US Troops Out of Mindanao; Genuine Self-Determination for Moros Now

The United States' involvement in the war in Mindanao can no longer be denied. Several times in the last month, at the height of Philippine military offensives against Moro fighters, US soldiers were repeatedly seen with Filipino troops, helping recover bombs, evacuating casualties, or joining Filipino troops in Philippine military camps throughout Mindanao. The Philippine military itself categorically confirmed that the US military has been providing it with "technical assistance" in pursuit of Moro rebels.

All these continue a pattern of reports that have accumulated in the last few years: Just in February, a Filipino general confirmed that it was the crew of a US spy plane that provided the intelligence which resulted in an operation in which eight civilians, including a pregnant woman and two children, were killed in Maimbung, Sulu.

The latest revelations that the US has been expanding its military structures in Zamboanga City not only confirm what we have been warning against; they heighten our concern that the US intends to stay in the Philippines for the long-haul.

In joining Filipino troops in their operations, providing them information, locating bombs, rescuing casualties, or giving technical assistance, the US military is clearly involved in actual combat in the Philippines. In stationing troops and equipment in various military facilities in the south, the US has established permanent basing in the country.

Not only is this patently unconstitutional, it also further contributes to escalating and exacerbating the violence and insecurity in Mindanao, drawing parties towards all-out war, away from a just and peaceful resolution.

We therefore demand that US troops immediately withdraw from all of Mindanao and that no US troops be involved in any operations.

We likewise demand that the Philippine military desists from further military offensives, that it immediately pulls out its troops from the region, and that it returns to the negotiating table.

We oppose the arming of civilians by the Philippine government and demand the immediate disbandment of militias and private armies.

We denounce the targeting and killing of innocent civilians by any side and we demand justice and reparations for all those who have been killed, displaced, and affected by the war.

To address the root causes of the war, we support an agreement that would genuinely advance the Moro's and the indigenous people's right to self-determination – as they themselves define it, free from others' imposition and intervention. This entails recognizing and respecting the Bangsamoro people's right to self-rule.

In any agreement, the indigenous peoples' rights must at all times be assured and protected through specific provisions and measures. While we call for the indigenous people's rights not to be subsumed under those of the Bangsamoro, we oppose efforts to set one oppressed people against another and we refuse to allow one oppressed peoples' rights to be used to deprive another people of theirs.

Narrow vested interests of local and foreign powers should not be allowed to stand in the way of guaranteeing the universal right to self-determination. For it is only by advancing the right to self-determination of the Bangsamoro and the indigenous peoples that lasting peace and justice can be achieved.

PARTIDO NG MANGGAGAWA
STOP THE WAR! COALITION- PHILIPPINES

15 September 2008

Neither war nor GMA’s cha-cha

by Renato Magtubo, PM Chairperson
20 August 2008

Amid the bigger problem of hunger and hopelessness swallowing up the country today, a full-blown war against the Bangsamoro rebels is not a desirable path for the government to pursue in building peace in Mindanao.

We in the Partido ng Manggagawa believe that an all-out war is not only a waste of dear lives and scant resources for both Muslims and Christians. It is also a futile government instrument to correct a historical wrong. The labor party is also against the use of armed violence against civilians caught in the war.

For us, continuing peace negotiations based on genuine recognition of the Bangsamoro’s right to self-determination remains the better option and which can be made more viable and thoroughgoing if accompanied by a resolute war against poverty and injustice in the region and in the whole country.

We also believe that the Moro’s struggle for self-determination cannot be solved under the framework of the present Philippine Constitution. The Bangsamoro people have been waging this national war since time immemorial and we see no end to their pursuit of that historical claim until finally accorded that rightful recognition by the Philippine State. This is the biggest thing chauvinists opposed to this kind of settlement have to fully understand to avoid treating this conflict a purely religious war.

Accordingly, for final peace to be achieved in Mindanao, there is definitely a need to amend the present Constitution to uphold the spirit of the concluded peace settlement. There is nothing wrong, criminal, outrageous and immoral in pursuing such path. However, a selfless, principled kind of charter change may not be possible under the government of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It appears that the biggest obstacle that now confronts the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in its pursuit of a peace settlement with the GRP, is dealing with the Arroyo government, which cannot commit peace without playing a sinister plan to smuggle a self-perpetuating agenda for charter change. The announcement by Macalañang that it is ‘all-systems go’ now for cha-cha right after the MOA-AD controversy flared up confirmed the existence of this hideous agenda.

Moreover, the outrage and inflammatory statements issued by no less than the allies of Mrs. Arroyo against the proposed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) revealed the awful fact that Mrs. Arroyo does not represent a solid government consensus on this matter. This government therefore cannot speak and commit peace to MILF. Hence, if Mrs. Arroyo cannot even maintain peace in her own government, how can she promote peace with others? In that sense, she could be the worst promoter of peace.

On the other hand, the overt role played by the United States in brokering this peace process had become even more suspicious and alarming. Everybody knows how the US plays war while talking peace at the same time in pursuit of its own geopolitical interests. They did talk peace while playing the worst kind of interventionist war in Iraq, Kosovo, Somalia, Afghanistan, and possibly next, Iran.

It is public knowledge that the US troops had already maintained a permanent presence in Mindanao in the guise of joint military exercises. But everybody knows that their presence there is certainly beyond peace missions. Thus, same with Gloria, the US could neither be a reliable ally for the Bangsamoro people, or a faithful proponent of peace.