QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/02 June) — After knocking out Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 2, 2009, Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao, the Filipino boxing icon returned to the Philippines like a deus ex machina and met President Gloria Arroyo who appointed him ambassador of peace and unity to war-torn areas of Mindanao.
Dubbed as ?apostle of peace? Pacquiao aided by his cohorts in Malacanang was reported as planning to introduce peace and economic interventions and to hold basketball match between the teams of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Earlier, Britain?s Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Manila in March this year per Philippine government?s invitation for him to serve as a peace negotiator to the MILF. As Philippine media went gaga over Blair?s visit, they failed to inquire his being complicit in the U.S invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and whether it speaks of his involvement in the Muslim world and thus can make him qualified or not to have a peace portfolio in Mindanao conflict.
Armed with the filter of divide-and-rule rhetoric on Islam, Blair, if ever, cannot be expected to serve as an impartial mediator between the Philippine government and the MILF when he said ?there is essentially one battle going on, and it is a battle about Islam.? Rather, it is expected that he would merely reify internal tension within Moro Islam particularly between so-called moderates and extremists ? a task that he does not need to waste his time on since such tactic and reification of one Islamic strand vis-?-vis another have long been done in the Philippines.
Since the heyday of Moro rebellion in the ’70s, the Philippine government and the Philippine armed forces had initiated the establishment of many Muslim organizations that continued unhindered until the ’80s and ’90s. It reached a new height after 9/11 when Muslims were encouraged to organize associations, non-government organizations, civil society groups, among others, funded generally by the United States, European Union and many international agencies.
Anyhow, many wonder why the Philippine government has the propensity to resort to antics of inviting international and popular personalities ? while obviously not serious about it ? coming in the heels of bungling the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) in August 2008, which has shattered the peace process with the MILF.
Inviting a famous international person including proposing to hold basketball game is probably cool for those who?ve been tired with old ways of doing peace in southern Philippines but could sound ludicrous for those who?d like to see an immediate and serious resolution of the age-old Mindanao conflict.
Typical understanding of peace process is generally couched by the adjective ?peace? than the main concept ?process.? While the notion of ?peace? strikes a general cord of acceptability owing largely to people?s hunger for social normalcy, what usually happens is that ?process? (means) can overwhelm the search for ?peace? (end) itself, making the whole notion of peace process takes a hollow ring as it becomes protracted, arduous and endless. Where ?process? of peace becomes almost an end in itself, protagonists in conflict ? usually powerful ones ? can embark on the business of ?peace process? without necessarily the participation of other party while having the audacity to use all kinds of antics, if only to show off peace regardless of its rhetoric and pretension.
In this regard, the notion of peace process can border on the mantra of public relation than on conflict resolution and can take a linguistic turn that may be referred to as ?peace relation? with an essentially unique Philippine style. Antics of peace relation can range from selective discussion on peace issues bannered as grassroots consultation to peddling conflict situation through various forms of peace rhetoric in both national and international public spheres, engaging foreign powers and international and financial donor institutions, inviting famous international personalities, and bringing together both combatants and non-combatants to some forms of social encounter including sports and entertainment.
A closer look at Malacanang?s peace efforts after the MoA-AD controversy is generally characterized with the use of more ?peace relation? antics without necessarily holding actual peace process with the MILF and to a lesser extent the Moro National Liberation Front. It is shown, for instance, in the use of direct, unilateral conduct of dialogue with communities; calling for the MILF to surrender Ustadh Omra Ameril Kato and Commander Bravo; launching of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) program including the establishment of such ad hoc office like DDR Center; political use of Bishops-Ulama Forum for so-called inter-religious dialogue; and tripartite review of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement with the MNLF.
In the economic front, Malacanang has been relentless in projecting positive business image particularly of Christian dominated areas while using the ?Mindanao conflict? as a selling point despite putting most Muslim areas at the farthest point of the receiving end of peace and development due them. It?s no wonder that despite massive economic and development assistance poured to Mindanao for the past several years the five Muslim provinces in the area remained at the tail-end of practically all the major social and economic indicators including the Human Development Index.
While public relation is the management of information from an institution to publics which is often dictated by the interest of the former to shape the perspective of the latter, peace relation may be viewed as a strategy that strongly borders on propaganda often used by the powerful party by reifying among others certain conflict situation, while raising, too, peace rhetoric but without necessarily holding actual and direct negotiation with the other party. The major party?s end is not necessarily to resolve conflict or to decelerate the cause of conflict and its precipitation but to unilaterally advance its interest and to attract political support from the populace and to draw more economic assistance and investment from foreign countries, international financial institutions and donor agencies.
As the term of the Arroyo Administration is about to enter the twilight zone, Malacanang?s invitation to Tony Blair and appointment of Manny Pacquiao as peace ambassador including the proposal to hold a basketball match between the AFP and Moro rebels are essentially diminutive, worn out antics which reveal government?s pretenses at doing peace. With trappings of colorful rhetoric, sport and entertainment, such antics are additional props in turning peace imperatives into trivialities while dragging Moro self-determination even farther.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Julkipli Wadi is an Associate Professor Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City).
