fullman*

I, for one, would like a sober discussion on the peace process and the proposed Memorandum of Agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government. There is no doubt that the GRP is bungling the whole situation; its first error was when President GMA appointed a hawk, retired Gen. Esperon, at the helm of the peace process. The guy – and surely the government he represents – has no notion of transparency, or democratic, deliberative processes, the only way a broader consensus outside the GRP-MILF process could be reached on any peace negotiations.

Perhaps the bigger problem is that the ruckus is generating a strong anti-Moro sentiment and is marginalizing legitimate issues that the peace process should address. The call for the recognition of the Moros’ ancestral domain is valid, so is the need for them to exercise meaningful autonomy. Arguably, these are controversial calls that require deliberation and debate even among non-Muslims, a long and painful but necessary process. However, the strength of any peaceful resolution can only emanate from how deeply the resolution is embraced by all stakeholders. This is a reality that a tyrant like Esperon would never understand. He’d rather take short cuts or drop bombs.

The MOA is now being brandished as a tool for fear and hatred. I read in today’s papers Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin’s statements on the draft agreement: he claims that since it gives the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity absolute power, it would lead to abuses against women. “Indeed, it shall possess absolute powers without any prohibition against the discrimination, abuse and enslavement of women which happens in some Muslim states,” according to Rep. Locsin, warning that some Muslim states have cruel punishments like stoning to death women taken in for adultery.

Scary, right? But while true in some cases, I wonder what right do traditional politicians like Rep. Locsin have to cry foul over the possibility of an Islamic theocracy in the South when the so-called democracy that they represent walks like, talks like, and acts like a Christian theocracy. President GMA’s State of the Nation Address could have been delivered by a Bishop and we would not have noticed. Rep. Locsin himself is a known opponent of the reproductive health bill, a proposed measure founded on women’s rights. If in Islamic theocracies women are flogged till they die, here in our little Catholic country we make them bleed to death due to unsafe abortion. Moslem women are subservient to their husbands, but hey, Catholic women are told and raised to believe that they are also inferior to men.

There’s a lesson or two behind the bungled MOA that we should be able to grasp. Peace cannot thrive if the State continues to be an instrument of any religious doctrine. Faith, after all, should be a private enterprise. While policies – and yes, including the peace process – should take cognizance of religious diversity, faith should not be the driving force behind nation-building.

If we truly want to end religious conflict in Mindanao, the first step is to dismantle expressions of sectarian biases within our political institutions. Recognition of and respect for diversity and pluralism – not Jesusland or Moroland – would save the peace agreement.