conspiracy theorists may likely add— without proof--- whether or not generals profit from this conflict.

Those of course who don’t profit from this are the peoples of Mindanao where each bullet fired is a sure way to keep them poor. Conflict whether political instability or economic or in this case, war is the surest way to to push economic gains back, and by extension make it harder for the people of Mindanao to prosper.

The two arguments to be made have merit. How can you give peace a chance when there is an obvious violation? Nineteen lives lost just like that. Whether it was through incompetence by their commanders or not— remains to be seen. What’s certain is this. It is an affront to the macho culture of Filipinos.

The second argument is of course for peace. We must not let the peace process die. For far too long there has been conflict in Mindanao, and it is high time it is solved. Correct?

Two things are certain for peace in Mindanao. Mindanao must be demilitarized, and second only when every stakeholder in Mindanao says, “We want peace” will there be peace.

The government cannot let the murders go. So these bandits must be hunted down. This is short of the “all out war” that some quarters are advocating. And that’s a good thing. Isn’t it?

A few days after the incident, I wrote an opinion piece called, “Is Mindanao peace, a lie?” My point being the stakeholders in Mindanao must now really look into the future. The ecological realities, and the economic realities going forward is like a ticking clock.

Today, Mindanao is a lush, and green island with lots of potential. Who is to say the changes happening to our world won’t make it increasingly more difficult for such a poverty stricken people to leap out? Who is sto say that because of climate change, Mindanao won’t change into a desert? Who is to say drought won’t strike that region?

The conflict in Mindanao must be put to rest in the next few years if the people of Mindanao would have much hope to prosper and to prepare for the greater challenges that would strike it.

If the various stakeholders in the region truly love Mindanao, they must act, and they must act to bring peace to the region. Mindanao is filled with warlords and bandit groups and lawless elements masquerading under the banner of rebellion and poverty, and the real stakeholders in the region must act to fight this injustice. To fail sends Mindanao into a path of increasing poverty.

Our nation doesn't understand war.  It also does not understand peace.  It is petty, and spiteful, driven by an affront to the macho culture of our race.  It is childish.  It does not look to the future, or to the consequence of failing.  There should be no peace without Justice, it is true enough.  And so a nation must bring to justice those who would perfer fighting, and self-interest, and terror.  There can be no peace in Mindanao, or a nation for that matter when its people can not look past its childish ego.

Image credit: Apotheosis, public domain.