April 6, 2011 - While it paid tribute to former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Jesus Dureza’s courage to speak up against “Colonial Manila”, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reminded him that if the situation of the migrants is bad, that of the Bangsamoro people and indigenous peoples is worst.

“There is no comparison; it is heaven and earth apart,” Jun Mantawil, head of the MILF peace panel secretariat, said in an interview with www.luwaran.com today.

“If Christian Mindanaons feel the intense heat of the heavy hands of the Manila neo-colonialism, how much more for Moros who have been oppressed, persecuted, and subject of genocidal campaign for decades especially in the heydays of the Ilagas and Martial Law?” he asked.

However, Mantawil praised Dureza’s statement, because, aide from bluntly objective, it gives more credence and validity to the MILF’s demand for the creation of a Bangsamoro state in the current GPH-MILF peace negotiation.

Dureza, former GPH peace panel chairman from 2001 to 2003, is pushing for Mindanao “to run its own affairs, determine its own future and removes itself from being under the skirt of imperial Manila”.

In his column entitled “Mindanao must ‘secede from Central Government”, Dureza had these stinging words:

“It’s about time that Mindanao must insist to charter its own course in history. Mindanao must now “secede” from the central government.”

“Lest someone accuses me of treason, let me immediately and categorically state that the “secession” I am espousing for is not from the Republic. But a secession from the central government which is Manila. It is not to declare Mindanao independent from the Philippines, although that would have been most desirable to many.  But rather it is to effect constitutional changes so that Mindanao runs its own affairs, determines its own future and removes itself from being under the skirt of imperial Manila. I may be over simplifying this but that’s what the shift to a federal system of government is all about.”

He confessed that he had spent the best part of his life working for the national government and   serving Mindanao in various capacities through different administrations.

He said that he had closely witnessed the inutility or the tragic inability of even well-meaning leaders to give Mindanao what it rightfully deserves. 

More on his statements: “I am convinced more than ever that   Mindanao’s collective effort over these years for more attention from the central government is futile unless we radically change the set-up. One of the ways of moving forward is to “go federal”. I call it “secession in moderation”.

He said that his assessment is that even though how much we all tried, Mindanao will not get a fair shake of what it truly deserves under the present governance setup, despite how much presidents, like FVR or GMA or P-noy for that matter, would care to do for Mindanao.

“We are too tied to the apron strings of the national government and we are thus stunted and constrained to fully exploit our full potentials with dignity and self-respect,” he further confessed.

He said the solution for these ills for a shift from the present system of governance to a federal system.

“This way,” he said, “Mindanao can run its affairs and be solely responsible for its future. If we do good, well and good. If we screw up, then it’s our own lookout. We get away from the penchant of some do-gooders in Manila who proclaim, as if they have the monopoly of good intentions that they want to “reform” Mindanao. The heck with that. Leave the “reforming” to us Mindanaoans.  We get the kind of government we deserve.”

Dureza also paid tribute to the Bangsamoro people, saying that they took upon themselves early on the struggle for deliverance from a highly centralized set-up.

“To their credit,” he continued, “they have been struggling for generations now and even sacrificing life and limb for self-determination and their rightful place under the sun. They have to take up arms and fight government just to prove the righteousness of their cause and assert their claim that they have the inherent and generational prerogative to run and manage their affairs and their lives in their own homeland.  At present, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is carrying the ball in this struggle.”