National government and NPA splinter group lay down ground rules for peace in Mindanao
Mike Banos
December 25, 2006
GRP Peace Panel Chair Franklin M. Quijano and panel member Froilan R. Melendrez signed behalf of the GRP the “Guidelines and Ground Rules For the Implementation and Monitoring of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities” and a “Joint Resolution to Further Advance the Gains of the GRP-RPM-M Peace Process. RPM-M peace panel chair Moniva Pascual and members Freiderick T. Montes, Armando F. Orbis, and political consultant Enrique “Ike” B. de los Reyes signed for the RPM-M.
Ang Liderato ng Partido ay naniniwala na ang kasunduang ito ay mahigpit na maipatutupad kung mananatiling tapat ang bawat panig,” Pascual said in a statement released to media for the occasion. “Nanawagan ang RPMM na mas lalong ingatan ang prosesong ito at palaging nanindigan sa kapakanan ng mga komunidad.”
Delos Reyes said their group operates in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Shariff Kabunsuan (formerly Maguindanao).
Charlito M. Manlupig, chairman of the ‘Third Party Facilitator’ Balay Mindanaw, said the GRP-RPM-M is the sixth, and “perhaps the most low-profile peace process” that the national government is now conducting with various rebel groups in the country.
These include the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Rebolusyonaryong Proletarian Army- Alex Bongcayao Brigade (RPA-ABB ), Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army - National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF) and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA).
RPM-M started as the Mindanao “component” of the CPP-NPA-NDF until it broke away to form the CMR (Central Mindanao Region) Rejectionist Group. It later coalesced with other “rejectionist” factions from Luzon and the Visayas to form the RPM-P with Delos Reyes as Secretary-General. RPM-P was in the process of starting peace negotiations with the Estrada administration when the Mindanao group decided to again break away to form the RPM-M.
Some three years ago while Mr. Quijano was still city mayor of Iligan, he received feelers from the RPM-M about the possibility of entering into a separate and independent peace process with the Philippine Government. Messrs. Quijano and delos Reyes of RPM-M next approached Balay Mindanaw if it was interested in acting a Third Party Facilitator to the talks. A series of serious informal meetings followed.
The formal peace process began soon after President Gloria Arroyo issued Presidential Memorandum Order No. 108 dated July 19, 2003, creating the Government of the Philippines (GRP) Panel for Negotiations with the RPM-M. The panel is under the supervision of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and is headed by Mr. Quijano as Chairperson and Philippine Councilors’ League Chairperson Frolian Melendres, as members.
The panel is mandated to negotiate with the RPPM within the GRP policy framework for peace and the national agenda on poverty alleviation. The RPMM also formed its counterpart panel with Pascual as chair, and Montes and Orbis as members, and delos Reyes as political adviser.
Barely two months later, three vital documents were signed on September 22, 2003 by the two panels in the first round of talks. Last October 2005, the “Formal Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities” was signed by both panels.
What makes this particular peace process unique from the five other ongoing peace processes is the recognition and participation of local tribes and communities within the RPM-M “influenced-areas” as stakeholders in the negotiations, Manlupig said.
One of the first three documents signed by the two panels (Rules for the Conduct of Local Consultations as Integral Part of the GRP-RPMM Peace Process) is a landmark agreement which institutionalized the participation of stakeholders, particularly communities and tribes affected by the conflict, thus effectively giving to them a share of the life and momentum of the peace process,” he added.
In a ground-breaking move, both sides agreed to have a local non-government agency as a neutral independent secretariat, instead of a neutral foreign country as was previously the practice. Balay Mindanaw, a Cagayan de Oro based NGO, has been mediating the peace talks between the government and RPM-M for the past three years.
Community and people’s involvement is realized through barangay consultations, through which opportunities or spaces are created for people to win—not the war, not the revolution, but their own struggle against inequities, poverty and underdevelopment,” Manlupig said.
As part of this peace process, a series of barangay and community-based consultations in RPM-M “influenced-areas” are now being conducted to determine community problems as well as identify projects which can be undertaken as a response to these problems. The projects are expected to be formally included in all the levels of local development plans. Equity issues such as land ownership will also be identified and addressed appropriately.
So far, local consultations involving ninety three (93) barangays (with 41 barangays within two ancestral domain claims) in eight municipalities in four provinces in three regions of Mindanao have been held. An additional 111 barangays in 12 provinces have been scheduled for the next phase of consultations.
The GRP – RPM-M Peace Process is evolving into an alternative approach to formal peace negotiations,” Quijano said. “The process does not involve complex political negotiations but rather, local peace and development agendas that will have an immediate impact on the ground as determined by the communities and tribes of Mindanao themselves.”
Manlupig said this peace process is proving this Other Paradigm right: Empowered and sustainable communities are the real foundation of lasting peace.
The process itself (and not the end of the process) allow these communities to win small victories, making themselves the peace builders,” delos Reyes said.
The final resolution is important but communities need not wait for this. Building peace is here and now.”
Our experience in the GRP- RPM-M Peace Process has taught us one important lesson: Peace is not only the journey’s end,” Manlupig stressed. “More importantly, peace is a way of journeying. Peace is not only the resolution of strife but a way of striving.”
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Photo Caption: GRP Peace Panel Chair Franklin Quijano exchanges notes with RPM-M Peace Panel Chair Moniva Pascual as Independent Secretariat Head Kaloy Manlupig looks on.