9th SESSION OF THE ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE
DOHA:
12-14 NOVEMBER, 2000
16-18 SHA’BAN 1421
MNLF
CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH
BEFORE THE 9th ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE
13 November 2000
DOHA, STATE OF QATAR
Your Highness
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani
Emir of the State of Qatar
President of the Ninth Islamic Summit Conference
Your
Excellency
Syed Mohammad Khatami
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran &
Out-Going President of the Eight Islamic Summit Conference
Your
Excellency
Dr. Ezziddine Laraki
OIC Secretary General
Your
Excellency
Dr. Abdulwahid Belgaziz
In-Coming OIC Secretary General
Your
Majesties
Your Highnesses
Your Excellencies
Distinguished
Guests and Esteemed Brothers &
Sisters of the 56 Brotherly Delegations
Assalamu
Alaikum W’Rahmatullahi W’Barakatuhu!
Alhamdulillah! All Praises and thanks be
to the Merciful and Compassionate and All-Powerful Allah for His
Infinite and Inscrutable Wisdom in causing the timely convening
of this Islamic Summit Conference of the fifty-six (56)
sovereign heads of Islamic States from across the continents of
the world at this very juncture in the history of the Islamic
Ummah.
From what have transpired so far, this Islamic Summit
Conference is bound to go down in history as one of its most
successful sessions. As we could see, it is expected to produce
magnificent result to accelerate the re-emergence of the Islamic
Ummah as a key player in world affairs and in presiding over the
destiny of mankind. And this includes the kernel of all
contemporary Islamic issues, which is the fate of Palestine and
Al-Quds Al-Sharif and the Glorious Intifada.
It is in this light that I take immense pleasure in
associating the MNLF 13-man delegation and the entire 17 million
Bangsamoro people of Mindanao and its islands in welcoming with
all sincerity the holding of this Islamic Summit Conference in
this beautiful and hospitable City of Doha, the Capital of the
State of Qatar. And we thank most profoundly His Highness Sheikh
Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and the generous people of
the State of Qatar for their warm brotherly welcome
accorded to our delegation.
It is also in this light that I join the 56 Sovereign
Heads of Islamic States in congratulating His Highness, Sheikh
Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, in
his assumption to the Presidency of this 9th Islamic
Summit Conference; and, too to assure His Highness of our ardent
prayers and our moral support behind his 3-year long stewardship
of the destiny of the Islamic Ummah.
I’m sure His Highness needs our individual and
collective support and encouragement, however far removed we are
from the mainstream of the Islamic World, because he has to
brace himself against the pressing challenges and dilemma that
will come his way. Many parts of the Islamic Ummah are
convulsing. Palestine is bleeding and is going to be on top of
His Highness’ preoccupation. Certainly, his burden will be
lightened should this Islamic Summit and the OIC as a whole be
able to rekindle the flame and the indomitable spirit of Islamic
Unity and solidarity and brotherhood. The more so should we be
able to ward off the spectre of apathy complacency and uproot
the issues of divisiveness in our midst.
In the eyes of the world, the Islamic Summit and the
OIC as a whole are looming very large in the horizon as the
repository of the conscience and the power of the Islamic Ummah,
that represent 1.5 billion or roughly one-fourth of the
population of this planet Earth. And, too, it counts from among
its fraternal member-states some countries entrusted by the
Almighty Allah with the lifeblood of modern industries, which
are the foundation and the vital ingredients of power and
influence in the world. And we should not forget either that a
growing number among them have already succeeded in taming the
mystery of science and advanced technology and are in the
process of harnessing their awesome power for powerful endeavor
as well as for their national security and defense.
Moreover, they are in occupation of the major
arteries of world trade and commerce. And their economic
potential is definitely among the greatest. Allahu Taa’la has
been so gracious and so kind to the Ummah. Only we still have to
learn how to optimize the utilization of these power and
potential for the benefit of the Islamic Ummah and the oppressed
humanity, particularly its downtrodden members, the
non-self-governing ones.
Despite the exigency of our contemporary life, the
Islamic Summit and the OIC leadership as a whole have been
extremely cautious and circumspect, indeed. In some instances,
they have wavered and refused to shoulder their responsibility
to muster and harness all the power and influence that Allah has
placed in their hands for our common benefits. So we remain the
oarsmen of this contemporary world and civilization, helplessly
taunted and flaunted and intimidated by everyone, including the
dregs of Earth!
It is not, of course, difficult to grasp and
understand how the Islamic Ummah can free itself from its
internal malaise, in order to regain the respect of the world,
including those so-called Super Powers, should it succeed to
consolidate and optimize the utilization of the vast power and
influence the Almighty Allah has placed at its command. And the
first major step in this direction is how to consolidate all its
integral parts, because number is one of the essential elements
of the chemistry of power. Without sounding self-serving, this
should include all of us, the 400-million downtrodden elements
of the Islamic Ummah---the non-self governing Islamic nations
and communities hitherto under the rule and domination of
non-Islamic governments. For we it is who need most urgently a
powerful and respectable and caring Ummah, perchance we can turn
to it for shelter and protection and assistance from the
vagaries of our volatile and perilous world where we live in.
Indeed, it is we who need a genuinely concerned Ummah capable of
extending a helping hand to all of us---we who are still facing
such a terrible dilemma. For we do not know for sure what fate
might befall on us and our people again. Yes, we do not know
what is in store for us and our hapless and innocent children
when they take over where we leave off.
We would like to point out that while other Islamic
and non-Islamic nations or countries have already freed
themselves from the bondage of colonial rule, whether in Asia or
Africa or elsewhere, others, like the Bangsamoro people, who are
supposed to be one of the strongest and most legitimate
candidates for decolonization and independence, still remain in
the lurch - - - unable even to achieve the barest autonomy for
themselves and their posterity.
Why is this so? We regret to say that there has been
a sort of double standard even in the previous act of this
Organization. While the OIC supported with alacrity the heroic
struggle of our African and Asian brothers to enable them to
avail of the pertinent provisions of the OIC Charter as well as
those of the UN Charter and the UN General Assembly Resolution
on self-determination, decolonization and independence, this
same OIC support was not made available in the case of the
Bangsamoro struggle.
While we are eternally grateful to the OIC and its
member states for their brotherly concern and support, yet this
is one vital link in the chain that is amiss --- the OIC
recognition and support behind the Bangsamoro fundamental rights
to self-determination, decolonization and independence. While
you have re-affirmed your recognition and support behind
fundamental rights of our people in the earlier ICFM resolution,
lately no mention of this matter has been done at all. It was as
if it was dropped in the cold by inadvertence. And yet this is
one bounteous source of leverage in our pursuit of peace,
justice and freedom. Something that our people bear in their
soul as it were a birthmark – because it is an essential
attribute of their sovereignty as a people, which is at once
immutable, imprescriptible and inalienable.
If you happen to look at the world map, easily your
eyes will rivet on a cluster of hundreds or even thousands of
islands and islets, altogether a sum total of 130,000 square
kilometers of land, endowed with rich Islamic culture and a
proud history of over four centuries of struggle against foreign
aggressors; favored with excellent climate throughout the year,
with lush rain forest everywhere despite the criminal activities
of some Filipino settlers who came to enrich themselves at the
expense of our forest and ecology and our people.
These group of islands, islets and reefs are
impeccably arranged by nature, such that it is easily
distinguishable from its Southeast Asian neighbors, because it
is tightly bounded and sharply set off from them and from the
rest of the world by four major bodies of water. From the
northern approach, the Bangsamoro Homeland is bounded by the
Mindanao Sea that we share with the Visayas and Luzon in the
north; from the south by the Celebes Sea, that we share with
brotherly Indonesia; from the east, by the Pacific Ocean, that
we share with the Pacific basin countries; and from the west, by
the South China Sea where lies the highly contentious and
volatile Spratly Islands, the traditional fishing grounds of the
Bangsamoro people for centuries and the sensitive bone of
political contentions among the powers in the region, including
the Philippine Government as of the present moment.
Enclosed by this ring of islands and islets and
buttressed from all sides by these vast bodies of water is the
Sulu Sea, named after the Sultanate of Sulu, founded by a
learned Arab missionary who rode on the crest of world trade and
commerce in the late 13th century. His name was
Sharif Abubakar Al-Hasimi, may the Almighty Allah be eternally
indebted to him and pleased with his soul. He was buried with hi
son, named Sharif Kamaluddin, in the most prestigious and
beautiful mountain in Sulu—called Bud Tumantangis.
It will be recalled that in 1417, one of the Kings of
Sulu died in a Chinese territory and a beautiful mausoleum was
erected in his honour with an epitaph from the handwriting of
the reigning Chinese Emperor himself, which says: “He was a
Brave King and He was the Master of the East!” That was the
impression of the Chinese people and Government at a time when
China thought that it was the “Center of the Universe”.
Perhaps, it was not China alone that held the Sulu Sultanate in
such high esteem; the rest of its neighbors and even some
distance places in the world apparently also held similar
impression of this Bangsamoro government in those days. Indeed,
its diplomatic dealing and exchanges with the Ottoman Empire and
the British Empire and the Spanish Empire in the later centuries
could vouchsafe this historical truism. Incidentally, to get a
glimpse at the stature of the Sulu Sultan, it was said in the
chronicler of this state visit of so eminent a world personality
that the Sulu Sultan or King had travelled to China at the head
of a royal entourage of over three hundred members of the Royal
Family and the Ruma Bitchara (equivalent to modern-day
law-making institution), and some distinguished leaders from
various parts of the Kingdom.
Apart from the fertility of the soil, beneath the
Bangsamoro Homeland is a vast and inexhaustible quantity of
precious mines and mineral and other natural resources.
Nickel is either the biggest or second biggest deposit in
the world; initial natural gas find is invariably estimated at
between 2.5 and 7.5 trillion cubic feet. In fact, the Philippine
authority has already committed the first 2.5 trillion cubic
feet to a consortium for a paltry sum of US$5 billion only. I
was a silent spectator during the signing ceremony. This is a
flagrant violation of the Peace Agreement and an affront to the
integrity of the Bangsamoro people. It was said that 2.5
trillion cubic feet of natural gas could produce nearly 3,000
megawatts of electricity, enough to illuminate the entire Luzon
Island and its metropolis for twenty years.
Likewise, oil has been found in several places. One
newspaper and TV program claimed recently that an American
exploration or prospecting team has struck 2 billion barrels of
oil in the Sulu Sea facing the State of Sabah. Satellite imagery
shows that the Sulu Sea could probably be the center of the oil
basin in Southeast Asia. We should not forget that the Sulu or
the Bangsamoro Homeland of Mindanao and its islands are within a
cockcrow’s distance to center of oil and gas in neighboring
Kalimantan, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam. It does not
stand to reason that the Bangsamoro Homeland is without these
precious resources, too.
Add to this the vast sources of wealth such as the
inexhaustible aquatic resources. The Sulu Sea and our parts of
the South China Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the Celebes Sea are
known far and wide as among the riches habitat of fish in the
world. Indeed, lately, the island of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi alone
have gained the reputation as among the biggest suppliers of
seaweed’s, technically called “carregenans”, to the world
market. It is one of the fastest growing commodities in demand
in demand today because it has many derivatives that can be used
for food, medicine, and so on and so forth. Indeed, our
potentially is so vast and enormous that we will never, Insha
Allah, become a liability to the Islamic Ummah and the rest of
the world should we get the freedom to tap these resources for
our own people’s use.
But ironically, it is in this land, the ancestral
Homeland of the 17-million Bangsamoro people, the native
indigenous inhabitants of Mindanao and its islands, where one
can find, as the recent OIC Special Fact-Finding Mission might
have found, among the poorest and most illiterate sectors of the
Philippine population, because they have received relatively the
least attention from the national government, partly owing to
persistent suspicion and anti-Muslim biases and discrimination.
Since the annexation of our national Homeland by the Philippine
Government in July 1946, on the occasion of its independence
from the American colonial government, the national government
in Manila has been focusing its attention and spending its
financial and other resources mostly in Metro Manila and other
parts of Luzon and the Visayas – to the detriment of far-flung
areas like Mindanao. Mindanao and its islands are more than six
or seven hundred nautical miles away from Manila.
Moreover, no sooner our people and Homeland were
annexed and gobbled up by the Philippine Government, as part of
an international collusion and conspiracy, the land, the wealth
and the political power were steadily transferred to the hands
of the newly arrived Filipino Christian settlers in Mindanao.
Some of these neo-colonial rulers in our Homeland have become so
chauvinistic and arrogant that they look down on us and our
people as if we are denizens from the land beyond beyond. And in
order to protect their unlawful gains in our Homeland, they did
everything in their power and influence to obstruct and derail
the GRP-OIC-MNLF Peace Agreements. If we are in such a
predicament in Mindanao and its islands till now, it is probably
because the implementation of the Peace Agreements have not
taken off properly, largely because of the machination and
subterfuge of those people who happened to among the most
powerful and influential members of the Ruling Party of H.E.
President Joseph E. Estrada.
Indeed, even during the previous administration, the
one that negotiated and signed the latest Peace Agreement with
us and the OIC, it was they, the opposition, who had filed a
lawsuit before the Philippine Supreme Court for the annulment
and abrogation of the Peace Agreement.
We were, incidentally, told by spokesmen of the
previous government that it was mainly for this reason that they
had to bow to the mounting pressures to marginalize the Southern
Philippines Council For Peace and Development (SPCPD), thereby
making it literally useless and inutile to all intent and
purposes. Thus they refused to undertake the outright devolution
and transfer of the other major implementing arms of the Peace
Agreements, such as the Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA), the
Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), the National
Council of Indigenous People (NCIP), which is the umbrella
office of the eight million indigenous Highlander Bangsamoro
people; The Basilan Task Force, and other offices which could
have been quite useful in enabling us to implement our binding
and international commitment and obligations prescribed by the
Peace Agreements. Their simplistic explanation to rationalize
their action is that, to quote one Malacanang spokesman. “We
must not,” he said, “play into the hands of the opposition!”
As a matter of fact, even in the present anti-MILF
military offensives in Mindanao, these powerful and influential
Christian leaders were the staunchest advocates and supporters
from the very start. And they never hide their fanaticism and
aggressiveness in calling for blood!
Now they are in the Ruling Party and are in command
of vast power and influence in both Houses of the Philippine
Congress and in the local and city governments in Mindanao.
Thus, they are able to create more obstruction and difficulties
for us and the Peace Agreements than we are capable of facing.
In fine, they do
everything to oppose and cause the derailment and failure
of the Peace Agreements in order to prevent the rise of the
Bangsamoro people and leave the playing field completely and
continually under their control and hegemony. In other words,
they want to continue to monopolize the power and authority and
influence in the Bangsamoro Homeland, politically, economically,
and culturally, in order to be able to orchestrate and direct
the fate and destiny of the Bangsamoro people and their
ancestral Homeland.
Thus the sequence of failure of our Peace Agreements.
Firstly, the Tripoli Agreement of 1976; followed by the failure
of the Jeddah Accord of 1987, and, lately, the failure also of
the so-called “Manila Final Peace Agreement”. Mainly because
of their staunch opposition, the three-year transitional
mechanism has failed; and so too, it’s one-year extension. And
we believe quite strongly, that the present extension is also
bound to fail, considering the terrible and calamitous political
crisis that grips the Philippine Government and society today.
Everyone is a witness, through the CNN, BBC, and MBC, and
others, the unfolding of the political spectacle in Metro
Manila, which is capped by presidential impeachment proceedings.
Unless the bone of contention is resolved speedily, the crisis
might drag on indefinitely, thereby continually sapping the
economic and financial capability of the government to pursue
its great tasks.
In the end, this might ultimately affect the
capability of the Philippine Government to address our problem
and cause the repetition of its failure to comply with its “binding
international commitments and obligations” under the terms of
the GRP-OIC-MNLF Peace Agreements. Consequently, this might
contribute towards the prolongation of the anguish and misery of
the Bangsamoro people. Undoubtedly, because of the government
financial difficulties, it might be even much more difficult to
fund the rehabilitation and reconstruction programme and other
socio-economic components of the Peace Agreements.
Nevertheless, we would like to acknowledge our
gratitude to the Ramos Adminsitration, that signed the latest
Peace Agreement with us, for giving some funding for a number of
small roads in Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao,
Lanao del Sur and,
more importantly, the 162 kms. Circumferential Road in
the island of Jolo, Sulu. Although in this latter case, the
funding available is barely one-third of the legal requirement
needed to pave a 2-lane 162 km. road. This is in accordance with
the existing law. Likewise, we are grateful to H.E. President
Joseph E. Estrada for giving our people 163 steel bridges worth
P4.3 billion pesos, which the British Government has generously
made available in the form of soft loans. The Philippine
Government has put up a counterpart money worth over half a
billion pesos for a purpose. This is indeed a very valuable
legacy of the Estrada Administration.
Likewise, we are grateful to the previous
administration for the launching of the anti-poverty alleviation
programmes, but, unfortunately, it has been discontinued; except
through the foreign-funded humanitarian assistance, such as the
UNDP, the US-Aid ELAP programme, the AUS-AID, the CIDA programme
of Canada, the Japanese Aid Programme, the Belgian, the German
and the Spanish. On the other hand, the Islamic Development Bank
based in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an OIC affiliate
institution, has also generously made US$16 million dollars
available for educational and medical assistance. But we have
been facing some technical problems because of the lack of
cooperation of the Department of Health and the Department of
Education. However, we are submitting to the IDB our plan of
action so as to be able to fast track the utilization of the
fund. We hope that we will be allowed to re-align this fund for
other equally urgent needs, like livelihood programme that we
urgently need to embark on to address our post-war problems.
Of course, to make peace durable and lasting, there
is an urgent need to undertake and fund massive infrastructure
development and rehabilitation program. But then we do not know
where the funding can come from. And, of course, our regional
economy must be re-vitalized and expanded to create job
opportunities for the people. For this purpose, we need huge
investments especially from the outside world. But then few seem
willing to come to our Homeland for security reason. Mindanao
and some of its islands, like the island provinces of Basilan
and Sulu, are still very much in the boil. By and large, the
GRP_MILF war is still continuing; and so, too, the military
hot-pursuit activities against the so-called Abu Sayyaf group in
Jolo Island.
Since the onset of hostilities in these two war
fronts, hundreds of people have died and thousands more wounded
even as close to a million Muslim civilian refugees have been
uprooted from the tranquility of their homes and sources of
livelihood.
Thus it is ironical that the so-called Special Zone
of Peace and Development (SZOPAD) organized by the previous
administration, covering 14 provinces and 10 cities, and
mandated under the Manila Peace Package, has been turned into a
zone of war and destruction and hapless refugees instead.
We believe that the fundamental reason why this is so
is largely because of the failure of the Peace Agreements to
take off the ground. Despite the best possible efforts of the
Government to implement the Peace Agreements, specifically the
1996 Manila Peace Agreement, yet its implementation still leaves
many things to be desired. It was only in the integration of
some forces of the MNLF into the Philippine Armed Forces and the
Philippine National Police where we made some impressive
headway. But then this is not also without its own problems and
difficulties. So, too, in the sphere of restoring and preserving
the peace between the GRP and MNLF. Since we decided to end the
long and vicious war, through the advent of the latest Peace
Agreement, we have succeeded to preserve it till now. This peace
is so precious to us and our people that we hope and pray that
nothing untoward may happen that might disrupt and spoil it.
Your Highness, Mr.President
Your majesties
Your Highness
Your Excellencies:
Earlier, I made allusion to the previous decision of
the OIC, specifically the pertinent Kuala Lumpur Resolution of
the Fifth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.
We would like to refresh your memory that at the
onset of our struggle and in response to the persistent query of
some Islamic leaders and heads of State, we submitted our
Political Manifesto to the Fifth ICFM in Kuala Lumpur, appealing
for the recognition and support of the OIC and its member states
behind the Bangsamoro struggle for the restoration of the
fundamental rights to self-determination, decolonization and
independence.
But, instead, we are presented by the 1974 Fifth ICFM
in Kuala Lumpur with the peace formula that has the effect of
depriving the Bangsamoro people of their attributes of
sovereignty and fundamental rights to decolonization and
independence. Besides, it also virtually subsumed our people’s
fate and destiny to the Philippine laws and constitution and
government and its national interests.
It is our opinion that this new formula might have
been heavily influenced by the peace formula that the late
Philippine dictator, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, has proposed
to the MNLF leadership through some channels. Marcos is long
dead, but his ghost is still very much alive with us. For the
formula we have adopted and continue to uphold in trying to
resolved the Bangsamoro problem is basically a Marcosian
formula. It is not by coincidence that since Marcos has been
repudiated by history as well as most of the products of his
fertile mind, therefore, there is now an ever-growing outcry for
us to abandon and eschew the peace formula we have inherited
from his regime.
Except for the MNLF Chairman, Brother Nur Misuari and
the MNLF Central Committee Secretary General, Datu Muslimin Sema,
most of our key leaders have already lost their hope in the
viability of genuine political autonomy as the ultimate panacea
to the Bangsamoro problem.
From what we can see today, our anxiety and
premonitions proved to be correct and prophetic. Now, we are
facing terrible dilemma. As we pursue our efforts for genuine
autonomy, there in the Bangsamoro Homeland, the militant
Bangsamoro youth, women, professionals, farmers, workers, and
the broad masses of our people have decided to come together and
to walk through the path of self-determination, decolonization
and independence once again. And they are determined and
aggressive, just like the brave and heroic peers in every
troubled spot in the Islamic world, particularly their brothers
in the glorious Intifadha and
the sacred land of Palestine. However, this aggressiveness does
not necessarily mean that they are prone to violence. Indeed,
signs are that they are inclined to a peaceful struggle in
achieving their end.
At this juncture, we would like to pause and declare
that the MNLF and the 17-million Bangsamoro people are one in
solidarity and support behind the cause of glorious Intifadha.
Likewise, they are one and in solidarity behind the Palestinian
rights to self-determination and independence and the creation
of an independent Palestinian Statehood with Jerusalem as its
eternal restoration of Palestinian land to the rightful
Palestinian owners so that Palestinians scattered in many parts
of the world can return back to their homeland as they wish.
Mr. President: we would like to invite your attention
to the fact that during the tour of duty of the OIC Special
Fact-Finding Mission, practically all of the manifestos and the
placards and streamers borne by the Bangsamoro demonstrators
that poured into the streets of Manila and several major cities
in Mindanao and its islands were all demanding for self
determination, decolonization and independence. Indeed, even
while there were those who still clamored for the immediate
establishment and delivery of genuine, meaningful, just and
comprehensive political autonomy to the MNLF and the Bangsamoro
people, yet they vigorously demanded that there shall be no
plebiscite or referendum at all!
Such was our premonitions and anxiety in Jeddah in
May during the OIC Señor Officials Meeting. Likewise, in Kuala
Lumpur during our plenary address on the occasion of the 27th
ICFM. We said that we were fearful less the dilly-dallying and
dithering with the full implementation of the Peace Agreements,
namely the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and its implementing mechanism
the so-called “1996 Manila Final Peace Agreement”, might be
overtaken by events. Now this has come to pass.
From the look of things, this new political
development is becoming quite irreversible – all because the
youth and the masses of our people are convinced that there is
not much hope for such genuine political autonomy anymore.
Your Highness, Sheikh Hamad bin Kahalifa Al-Thani
Your Majesties
Your Highness
Your Excellencies:
On behalf of the MNLF Leadership and the Bangsamoro
people, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the
sending the OIC Special Fact-Finding Misssion to various places
in the Bangsamoro Homeland. Likewise, we thank the Ministerial
Committee of the Six, headed by the Republic of Indonesia, for
braving the perceived
danger in our Homeland. Unfortunately, for one reason or other,
the Mission was not able to see a lot of important things. For
instance, they missed the consultation with the fifteen-thousand
leaders and representatives of the eight-million indigenous
Bangsamoro Highlander people at the Mindanao State University
campus in General Santos City. When I personally inquired from
the Government Team that controlled our schedules and movement
in Mindanao why the OIC entourage was not brought to the
consultation, the reply was that there was no more time and,
too, because the Highlander people were reportedly demanding for
their right to self-determination, decolonization and
independence of Mindanao and its islands.
Likewise, the entourage missed the multi-sectoral
consultation at the premises of the ARMM Central Office in
Cotabato City, again because there was no more time. And yet
this was supposed to be one of the most important consultations,
because it was attended by five-thousand Muslim, Christian and
Highlander leaders from all over Mindanao and its islands,
including the entire leadership of the MNLF. Months of hard work
were spent in the preparation for this consultation with the OIC
Special Fact-Finding Mission, but it was not pushed through.
And there was also the multi-sectoral meeting in
Isabela, in Basilan Province. Several thousands of people,
including many leaders from different parts of this island
province were present. But then the mission was likewise unable
to attend because their precious time was used up in other
places.
Fortunately, most of the position papers, petitions
and manifestos have been reportedly submitted to the OIC Special
Fact-Finding Mission for their enlightenment and guidance in
putting the finishing touches to the final text of their report
and the expected resolution on the Bangsamoro problem they will
have to recommend to this 9th Islamic Summit
Conference.
Given the volatility of the situation in the
Bangsamoro Homeland, it is our hope and prayers that this great
and historic Islamic Summit Conference will leave any stone
unturned. For we are running a race with time. Nowadays, people
have every reason to entertain all sorts of doubt and to cast
their thoughts on another possible option, because over a
quarter of century of delay in the implementation of our Peace
Agreement is just too long and too much. Especially so that
until now there are no visible signs as to what direction the
Peace Agreement may finally take. We can not fully blame the
youth and the people anymore if they want to take a departure
from our position. Such is part of their democratic right.
At any rate, we would like to recommend with all
urgency that this great Islamic Summit Conference should now
seize the Bangsamoro problem and dilemma right by its two horns.
It should, accordingly, instruct the OIC Ministerial Committee
of the Six, headed by H.E. Awi Shihab, the illustrious Foreign
Ministers of the Republic of Indonesia, as well as his
colleagues from the Great Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the Royal
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Senegal, the Republic
of Somalia and the Republic of Bangladesh, to draw up a Plan of
Action that will make it mandatory on the part of the Philippine
Government, after thorough and painstaking democratic
consultations with the MNLF leadership and the OIC Ministerial
Committee of the Six, to accept a specific time frame for the
prompt creation and delivery of long-awaited genuine,
meaningful, just and comprehensive political autonomy to the
MNLF and the Bangsamoro people. It should see to it that steps
and modalities will be mutually agreed upon, without any party
making any imposition nor unilateral and one-sided decision. But
by all means, the Ministerial Committee of the Six should
provide the leadership. Otherwise, we might fall through again.
We believe that if this genuine political autonomy
can be quickly and seriously put in place, then we can still
hopefully salvage the situation. Except that the Plan of Action
should take into consideration the implication of the present
political crisis in Metro Manila. It was reported that tomorrow,
the 14th day of November, coinciding the final day of
this Islamic Summit Conference, there will be another mammoth
anti-government demonstration in Metro Manila. It is expected
that there might be some kind of a paralysis in the public
service. This demonstration appears to be a response to the
pro-government demonstration yesterday, the 12th of
November, that saw about a million people demonstrating their
support behind the beleaguered government of President Estrada.
Apparently, the present crisis in Metro Manila is
fast evolving into a protracted struggle and is heading towards
a prolong stand off. It seems that none of the conflicting
parties is willing to give in. thus the situation becomes
ominous unless timely and miraculous solution or compromise can
somehow be found somewhere down the line. Otherwise, the
Philippine economy and, with it, the Philippine peso will
continue to suffer and deteriorate. And the final sequel to all
this could only be one of political, economic and social
paralysis. As a matter of fact, it was reported in the mass
media in Manila that the budget deficit of the national
government is expected to more than double by the end of the
current fiscal year --- from P65 billion pesos to P130 billion
(US$1=P51.20).
Thus, people everywhere are anxious to know whether
or not the Philippine Government, confronted with so serious and
catastrophic and debilitating a political, economic and
financial crisis, can still muster the capability to fulfill and
implement its solemn pledges and its binding international
commitment and obligations. When during a relatively stable and
normal time, it had not proven it mettle nor did it show the
necessary enthusiasm and sincerity to do it so? Thus, people are
beginning to raise doubts on the wisdom of anchoring the fate of
the Peace Agreements and the political destiny of the Bangsamoro
people and their posterity on the present dispensation in
Manila.
Accordingly, the MNLF delegation would like to
recommend extreme caution and maximum wisdom in prescribing a
peace formula for our problem. Given this critical moment, we
honestly believe that there is only one urgent thing that this
Islamic Summit can do and must do to save the Bangsamoro people
and the MNLF from the adverse consequences and repercussion of
the prolonged delay in the implementation of the peace agreement
and the Manila crisis, namely, that it should now give a mandate
to the Ministerial Committee of the Six to prepare the most
conducive situation for the eventual acceptance of the
long-pending application of the MNLF Chairman, Prof. Nur Misuari,
for the enhancement of the status and participation of the
Bangsamoro people into full OIC membership as an exceptional
case and through the MNLF representation – in its capacity as
a “sole legitimate representative of the Bangsamoro people”.
We hope that no attempts would be made to make to any artificial
distinction between the Bangsamoro and the Palestinian case.
For they are look-alike in many respects.
It is obvious that this is the only way for the MNLF
and the Bangsamoro people to be able to make up for their
enormous losses and disadvantages wrought by the dilly dallying
in the implementation of the Peace Agreements on the part of the
successive government in Manila over the last two and a half
decades ago since the time of the Marcos dictatorship.
The membership of the Bangsamoro people in the OIC
through MNLF representation will have many significant and
favorable effects and advantages, among which are as follows:
(a)
It will
dramatically improve and enhance the stature of the Bangsamoro
People and the MNLF before the eyes of the world, including the
FilipinoPeople and the government;
(b)
It will
strengthen their political leverage vis-à-vis the Philippine
government which is vital in ensuring speedy resolution of the
problem Biidznillah; Agreements; and, finally,
(c)
It will
strengthen the hands of the MNLF in implementing the
OICResolutions urging the consolidation of the unity and
solidarity andBrotherly cooperation of the entire Bangsamoro
people behind thecause of peace, justice and freedom in the
Bangsamoro Homeland.
Finally, I would like to conclude my presentation by
informing this great and historic 9th Islamic Summit
Conference that since the acceptance of the MNLF as an observer
in the OIC in 1977 on the occasion of the 8th ICFM in
Tripoli, Libya, as an exceptional case, this is my seventh times
around in leading the MNLF delegation to the Islamic Summit’s
regular sessions. And I can not remember having missed the
annual ICFM session since then. But, unfortunately, there has
been no improvement in our stature nor in
