Breakdown of Peace Talks and AJ’s defeat

Red Room

Jul 26 2008

Breakdown of Peace Talks and AJ’s defeat

Published by RedBlueThoughts at 7:51 pm under MILF, aj banal, kuala lumpur malaysia, milf-grp peace talks Edit This

Two stunning defeats all in one day.

In Cebu, an unknown Panamanian boxer named Rafael “El Torrito” Concepcion knocked the lights out of crowd favorite Filipino boxer AJ “Bazooka” Banal. Employing both dirty and tactical boxing, the Panamanian journeyman unleashed a strong right cross to the face of AJ Banal, sending the 19-year old boxer to the canvas on the tenth round. Banal was reportedly winning in all cards before this stunner of a round.

Going to the fight, critics were all praises to Banal, who went to the ring without defeats and no draws. Touted as the soon-to-be Manny Pacquiao, Banal was clearly outboxed and outwitted by the Panamanian. Clearly, the title of the bout somewhat uncannily predicted what would happen. “Panahon Na”, says the fight title (which means “It’s time”). Yes, it was really time. Time for Banal to taste his very first defeat.

While the country comes to terms on this humiliating loss, members of the negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reportedly walked out of a meeting with the Filipino government in Kuala Lumpur. MILF Civil-Military Chief Eid Kabalu said that the MILF panel led by Moqaher Iqbal decided to end the negotiations after the government intimated its intention to amend a previous agreement on ancestral domain.

This is a big blow to peace efforts in Mindanao. Both parties have been trying to hammer out a peace deal before the opening of Congress, but political pressures I believe coming from wealthy Christian landowners in Mindanao could have forced government to talk its way out of the deal. The deal involved the expansion of the ARMM territory thru the establishment of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. This juridical entity gives more land to the MILF.

Peace is indeed, a long-shot for the 3 million Filipino Muslims in Mindanao. Why? Christian settlers, especially those who already enjoyed the fatness of the Muslim lands there, will not allow such an expansion to happen. They have been exploiting these lands since the 50’s, and no Arroyo or the MILF would ever make them leave these lands and relocate elsewhere.

This means the resumption of hostilities between the two groups. The situation in Mindanao could worsen. In fact, at this very moment, militarists have been saber-rattling and preparing for a long-drawn out battle against the Moro rebels there. There has been some exchange of gunfire between the Bangsamoro rebels and the AFP and this could seriously impact the talks.

Government surely cannot grant what the Bangsamoro wants thru constitutional means. No. It’s evident that the Bangsamoro should probably struggle hard thru extra-constitutional means to get their lands back.

If this is the case, then, Mindanao could turn into a veritable war zone, a serious flashpoint in the region. This could pose a very serious threat to regional security that, if left unchecked and unmanaged, could debilitate not only the Philippine government but the entire regional security mechanism.