Peace caravans scheduled in Mindanao

Manila: The Philippine government and a former separatist Filipino-Muslim rebel group agreed to hold “peace caravans” that would offer residents livelihood support, medicines and scholarship grants in 10 provinces in the south where a referendum for Muslim autonomy will be held in 2016, a local paper said.

During a two-day workshop in Davao City, Mindanao, from May 9 to 10, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) agreed to hold peace caravans, also called the Sajahatra Bangsamoro programme, in 10 provinces in the south from June to November this year to prepare residents for a third historic referendum for autonomy for Filipino-Muslims, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras told the Star.

The caravans were scheduled to be held in Basilan, Davao Oriental, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sulu, Tawi Tawi and Zamboanga Sibugay, said Almendras, head of the Philippine government’s Task Force for Bangsamoro Development.

The five-month peace caravans will make all Filipino-Muslims understand the importance of the referendum for autonomy in 2016, Almendras said, adding it was part of President Benigno Aquino’s socio-economic peace initiative and assistance for Filipino-Muslim communities in Mindanao.

“What we’re doing here is breaking barriers,” said Undersecretary Luisito Montalbo of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Located in the 10 provinces are six towns and 712 Muslim-dominated villages that voted in the 2001 referendum for autonomy to be a member of the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Change in name

When they signed the framework agreement last year, the Philippine government and the MILF agreed to expand the Filipino-Muslims’ autonomous area, but replace it with a different name (no longer ARMM).

A commission composed of representatives of the Philippine government and the MILF is also drafting a proposed law that will enable ARMM’s expansion under a different name. This will be approved by Congress and, consequently, voted upon by residents in areas identified for expansion of the Filipino-Muslims’ autonomous region.

Earlier, senators and congressmen vowed to pass a law that would allow another referendum for autonomy and create an expanded autonomous region for Filipino-Muslims in the south.

For the first time, the MILF also expressed openness to vote again for the expansion of an autonomous area for Filipino-Muslims in the south.

“That plebiscite will be discussed thoroughly with the government,” Gazali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, said earlier.

After the May 14 polls, however, a survey was not done to identify the number of newly elected senators and congressmen who are sympathetic to the passage of a law that allows another referendum for autonomy in the south.

Political settlement

The Philippine government-MILF political settlement signed in 2012 also called for wider political and economic powers, including sharing of revenues (from businesses generated in the south) between local and national governments.

In 2008, during the time of former President Gloria Arroyo, the Supreme Court ruled that the proposed ARMM expansion with 712 Muslim-dominated villages was unconstitutional. In response, MILF renegade commanders attacked civilian villages which displaced 700,000 residents.

The MILF gave up its secessionist stance when it responded to the government’s pro-autonomy peace initiative in 1997.