Honoring the Dead in Basilan

Coming home for the weekend, I open my Facebook account, and got a message from Pancho Lara, a good friend and an activist scholar whose doctoral studies is on Muslim Mindanao: “Will you post my latest piece in your blog?”

Of course. I always appreciate Pancho’s perspective on war and peace, governance and development. In the midst of of understandable grief and outrage, his voice is a thoughtful and strategic contribution to our pubic conversation on war and peace in Mindanao.

Honor the Dead with a Lasting Peace

Francisco Lara Jr.

The incendiary and discriminatory language and the drumbeat to arms that often accompanies violent flashpoints across the world have been reignited by the recent ambush-slaying of army special forces in the island of Basilan in the southern Philippines.

As in other civil wars, the battle on the ground is accompanied by a similar battle to communicate each side’s version of events. In this case the peace skeptics seem to be winning the battle. Several politicians and media commentators have taken turns blasting the ongoing peace process between Moro rebels and the State, none worse than a local radio station’s airing of Kenny Roger’s “Coward of the County” to frame President Aquino’s resolve to end the conflict and sow doubt on the government’s attempts to forge a political settlement.

Amidst the cries and recrimination few have taken stock of what the war in Mindanao actually means for the soldiers themselves. It is often said that soldiers go into battle with the safety and welfare of their comrade-in-arms foremost in their minds. Few are inspired to march to a possible death by lofty aims of freedom, democracy, or state building. They disdain violence as much as their enemies who serve in the front line and as deeply as any family or community that has lived in the midst of armed conflict.

If there is a lesson to be learned from this sad episode it is that peace is the same prize that every soldier covets. It is difficult to imagine that the final thought that crossed the minds of the dying soldiers was revenge. We only repudiate their ultimate sacrifice when we turn our backs on the search for a lasting peace. In turn, we honor the memory of those who gave up their lives on both sides of this enduring conflict by continuing the peace process.

It is easy to ignore the price paid by those directly victimized by conflict when one lives hundreds of kilometers away in the safe confines of the metropolis. Most Filipinos see Mindanao as an island that will never see peace and development, populated by the ‘ruthless other’ who is culturally violent and cannot be trusted. They dismiss the conflict and “mindless” acts of war as the consequence of an embedded culture of violence. As in other conflicts in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, or in Europe, they begin to take stock only when the bombs start exploding in their malls, their schools, or in their places of worship.

Yet tens of thousands have died and half a million people have been permanently displaced by the conflict in Mindanao. Previous administrations who waxed triumphant over their attempts to secure territories and camps from the clutches of the MILF failed to realize the physical, emotional, and economic costs that accompanied these empty victories – a fact underscored by the glaring truth that despite their huge costs these offensives failed to secure a lasting peace.

So who are the brave and real ‘strongmen’ in the midst of violent conflict? Those who spread the language of hate and violence, or those who carry the burden of negotiating an agreement in the face of innumerable odds and the constant demonizing that they and their counterparts across the table endure? Others would find only delusion in this process. Yet if we stood back to briefly consider what has been achieved thus far we discover that a general ceasefire continues to endure, both panels are inching towards an agreement, and the ‘honest brokers’ that accompany the process are inspired like no other period in the past. Indeed, ranged against the recent suspension of negotiations between the GPH and the NDFP, the GPH-MILF peace process is the “low hanging fruit” in the quest for peace.

Several surveys and the political mapping of local constituencies have demonstrated the legitimacy of government’s efforts to broker a lasting political settlement in Mindanao. Yet the manner in which this violent event is played out in the public arena only promises more distrust and bloodletting than the event itself. The disruption in the peace process that may result from this violent act serves no larger purpose than to harden ethnic cleavages and strengthen the position of extremists from both camps who desire to scuttle the negotiations and exhaust their energies by killing each other. They will, in the end, become the real beneficiaries of the protracted conflict if the reigning discourse of violence remains unchecked.

Another fearful outcome from the violence will be the eruption of demands that will make it more difficult for the negotiating panels to move towards a durable political settlement. Beware those who demand tougher standards that can trigger disunity and defections from both camps. They offer the best guarantee that new splinters will emerge from among the insurgents, and provoke disaffection within the ranks of the military that can perpetually harm any peace outcome.

The best response would be to undertake an investigation of the incident principally aimed at preventing a repeat in the future, rather than as a gauge to determine whether the peace process is worth continuing. A strategic move that can emerge from this incident is to add teeth to the role of the joint committee on the cessation of hostilities and the international contact group in conducting an impartial and transparent investigation of the Basilan incident. Beyond this action there are sufficient rules and safeguards within the ongoing peace talks that already enables unhampered communication and cooperation between both parties, including the presence of impartial and honest brokers from the international community that can lean on both sides to plod on, against all odds, to deliver a durable peace.

Finally, like other conflicts in the world, an effective peace process requires what the eminent peace scholar Ed Garcia calls a “marathon mentality”. Patience and perseverance are infinitely less costly than pride and prejudice.

Advertisement

Explore posts in the same categories: Leadership, Renewing our spirit