Having given a lengthly synopsis of the GPH-MILF Peace Process for all of 2011 up until this, the 23rd Exploratory Round, I will dive right into the Round itself.
Opening on Monday, December 5th, 2011, in Kuala Lampur Malaysia, the Opening Session began at 945AM at the Royale Chulan Hotel's Executive Boardroom, in Closed Door Session. Aside from each Peace Panel, there was a single Consultant included in the proceedings, an aspect I will return to a bit further on. Likewise, the ICG, or, International Contact Group was present, but this has been a regular occurrence over the course of the last four Rounds. Owing to the entity's role in salvaging the entire Peace Process at the end of the 22nd Round, it was allowed to monitor even Closed Door Sessions this time around. Aside from the usual rigimorole, Formal Opening Statements from both Panels' Chairmen and the same from the Malaysian Facilitator, Tengku Dato Ab' Gafaar Tengku, nothing else was accomplished, nor was it expected to be.
At 120PM the Opening Session ended and the individual Panels made their way into the hotel's Sri Bendahara II Function Room for a communal lunch. Ending their meal at 245PM, the two sides took a brief rejoinder before re-entering the Executive Boardroom at 315PM for the Afternoon Day I Session. There were Seven Points to cover but only two worth noting (the rest being recycled filler to shape out the two days of actual talking):
I) IMT-6, or, Sixth Deployment of the International Monitoring Team is set to expire in May of 2012. The Malaysian-led entity is the leading strand in a four tiered Ceasefire Mechanism umbrella. Composed of four individual components:
A) Security
B) Development
C) Civilian Protection
D) Humanitarian and Rehabilitation
It's primary raison d'etre is its Security Component in which it investigates all Ceasefire-related violations and tries to alleviate situations before they develop into wider conflicts that could lead to out and out war.
Both sides wanted to nail either an extension, or better yet, another deployment, i.e. IMT-7. The latter was realised, though it still entirely dependent upon the participating nations, Malaysia, Japan, Brunei, Norway, and the EU, with Libya's participation now in question with that country's regime change (the Libyan Contingent, military personnel attached to the Security Component, raised the Libyan Rebel Flag in September but their status remains a cypha).
II) TORs, or, Terms of Reference for the HRDC, or Humanitarian, Rehabilitation and Development Component of the aforementioned IMT-6. Though the component was created three years ago, it is only now that the Peace Panels saw fit to hash out the components TORs. Terms of Reference spell out specific mandates and responsibilities and provide an organisational code of etiquette. Both this point and the preceding were accomplished, as well as the five less important points I alluded to.
At 6PM, Day One ended and both Panels consulted with their superiors back in the Philippines. At 730PM it was time for a communal dinner hosted by the Malaysian Facilitator.
Day Two, Tuesday, December 6th began at 930AM with a modified Executive Session which included the Panel Chairman, two Panelists, and the Chairman of the Peace Panel Secretariat for each side, for a grand total of four members from each side meeting alone with the Facilitator. GPH Peace Panel Chairman Mario Victor "Marvic" Leonen would later comment that it had been a "Three Plus One Executive Session," an obvious reference to the contentious Draft Comprehensive Compact handed over by Leonen, to his MILF counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal, in late August at the 22nd Exploratory Round. Since I delved into that comment in "Part I" I will move past it here.
The modified Executive Session ended at 1155AM and both Peace Panels partook once again, in a communal lunch. After lunch it was the usual consultations amongst themselves, each Peace Panel separately re-evaluating the progress thus far. At 245PM the Afternoon Session for Day Two began, only to go into recess at 330PM.
The GPH Peace Panel left the Executive Boardroom and sat together outside the hotel's Tai Ping Resturant, while the MILF Peace Panel did so at the hotel coffee shoppe. Consulting with each other the recess ended at 4PM, at which point the re-convened inside the Executive Boardroom. At 520PM Day Two ended as did the substantiative portion of the Round, all seven points on the Agenda having been tackled.
Day Three, Wednesday, December 7th, began at 945AM in a Closed Door Session in the Executive Boardroom. Walking out at 1155AM, the customary Joint Statement having been quickly composed, all the participants smilingly posed for the media and patted each other on the back. The Joint Statement is the first since Round 21, but was- like this Round- a big nothing. A single paged document with six paragraphs, it merely vowed to continue moving forward with the Peace Process, though apparently, moving laterally is both Panels' idea of moving "forward." One supposes that at this point, what matters most is that there is SOME movement.
The biggest thing worth noting- and itsnt much at all- was the addition of two Consultants (as noted in the beginning of this entry). The GPH Peace Panel had announced three weeks ago that it had taken on a new consultant, a female- and a Muslim to boot. This set the MILF on edge because for some reason, it has an insatiable need to play tit for tat.
Not to be outdone, the MILF Central Committee vowed to bring one of its two female Consultants to Kuala Lampur as well. The only problem the Central Committee noted, was that whomever the lucky lady was, a close male relative would have to accompany her since Islam isn't too keen on women travelling with unrelated men. Ironically, one of the two women, Bai Cabaybay Abubakar, the President of Shariff Kabansuan College, is an expert on womens' rights within Islam, having even written a book, the creatively named, "The Rights of Women in Islam." According to Ms.Abubakar, Islam offers women the most rights of any organised religion, just not the right to travel I guess. Of course her contention is ridiculous given the fact that Sura IV of the Qur'an commands a husband to beat his disagreeable wife. Likewise, Ms.Abubakar has made the ridiculous claim that Islam enshrines the right of women to choose their spouse. While technically true, Muhammad, in his mid-50s, married a 6 year old girl. Surely a 6 year old girl is in no position to make life changing decisions. Yet this is a woman who is advising the MILF Peace Panel. No wonder the MILF gets nowhere and is on the verge of imploding.
In the end it was the second female Consultant, attorney Raissa Jajurie, a Tausug Tribeswomen, who got to enjoy herself for a fun filled two and a half days as a token participant. The MILF only wanted a female participant present to offset the exposure given to the GPH Peace Panel's token Muslim female, Bai Yasmin Bursan Lao. Ms.Lao herself is also a person dedicated towards Womens' Issues within Islam. She is the founder and current Chairperson of the NGO, "Nisa ul Haq fi Bangsamoro," which she has translated as, "Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro." Unfortunately, that is a mistranslation but that was her choice. Actually, the name is Arabic and translates as, "Bangsamoro Women for Justoce," or, alternatively, "Justice for Bangsamoro Women," with the latter seeming to fit her intentions much better. Speaking of womens' rights within Islam, Ms. Lao's NGO undertook a study in 2009 in which it examined the prevalence of Child Marriage among female Filipino Muslims. 83% of women had married between ages 15 to 17 and 17% had done so between ages 9 to 14. The irony is that for Chritian Filipinas, marriage under 18 is illegal and until age 25 it requires her parents' permission. For males, Ms.Lao found they were aged 11 to 59. Perhaps she should send a copy of that study to her counterpart, Ms.Abubakar.
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