Having agreed at January's Formal Exploratory Round #24 to initiate a push for momentum within the Peace Process by holding one Round per month, both the MILF and GPH (aka "Government of the Philippines") Peace Panels once again ensconced themselves within Kuala Lumpur's Royale Chulan Hotel. Opening the three day Round on Monday, February 13th, 2012, both sides acknowledged that the fact that they were meeting at all was the best development anyone might expect seeing as how the Peace Process was in one of its periodic lulls.
Just before the two sides checked into the Royale Chulan the Philippine Media had discovered that the Chairman of tge MILF Peace Panel, Mohagher Iqbal, had claimed that President Aquino had already vowed to support the MILF's "Assymetrical State: Substate" territorial entity. The comment had been quietly published by the Oman Tribune ("No less than His Excellency President Benigno Aquino 3rd [sic] agreed to the MILF proposal" although some media hacks , amazingly, claimed to have read that blurb in Mohagher Iqbal's Opening Statement in Kuala Lumpur) Suprisingly, when word of Iqbal's comments made their way into the Philippine media, noone cared. The Philippine public are not exactly a sophisticated lot when it comes to their news intake; Al Jacinto, a Manila-based columnist with the "Manila Times," was the first to break what should have been an absolute bombshell. Instead, nobody took notice (excepting boring souls such as yours truly) and the same tired players shuffled into the Royale Chulan's Executive Boardroom on February 13th, as Round 25 began.
When the fog had cleared three days later (in this case "fog" is ALOT better than "smoke"), nothing important had transpired. Of the few things attempted:
1) AHJAG, or, Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, received another 12 month mandate, to expire in February of 2013. Some might recall that AHJAG is the bilateral entity that arose from the ashes of the 2003 Buliok Complex War. That to-do began with a policing action against the Pentagon Group. Pentagon, under its (then) leader, Kumander Tahir "Tigre" Alonto, was among the biggest players in the Central Mindanao KFR (Kidnap for Ransom) Industry. Having become a real thorn in the side of the Government-where many "civil servants" entered into various business arrangements with him-he was marked for neutralisation just after New Year 2002.
Unfortunately, alrhough a Maranaw (Maranao) Tribesman, he was related to MILF founder and (then) Chairman Hashim Salamat (a Maguindanowan Tribesman). The two had both been born and raised in the municipality of Pangalungan's Barangay Cudal, in Maguindanao Province, and so it was no suprise then that when badly in need of a safehaven, je availed himself to a generous offer of hospitality from Chairman Salamat.
The 2000 War had destroyed the MILF Headquarters, along with fifty-two other MILF-BIAF camps. Needing a safe haven of their own, the MILF decentralised BIAF operations (as in the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed component of the MILF), and split up its headquarters apparatus between three seperate camp complexes. Buliok Complex consisted of two seperate, inter-connected camps directly on the border of Pikit, a town in North Cotabato Province, and the aforementioned municipality in Maguindanao Province, the town of Pangalungan. Chairman Salamat moved into a palatial home that served as both his personal home AND the MILF Administrative Headquarters.
In and around Buliok Complex, the BIAF had three Field Divisions, the 1st, 2nd, and the National Guard, with a standing force of 1,500 well trained guerillas. Given this armed defense, and the fact that Bukiok sat well within the almost impenetrable terrain of the Liguasan Marsh, the site provided any interested parties with about as safe a haven as one could find anywhere in the Philippines. In late 2002 the Pentagon Group was sorely in need of such a plave.
Founded by the leaders of four inter-related KFR organisations in 2001, the last of those four leaders, MNLF-Misuari officer, Kumander Faisal "Mubarak II" Marohombsar, was killed by rogue elements within the PNP, or Philippine National Police, on Luzon in August of 2002. After Marohombsar was removed from the top of the pyramid, another.MNLF-Misuari officer, Kumander Tahir "Tigre" Alonto rose in power, albeit within a rapidly disintegrating organisation. With assistance from MILF Chairman Salamat Alonto ensconced himself within that main MILF Headquarters camp.
Ostensibly an operation against the Pentagon Group, President Gloria M.Arroyo gave the greenlight on February 9th, 2003. Just after midnite on February 11th, the AFP (Armed Forcesof the Philippines) pointed air and artillery at Buliok Complex and began "softening up" the terrain. The official narrative is that what was to be a precision strike against a single compound within the camp-that of Tahir Alonto- went wrong after an errant shell came too close to tge Salamat compound, prompting the MILF-BIAF to respond in kind. Of course this is not true but it doesnt negate tge premise behind the creation of AHJAG, a bilateral entity created as an interface between the Government (via the AFP) and the MILF (via the BIAF) to co-ordinate Government policing operations against criminal elements. Supposedly, such an entity would have gone a long way towards preventing a widening of that 2003 policing operation against Tahir Alonto and the Pentagon Group.
AHJAG had receded in importance until, in late 2010, it had stopped convening its bilateral meetings. Then came October of 2011 and the Al Barka incident on Basilan. An AFP Special Forces policing operation against the second highest ranking officer in the BIAF 114 Base Command resulted in two of the 114 Base Command's battalions ambushing the AFP. This in turn led to a cacophany of voices within the Government demanding that AHJAG re-convene.
2) The two Peace Panels examined the final reports of IMT-6. The sixth deployment of the IMT, or International Monitoring Team, ended a week after Round 25 ended. The IMT is an international force led by the Malaysian Military, is part of the three tiered Ceasefire Mechanism that also includes the LMT (Local Monitoring Team, made up of stKeholders who are to act as an early warning system about possible weak points in the ceasefire. The LMT has not convened in more than three years (despite weak murmurs in late 2010). The third tier is the CCCH, or Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (actually the word "Joint" is included officially, as in "Joint Coordinating," but it is always omitted). The CCCH is a bilateral entity composed of AFP and BIAF officers who are to liason on AFP troop movements, to avoid an inadvertant engagement.
3) The Peace Panels agreed to hold Round 26 in March.
Showing posts with label AHJAG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AHJAG. Show all posts
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
GPH-MILF Peace Process, Second Quarter of 2011, Part II: Bangsamoro Development Agency, AHJAG, and the CCCH
The BDA, or Bangsamoro Development Agency is the MILF arm for economic and social development. Enabled by the GPH-MILF Tripoli Agreement of 2001 (June 22nd, 2001) just as the Peace Process re-started after the EDSA II Coup that installed Gloria M.Arroyo as President. Then, on June 2nd, 2002 the MILF Central Committee passed the Resolution that created the entity. With 36 staff members in 5 Regional Management Offices (though they claim 6):
1) Cotabato City, Central Mindanao
2) General Santos City (GenSan), Southern Mindanao
3) Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Peninsula and Basilan Island
4) Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte
5) Davao City, Davao Region
On May 2nd, 2011 the MILF Central Committee announced plans to expand the BDA AOR (Area of Responsibility, as in Area of Operation) into Sulu and Tawi Tawi Provinces. Both provinces have virtually no MILF/BIAF (the latter being the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the military wing of the MILF). There is a BIAF Base Command, the 117th, but it operates only in parts of two municipalities in Tawi Tawi and is centered upon its Sanga Sanga Island. Despite its rhetoric the MILF/BIAF has never come close to eclipsing the nearly universal support enjoyed by the MNLF before it bowed to then dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1976.
The Central Committee is also making noises about the BDA moving into Palawan as well. Unlike Sulu and Tawi Tawi Palawan is not a part of Mindanao, administratively or otherwise. The MNLF first claimed the island as part of its theoretical MinSuLuPa, an independent Muslim nation it foresaw being created out of all area with a historical connection to Islam. While Palawan was CLAIMED by the Sultanate of Brunei who then gifted it to the Sultanate of Sulu in 1658 for sending nearly 500 warriors that enabled the Sultan of Brunei to maintain his throne, the Muslim connection is tenuous at best. There is an ethnicity known as the Palawani, composed of Islamic converts from various coastal tribes on Palawan, but they are an indistinct group along the lines of the so-called "Balik Islam," or the "Islamic Reverts." According to Islam every human is born a Muslim, it is humankind's natural state. Ergo, when one finally acknowledges themselves as a Muslim they are merely REverting, not CONverting. More than this however, the Balik Islam are Filipinos of other religions who accept Islam with the perception that ALL Filipinos either were, or would have been Muslims if not for Spanish intervention. This warped view holds that Rajah Solaiman, the ruler of Manila when the Spanish arrived there, was a Muslim. Indeed he was BUT he was from Brunei, NOT Manila. He ruled Manila as a conqueror, just like the Spanish.
The BDA shouldn't be confused with the BDAF, or Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund, which was created via Executive Order #872 in March of 2010 by then President Arroyo. The BDAF is a GPH, or Government of the Philippines entity that is meant as a catalyst for social and economic development vis a vis the parallel GPH-MNLF Peace Process. It was one of several steps taken by the Government to bring that Process' 1996 Jakarta Agreement, the FPA, or Final Peace Agreement meant to finally end THAT insurgency, to an end. Two different agencies with the same exact mandate, is it any wonder why this island is wracked with war?
On May 9th, 2011 the Chairman of the MILF CCCH, or MILF Co-ordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, Said Shiek issued a little noticed directive stating that his GPH counterpart shouldn't even bother trying to liason with him over security for any developmental issues that aren't first vetted through the BDA. The CCCH is a bilateral entity composed of two components, one GPH, the other MILF. Among other things, if a foreign delegation wishes to survey a particular area for a farm to market road project, or say an outpatient health clinic, they would apply to the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, who would delegate the responsibility to the GPH CCCH, which is composed of AFP personnel. In turn the GPH CCCH would liason with their MILF counterpart so as to avoid an attack or KFR (Kidnap for Ransom). Now the MILF wants a bite out of any project in its AOR, pay to play, like the true gangsters the MILF truly are.
Speaking of the MILF CCCH, Chairman Shiek says that he will file a Violation Complaint with the relatively new Civilian Component of IMT-6, or International Monitoring Team, Deployment #6. The Cotabato City-based IMT (though it is attempting to re-locate its headquarters to Zamboanga City) is a Malaysian-led multi-national entity mandated to act as a sort of referee when ceasefire-related disagreements crop up. The MILF is angry (what else is new) over what it says is a case of arbitrary arrest and incarceration of two men it claims are merely "farmers." At 6AM on May 18th, 2011 in Sitio Balang Kayan in the municipality of Lebak's Barangay Dumpilas, in Sultan Kudarat Province, Muslimin Mambulao and Paks Guiama were taken into custody by MBLT-7, or Marine Battalion Landing Team #7. That happens to be the perimeter of the main camp of the BIAF's 104 Base Command. The two "farmers" were brought to a Marine garrison in the municipality of Kalamansig, in that same province. As it turns out both men were released on May 19th without ever having been charged so I'm at a loss as to what the MILF CCCH will file.
The NDFP/CPP/NPA (National Democratic Front of the Philippines/Communist Party of the Philippines/New Peoples Army) aren't the only Insurgency Organisation bent out of shape over GPH inaction over detainees. The MILF has its own wish list of 25 MILF/BIAF detainees it wants released. Topping that list is Abraham Yap Alonto of Saragani Province who uses the alias Eduard Guerra. An engineer by degree Alonto served as one of the organisation's conduits for foreign money. He was nabbed by PNP CIDG-10 (Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for Region 10) on September 22nd, 2010 while sitting in a plane on the tarmac at Davao International Airport with one of his wives, waiting to fly to Manila where he was to catch a flight to Geneva, Switzerland. He had been scheduled to address the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Commission) on September 27th. Instead he has been kept in the basement at IS-AFP (AFP Intelligence Service) at Fort Bonifacio charged with so called MILF-SOG, or MILF Special Operation Group bombings. On April 23, 2011 MILF Peace Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal and the MILF Chairman of the Peace Panel Secretariat, Jun Mantawil, met with the families of most of those 25 detainees at CCCH Joint Headquarters, in Cotabato City. Once again Iqbal vowed to get all the detainees released.
On May 25th, 2011 the MILF's BDA held its 6th Annual Implementation Support Mission wrap up meeting at Cotabato City's Etosan Hotel. Ironically, the Etosan is known for its casino but I guess convenience trumps religious convictions (gambling is verboten for Muslims). The BDA's Vice Chairman Dr.Rizaldy L.Piang met with a World Bank delegation led by Matthew Stephens, a European Union delegation, and a host of local NGOs, most MILF/BIAF affiliated which is how the MILF obtains a large chunk of its arms budget. Foreign do-gooders channel money to Islamo-fascist organisations like the MILF, who then use these funds to terrorise most of the island, quite the scam but the MILF didn't invent it. No, that credit goes to the MNLF and its various developmental conduits. Not that former President Arroyo doesn't have a lot to be ashamed about but at least she neutralised the MNLF in THAT area (with the aforementioned BDAF). My favourite MNLF cash cow? It is difficult to choose with there having been so many but the White Orchid Textbook Contract at close to 100 Million Pesos that simply evaporated into thin air is good for starters. Insurgent Organisations should NEVER be given carte blanche with developmental funds.
The to do at the Etosan Hotel was to tie up all the loose ends from PPA3, or, Programme Partnership Agreement #3. The particular agreement had the World Bank and EU (European Union) funding the Mindanao Trust Fund-Reconstruction and Development Programme, with disbursements to two Trust Fund Recipients, or TFRs:
1) CFSI, or Community and Family Services International
2) Mindanao Land Foundation Incorporated
The two organisations work to re-settle and monitor IDPs, or Internally Displaced Persons (Refugees).
Also worth mentioning, kind of, as I mentioned in my "GPH-MILF Peace Process, First Quarter of 2011" entry, the AHJAG, or Ad Hoc Joint Action Group was re-constituted during the 20th Round of Exploratory Talks, February 9th and 10th, 2011. On April 19th, 2011 it held its first meeting since gaining its current mandate, at Davao City's Ritz Hotel at Garden Oases [sic]. The AHJAG is a bilateral organisation composed of members of both the MILF and the GPH, four members from each, that aims to avoid the circumstances that launched the 2003 Buliok Complex War. After the 2000 War MILF founder and Chairman Hashim Salamat installed his headquarters in a camp located in Barangay Buliok, in the town of Pikit, in North Cotabato Province. With roughly 1,000 guerillas from two Brigades (Base Commands would only truly take form after this war), located within the no man's land of Liguasan Marsh, the MILF/BIAF felt secure after almost being torn apart in the 2000 War. Then, in an anti-KFR Operation aimed at the infamous Pentagon Group, also located inside Ligusan Marsh, AFP gunships "mistakenly" fired on BIAF guerillas, or so the story goes. In the end more than 300 BIAF dead littered Buliok.
40 people attended this first meeting in Davao City, including GPH Peace Panel Chairman Mario Victor "Marvic" Leonen who gave the keynote speech. This is why side table entities like AHJAG end up as just another useless waste of everybody's time. Are there not enough KFR victims within the MILF/BIAF AOR? Why then should they take the first AHJAG meeting to have taken place in a year and a half and waste it with more nonsense from a Panel Chairman who has nothing to do with this particular issue? They were given a 12 month mandate, but it was effective March 1st, 2011. That means that when that 40 person circle jer* took place on April 19th, they had already wasted 1.5 months! I guess I shouldn't be suprised, it isn't as if AHJAG has ever really accomplished anything to begin with. Both GPH and the MILF have been patting themselves on the back over the release of Angelina "Angie" Soken Chew Mantigue when all the MILF really did was deliver her ransom, and I have no doubt they took a healthy "commission" for their "good deed."
Seriously, AHJAG has offices in 5 locales:
1) Maguindanao Province
2) Lanao and Misamis, covering del Sur and del Norte in the former and Oriental and Occidental in the latter
3) Zamboanga Peninsula and ARMM Islands, covering all 3 provinces in the former, and Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi in the latter
4) South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Saragani Provinces
5) Davao Region, covering all 4 provinces there, the 3 Davaos and ComVal (Compostela Valley)
There are also 3 Secretariat Offices:
1) Davao City
2) Zamboanga City
3) Cotabato City
The third one is co-housed at AHJAG Headquarters but all the others? Bloated isn't the word. It is a self-serving bureaucracy.
On April 27th, 2011 the MILF Central Committee appointed a 3 member delegation:
1) Nasrullah Mohammad, Chairman
2) Abdullah B. Adam, holding a Masters in Islamic Studies
3) Zainal D. Kulidtod, Guest Lecturer at Mindanao State University in Marawi City for the last 15 years
to liason with the two European Union members of the IMT. Giving senior status by the EU is Cynthia Petreigh, a Frenchwoman who spent her formative years in Lebanon and working with her is Susan Robertson, a British Subject. The two person EU contingent is attached to the IMT's Humanitarian Rehabilitation and Development facet, a new module introduced in IMT-6.
Finally, on April 1st, 2011 the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a Note Verbale to the GPH Peace Panel via the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta expressing its willingness that the GPH finally process its entry into the IMT. This comes after the Arroyo Government had tendered the invitation in December of 2009. Now, just after President Aquino's state visit to Jakarta the Indonesians decided its time. It is couching the message as a reciprocal gesture for AFP participation in a Peacekeeping Mission to Aceh, an area of Indonesia wracked by Islamo-fascist insurgency. Neither nation can solve its own problems so they look to muck it up with foreign intervention, brilliant.
1) Cotabato City, Central Mindanao
2) General Santos City (GenSan), Southern Mindanao
3) Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Peninsula and Basilan Island
4) Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte
5) Davao City, Davao Region
On May 2nd, 2011 the MILF Central Committee announced plans to expand the BDA AOR (Area of Responsibility, as in Area of Operation) into Sulu and Tawi Tawi Provinces. Both provinces have virtually no MILF/BIAF (the latter being the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the military wing of the MILF). There is a BIAF Base Command, the 117th, but it operates only in parts of two municipalities in Tawi Tawi and is centered upon its Sanga Sanga Island. Despite its rhetoric the MILF/BIAF has never come close to eclipsing the nearly universal support enjoyed by the MNLF before it bowed to then dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1976.
The Central Committee is also making noises about the BDA moving into Palawan as well. Unlike Sulu and Tawi Tawi Palawan is not a part of Mindanao, administratively or otherwise. The MNLF first claimed the island as part of its theoretical MinSuLuPa, an independent Muslim nation it foresaw being created out of all area with a historical connection to Islam. While Palawan was CLAIMED by the Sultanate of Brunei who then gifted it to the Sultanate of Sulu in 1658 for sending nearly 500 warriors that enabled the Sultan of Brunei to maintain his throne, the Muslim connection is tenuous at best. There is an ethnicity known as the Palawani, composed of Islamic converts from various coastal tribes on Palawan, but they are an indistinct group along the lines of the so-called "Balik Islam," or the "Islamic Reverts." According to Islam every human is born a Muslim, it is humankind's natural state. Ergo, when one finally acknowledges themselves as a Muslim they are merely REverting, not CONverting. More than this however, the Balik Islam are Filipinos of other religions who accept Islam with the perception that ALL Filipinos either were, or would have been Muslims if not for Spanish intervention. This warped view holds that Rajah Solaiman, the ruler of Manila when the Spanish arrived there, was a Muslim. Indeed he was BUT he was from Brunei, NOT Manila. He ruled Manila as a conqueror, just like the Spanish.
The BDA shouldn't be confused with the BDAF, or Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund, which was created via Executive Order #872 in March of 2010 by then President Arroyo. The BDAF is a GPH, or Government of the Philippines entity that is meant as a catalyst for social and economic development vis a vis the parallel GPH-MNLF Peace Process. It was one of several steps taken by the Government to bring that Process' 1996 Jakarta Agreement, the FPA, or Final Peace Agreement meant to finally end THAT insurgency, to an end. Two different agencies with the same exact mandate, is it any wonder why this island is wracked with war?
On May 9th, 2011 the Chairman of the MILF CCCH, or MILF Co-ordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, Said Shiek issued a little noticed directive stating that his GPH counterpart shouldn't even bother trying to liason with him over security for any developmental issues that aren't first vetted through the BDA. The CCCH is a bilateral entity composed of two components, one GPH, the other MILF. Among other things, if a foreign delegation wishes to survey a particular area for a farm to market road project, or say an outpatient health clinic, they would apply to the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, who would delegate the responsibility to the GPH CCCH, which is composed of AFP personnel. In turn the GPH CCCH would liason with their MILF counterpart so as to avoid an attack or KFR (Kidnap for Ransom). Now the MILF wants a bite out of any project in its AOR, pay to play, like the true gangsters the MILF truly are.
Speaking of the MILF CCCH, Chairman Shiek says that he will file a Violation Complaint with the relatively new Civilian Component of IMT-6, or International Monitoring Team, Deployment #6. The Cotabato City-based IMT (though it is attempting to re-locate its headquarters to Zamboanga City) is a Malaysian-led multi-national entity mandated to act as a sort of referee when ceasefire-related disagreements crop up. The MILF is angry (what else is new) over what it says is a case of arbitrary arrest and incarceration of two men it claims are merely "farmers." At 6AM on May 18th, 2011 in Sitio Balang Kayan in the municipality of Lebak's Barangay Dumpilas, in Sultan Kudarat Province, Muslimin Mambulao and Paks Guiama were taken into custody by MBLT-7, or Marine Battalion Landing Team #7. That happens to be the perimeter of the main camp of the BIAF's 104 Base Command. The two "farmers" were brought to a Marine garrison in the municipality of Kalamansig, in that same province. As it turns out both men were released on May 19th without ever having been charged so I'm at a loss as to what the MILF CCCH will file.
The NDFP/CPP/NPA (National Democratic Front of the Philippines/Communist Party of the Philippines/New Peoples Army) aren't the only Insurgency Organisation bent out of shape over GPH inaction over detainees. The MILF has its own wish list of 25 MILF/BIAF detainees it wants released. Topping that list is Abraham Yap Alonto of Saragani Province who uses the alias Eduard Guerra. An engineer by degree Alonto served as one of the organisation's conduits for foreign money. He was nabbed by PNP CIDG-10 (Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for Region 10) on September 22nd, 2010 while sitting in a plane on the tarmac at Davao International Airport with one of his wives, waiting to fly to Manila where he was to catch a flight to Geneva, Switzerland. He had been scheduled to address the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Commission) on September 27th. Instead he has been kept in the basement at IS-AFP (AFP Intelligence Service) at Fort Bonifacio charged with so called MILF-SOG, or MILF Special Operation Group bombings. On April 23, 2011 MILF Peace Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal and the MILF Chairman of the Peace Panel Secretariat, Jun Mantawil, met with the families of most of those 25 detainees at CCCH Joint Headquarters, in Cotabato City. Once again Iqbal vowed to get all the detainees released.
On May 25th, 2011 the MILF's BDA held its 6th Annual Implementation Support Mission wrap up meeting at Cotabato City's Etosan Hotel. Ironically, the Etosan is known for its casino but I guess convenience trumps religious convictions (gambling is verboten for Muslims). The BDA's Vice Chairman Dr.Rizaldy L.Piang met with a World Bank delegation led by Matthew Stephens, a European Union delegation, and a host of local NGOs, most MILF/BIAF affiliated which is how the MILF obtains a large chunk of its arms budget. Foreign do-gooders channel money to Islamo-fascist organisations like the MILF, who then use these funds to terrorise most of the island, quite the scam but the MILF didn't invent it. No, that credit goes to the MNLF and its various developmental conduits. Not that former President Arroyo doesn't have a lot to be ashamed about but at least she neutralised the MNLF in THAT area (with the aforementioned BDAF). My favourite MNLF cash cow? It is difficult to choose with there having been so many but the White Orchid Textbook Contract at close to 100 Million Pesos that simply evaporated into thin air is good for starters. Insurgent Organisations should NEVER be given carte blanche with developmental funds.
The to do at the Etosan Hotel was to tie up all the loose ends from PPA3, or, Programme Partnership Agreement #3. The particular agreement had the World Bank and EU (European Union) funding the Mindanao Trust Fund-Reconstruction and Development Programme, with disbursements to two Trust Fund Recipients, or TFRs:
1) CFSI, or Community and Family Services International
2) Mindanao Land Foundation Incorporated
The two organisations work to re-settle and monitor IDPs, or Internally Displaced Persons (Refugees).
Also worth mentioning, kind of, as I mentioned in my "GPH-MILF Peace Process, First Quarter of 2011" entry, the AHJAG, or Ad Hoc Joint Action Group was re-constituted during the 20th Round of Exploratory Talks, February 9th and 10th, 2011. On April 19th, 2011 it held its first meeting since gaining its current mandate, at Davao City's Ritz Hotel at Garden Oases [sic]. The AHJAG is a bilateral organisation composed of members of both the MILF and the GPH, four members from each, that aims to avoid the circumstances that launched the 2003 Buliok Complex War. After the 2000 War MILF founder and Chairman Hashim Salamat installed his headquarters in a camp located in Barangay Buliok, in the town of Pikit, in North Cotabato Province. With roughly 1,000 guerillas from two Brigades (Base Commands would only truly take form after this war), located within the no man's land of Liguasan Marsh, the MILF/BIAF felt secure after almost being torn apart in the 2000 War. Then, in an anti-KFR Operation aimed at the infamous Pentagon Group, also located inside Ligusan Marsh, AFP gunships "mistakenly" fired on BIAF guerillas, or so the story goes. In the end more than 300 BIAF dead littered Buliok.
40 people attended this first meeting in Davao City, including GPH Peace Panel Chairman Mario Victor "Marvic" Leonen who gave the keynote speech. This is why side table entities like AHJAG end up as just another useless waste of everybody's time. Are there not enough KFR victims within the MILF/BIAF AOR? Why then should they take the first AHJAG meeting to have taken place in a year and a half and waste it with more nonsense from a Panel Chairman who has nothing to do with this particular issue? They were given a 12 month mandate, but it was effective March 1st, 2011. That means that when that 40 person circle jer* took place on April 19th, they had already wasted 1.5 months! I guess I shouldn't be suprised, it isn't as if AHJAG has ever really accomplished anything to begin with. Both GPH and the MILF have been patting themselves on the back over the release of Angelina "Angie" Soken Chew Mantigue when all the MILF really did was deliver her ransom, and I have no doubt they took a healthy "commission" for their "good deed."
Seriously, AHJAG has offices in 5 locales:
1) Maguindanao Province
2) Lanao and Misamis, covering del Sur and del Norte in the former and Oriental and Occidental in the latter
3) Zamboanga Peninsula and ARMM Islands, covering all 3 provinces in the former, and Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi Tawi in the latter
4) South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Saragani Provinces
5) Davao Region, covering all 4 provinces there, the 3 Davaos and ComVal (Compostela Valley)
There are also 3 Secretariat Offices:
1) Davao City
2) Zamboanga City
3) Cotabato City
The third one is co-housed at AHJAG Headquarters but all the others? Bloated isn't the word. It is a self-serving bureaucracy.
On April 27th, 2011 the MILF Central Committee appointed a 3 member delegation:
1) Nasrullah Mohammad, Chairman
2) Abdullah B. Adam, holding a Masters in Islamic Studies
3) Zainal D. Kulidtod, Guest Lecturer at Mindanao State University in Marawi City for the last 15 years
to liason with the two European Union members of the IMT. Giving senior status by the EU is Cynthia Petreigh, a Frenchwoman who spent her formative years in Lebanon and working with her is Susan Robertson, a British Subject. The two person EU contingent is attached to the IMT's Humanitarian Rehabilitation and Development facet, a new module introduced in IMT-6.
Finally, on April 1st, 2011 the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a Note Verbale to the GPH Peace Panel via the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta expressing its willingness that the GPH finally process its entry into the IMT. This comes after the Arroyo Government had tendered the invitation in December of 2009. Now, just after President Aquino's state visit to Jakarta the Indonesians decided its time. It is couching the message as a reciprocal gesture for AFP participation in a Peacekeeping Mission to Aceh, an area of Indonesia wracked by Islamo-fascist insurgency. Neither nation can solve its own problems so they look to muck it up with foreign intervention, brilliant.
Monday, May 2, 2011
GPH-MILF Peace Process,First Quarter of 2011,Part II:21st Round of Exploratory Talks
The 21st Round of the Exploratory Talks were held in the Imperial Sheraton Hotel,Kuala Lampur,Malaysia on April 27 and April 28,2011.Having originally been schedualed for the 29th and 30th of March but delayed per MILF request.The talks opened at 930AM with a Closed Door Executive Session with only the Chairmen of both Panels and 1 Panel Member each.The MILF Chairman Mohagher Iqbal was accompanied by Datu Michael O.Mastura.GPH Chairman Mario Victor"Marvic"Leonen was with Panel Member Prof.Miriam Coronel Ferrer.Joining them in the hotel's Penang Room was embattled Facilitator Datuk Othman bin 'Abd Razak who was accompanied by his replacement (yep,they finally mamaged to get the spy out of the process),Tengku Dato' Abd' Ghafar bin Tengku Mohammad.Ghafar,as he is known in shorthand,actually predates Razak's own involvement in the Talks.Back in the Winter of 2001 as new President Gloria M.Arroyo was desperately seeking Malaysian intervention to re-ignite the failed GHP-MILF Peace Process Ghafar had been delegated by his government to liason with MILF founder Chairman Hashim Salamat.In fact,Ghafar made more than 1 trip to Buliok Complex,Salamat's new headquarters after the fall of Camp Abubakar in the 2000 War.
Razak informally introduced his replacement and after a few brief exchanges on the schedule of the two day long Talks they all left the room at 1109AM.At 1112AM the Full Panels convened along with the ICG (International Contact Group).ICG is composed of foreign governmental representatives and NGO delegates who participate in the Peace Process as Observers.In Closed Door Session (Session I) the Formal Introduction of Ghafar took place and the 1st Session adjourned for Lunch at 1159AM.Razak left the hotel at 1230PM and so ends his 9 years as Facilitator.
At 2PM Session II began with both Panels' Chairmen offering their Opening Remarks,no suprises there.Both read for 3 pages of notes though as always Iqbal took longer.
The 2nd Day's proceedings,Session III began at 930AM with an"Update"on the 25 MILF/BIAF members incarcerated by the Philippine Government.The list is considerably longer but the MILF has had to pick and choose after realising there was no way that all its members were going to be released for jail.The highest ranking member among the 25 is Central Committee member Eduard"Abraham Yap Alonto"Guerra.
At 10AM the AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Advisor to the GPH Peace Panel,Brigadier General Restituto Aguilar and his compatriot Major General Carlos Sol,GPH Chairperson of the CCCH (Committee on Cessation of Hostilities) Secretariat were ushered into the Session to offer their opinions on Kumander Kato.Ustadz Ameril Ombra Kato is the former Commanding Officer of the BIAF (Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces,MILF's military arm) 105 Base Command.After single handedly igniting the 2008 War with his invasion of the Ilonggo Triangle in North Cotabato Province,Kato and the MILF Central Committee turned on each other.In early 2010 Kato was relieved of his Command and transferred to the MILF Shari'a Court (Islamic Court) as a Legal Aide.Naturally this angered Kato and so he threw down the gauntlet.In March of 2010 he founded an entirely new,much more radical insurgency group,"BIFF."BIFF,or Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters,have remained low key thus far but are very well armed and are roughly 600 strong.600 is more than any single BIAF Base Command.
GPH Panel Chairman Marvic Leonen pushed aggressively for a quantification of the issue from his MILF counterpart but all Iqbal would do is offer that while they are doing their best to rein Kato in they still consider him part of the apparattus and therefore consider it an entirely internal matter.In the words of Iqbal;"Don't worry about Kato,leave him to us."Yes Iqbal,because until now you have done a great job at controlling Kato,or anyone in the BIAF really.Session III ended at 1039AM with a coffee break.Resuming at 1100AM the Talks focused on AHJAG,the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group.AHJAG was created very early on in the Peace Process,in May of 2002,though not implemented until December,2004.Its sole purpose is to provide a platform for interaction and co-operating on the criminality within the MILF/BIAF AOR (Area of Responsibility,i.e."Area in which the MILF has a determined presence").Specifically it aims to curtail the rampant KFR (Kidnap for Ransom) that innundates most any Base Command AOR.To realise the importance of this little discussed entity,consider that the 2003 Buliok Complex War took place because an AFP anti-KFR operation came a tad bit too close to a BIAF Base Command.Had the MILF/BIAF and AFP been interacting as they were supposed to have been doing (the AHJAG Agreement was already 14 months old at that point but had never been implemented) the conflict almost certainly would have never taken place.
AHJAG's re-activation had been settled during the previous Round,Round 20 which took place on the 9th and 10th of February,and which gave AHJAG a brand new 12 month mandate to have begun on March 1,2011.At the MILF's request this was delayed until April 1.On April 19,2011 the entity had its first conclave under this new mandate.Held at the Ritz Hotel's Garden Oases [sic] in Davao City.AHJAG's HQ element,or"Core,"has 8 members.4 from the Government and 4 from the MILF/BIAF with 1 from each side serving as Co-Chairman.
Next on the agenda of course was the infamous 2 hour lunch,from 12PM to 2PM.With only 48 precious hours to try and save the lives of many thousands of their terrorised countrymen and women the noble Panelists stuffed their faces on the Malaysian tab.Returning at 2PM for the 4th and final Session,Closed Door,the group got into an Update on the status of IMT-5.The IMT,or International Monitoring Team is composed of members from Malaysia,which leads it,along with Brunei,Libya,Japan,and this year the EU and Norway.The last 2 will be serving on their first IMT Mission.I will delve into all the ins and outs of both the IMT AND AHJAG in entries all their own.
The Panel then devoted the better part of 4 hours clarifying and re-iterating the text of the Revised Comprehensive Compact Draft.Even the spelling was dissected.Close to 4PM Datu Michael O.Mastura blew his cool,which he does nearly every Round.Screaming,he accused the GPH Peace Panel of"nitpicking."Surely an attorney would understand just how vulnerable documents are to misinterpretation.Surely an ex-Constitutional Delegate would acknowledge the gravity of such proceedings.Surely an ex-Congressman would know fully well that every"t"needs to be crossed and every"I"needs to have its dot.Talk about immaturity,petulance and just plain gauche,that my friends is Datu Mike.
The meeting took a"time out"to let Mastura's blood pressure drop and resumed proceedings after almost 15 minutes.From that point on it was relatively smooth sailing.Finishing the"nitpicking"everyone leaving the Penang Room at 645PM that evening was in a jubilant mood.The GPH Panel has agreed to relegate Kumander Kato and BIFF to an internal MILF matter.AHJAG and IMT went as expected and merely were Progress Reviews.The GPH has also agreed to turnover its own Revised Comprehensive Compact Draft having registered the MILF's current vision on the those vital issues.The 2 sides have tenatively scheduled the 22nd Round for April 28 and 29th,again in Kuala Lampur.
Razak informally introduced his replacement and after a few brief exchanges on the schedule of the two day long Talks they all left the room at 1109AM.At 1112AM the Full Panels convened along with the ICG (International Contact Group).ICG is composed of foreign governmental representatives and NGO delegates who participate in the Peace Process as Observers.In Closed Door Session (Session I) the Formal Introduction of Ghafar took place and the 1st Session adjourned for Lunch at 1159AM.Razak left the hotel at 1230PM and so ends his 9 years as Facilitator.
At 2PM Session II began with both Panels' Chairmen offering their Opening Remarks,no suprises there.Both read for 3 pages of notes though as always Iqbal took longer.
The 2nd Day's proceedings,Session III began at 930AM with an"Update"on the 25 MILF/BIAF members incarcerated by the Philippine Government.The list is considerably longer but the MILF has had to pick and choose after realising there was no way that all its members were going to be released for jail.The highest ranking member among the 25 is Central Committee member Eduard"Abraham Yap Alonto"Guerra.
At 10AM the AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Advisor to the GPH Peace Panel,Brigadier General Restituto Aguilar and his compatriot Major General Carlos Sol,GPH Chairperson of the CCCH (Committee on Cessation of Hostilities) Secretariat were ushered into the Session to offer their opinions on Kumander Kato.Ustadz Ameril Ombra Kato is the former Commanding Officer of the BIAF (Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces,MILF's military arm) 105 Base Command.After single handedly igniting the 2008 War with his invasion of the Ilonggo Triangle in North Cotabato Province,Kato and the MILF Central Committee turned on each other.In early 2010 Kato was relieved of his Command and transferred to the MILF Shari'a Court (Islamic Court) as a Legal Aide.Naturally this angered Kato and so he threw down the gauntlet.In March of 2010 he founded an entirely new,much more radical insurgency group,"BIFF."BIFF,or Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters,have remained low key thus far but are very well armed and are roughly 600 strong.600 is more than any single BIAF Base Command.
GPH Panel Chairman Marvic Leonen pushed aggressively for a quantification of the issue from his MILF counterpart but all Iqbal would do is offer that while they are doing their best to rein Kato in they still consider him part of the apparattus and therefore consider it an entirely internal matter.In the words of Iqbal;"Don't worry about Kato,leave him to us."Yes Iqbal,because until now you have done a great job at controlling Kato,or anyone in the BIAF really.Session III ended at 1039AM with a coffee break.Resuming at 1100AM the Talks focused on AHJAG,the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group.AHJAG was created very early on in the Peace Process,in May of 2002,though not implemented until December,2004.Its sole purpose is to provide a platform for interaction and co-operating on the criminality within the MILF/BIAF AOR (Area of Responsibility,i.e."Area in which the MILF has a determined presence").Specifically it aims to curtail the rampant KFR (Kidnap for Ransom) that innundates most any Base Command AOR.To realise the importance of this little discussed entity,consider that the 2003 Buliok Complex War took place because an AFP anti-KFR operation came a tad bit too close to a BIAF Base Command.Had the MILF/BIAF and AFP been interacting as they were supposed to have been doing (the AHJAG Agreement was already 14 months old at that point but had never been implemented) the conflict almost certainly would have never taken place.
AHJAG's re-activation had been settled during the previous Round,Round 20 which took place on the 9th and 10th of February,and which gave AHJAG a brand new 12 month mandate to have begun on March 1,2011.At the MILF's request this was delayed until April 1.On April 19,2011 the entity had its first conclave under this new mandate.Held at the Ritz Hotel's Garden Oases [sic] in Davao City.AHJAG's HQ element,or"Core,"has 8 members.4 from the Government and 4 from the MILF/BIAF with 1 from each side serving as Co-Chairman.
Next on the agenda of course was the infamous 2 hour lunch,from 12PM to 2PM.With only 48 precious hours to try and save the lives of many thousands of their terrorised countrymen and women the noble Panelists stuffed their faces on the Malaysian tab.Returning at 2PM for the 4th and final Session,Closed Door,the group got into an Update on the status of IMT-5.The IMT,or International Monitoring Team is composed of members from Malaysia,which leads it,along with Brunei,Libya,Japan,and this year the EU and Norway.The last 2 will be serving on their first IMT Mission.I will delve into all the ins and outs of both the IMT AND AHJAG in entries all their own.
The Panel then devoted the better part of 4 hours clarifying and re-iterating the text of the Revised Comprehensive Compact Draft.Even the spelling was dissected.Close to 4PM Datu Michael O.Mastura blew his cool,which he does nearly every Round.Screaming,he accused the GPH Peace Panel of"nitpicking."Surely an attorney would understand just how vulnerable documents are to misinterpretation.Surely an ex-Constitutional Delegate would acknowledge the gravity of such proceedings.Surely an ex-Congressman would know fully well that every"t"needs to be crossed and every"I"needs to have its dot.Talk about immaturity,petulance and just plain gauche,that my friends is Datu Mike.
The meeting took a"time out"to let Mastura's blood pressure drop and resumed proceedings after almost 15 minutes.From that point on it was relatively smooth sailing.Finishing the"nitpicking"everyone leaving the Penang Room at 645PM that evening was in a jubilant mood.The GPH Panel has agreed to relegate Kumander Kato and BIFF to an internal MILF matter.AHJAG and IMT went as expected and merely were Progress Reviews.The GPH has also agreed to turnover its own Revised Comprehensive Compact Draft having registered the MILF's current vision on the those vital issues.The 2 sides have tenatively scheduled the 22nd Round for April 28 and 29th,again in Kuala Lampur.
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