Jesusland vs. Moroland

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.