In our daily meetings throughout Mindanao, I remember very distinctly that, no matter if we were talking with indigenous CSOs or the military, Christian priest or Muslim NGO, cautious hope was the common denominator in the people’s expectations. I had read beforehand only about conflict, bloodshed, displacement, and suffering, but when we actually heard the perspectives of people on the ground, they seemed to be strongly hoping for the turn in the road. Through the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law— the BBL— the peace processes would be reinforced and more efforts toward institutionalizing peace could be realized. Sure, almost everyone recognized the possibility that violence would erupt again, but the hope prevailed that the BBL would bring more good than bad.
A bright moment at J. Marquez School of Peace, the first school to implement peace education into its curriculum in Mindanao, as part of the extensive efforts to bring lasting peace to the island.
But then January 25th happened. In a region close to where we had traveled, called Mamasapano, shots were fired between the AFP and the MILF, plus the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters). 44 Special Action Force persons and 18 MILF members were killed, and the peace process between the two parties came to a jolting halt. Even key proponents the BBL and the negotiations, like Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, recognized the massive impact that the Mamasapano incident would have on the outcome of the peace process. All of a sudden it looked like, even if the BBL did pass through the Congress, it would be diluted to the point of impotence, further distancing both the MILF and the government from any lasting peaceful reconciliation. And this is not the first peace negotiation to end in violence: it seems that Mindanao has been on a pendulum that swings every 3 or 4 years between negotiations on one side and violent outbursts on the other.
So I find myself wondering what the feeling is now among the same people to whom we talked. If we went back now, since the Mamasapano incident, how would our trip have been different? How would people have spoken to us about the violence and the peacebuilding efforts? Are people still hopeful? Or has that hope been squandered just like previous negotiations that have crumbled in the Mindanao cycle of violence and negotiations? And looking at the larger picture, if we can recognize that this cycle exists in which negotiations are not successful and violence is continually resorted to, how can that cycle be broken?
