Arming for peace

Rigoberto Tiglao’s assessment of the intention of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is very accurate and alarming. (“If you want peace in Mindanao, prepare for war,” Inquirer, 11/3/11)

I am one of the ordinary, law-abiding citizens in this country who are exasperated with the present administration. It seems to me and to many who are like me that President Aquino lacks the political will or, maybe, the personal courage to deal with the MILF insurgency. Those bright minds in the government peace panel should have realized long ago that the MILF is not going to sign a peace pact with the government unless it is allowed to establish an Islamic state in Mindanao.

The MILF cannot imagine a future under a multi-cultural, Western-oriented state like the Philippines. It wants a state where Islam is the official religion, and where the Sharia Law reigns supreme.

I have a suspicion that the MILF might agree to a semi-independent region much like the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, but with its own regional army and regional police. From there, it will build up its own forces until it comes to a point where the Armed Forces of the Philippines will think twice before waging war against it.

True, as Tiglao stated, there are no right models when it comes to solving a decades-old insurgency like this. But I think Mr. Aquino could make use of the old but proven principle of negotiating with the enemy from a position of strength. The MILF will not respect a peace-loving coward. But it will listen to someone who will not hesitate to wage war on  anyone who doesn’t listen. It is time for Mr. Aquino to let the AFP live up to its motto—“Armed for Peace.”

—PASTOR JORGEJILL S. DUYAGUIT,

Bethel Missionary Baptist Church,

Calatrava, Negros Occidental,

[email protected]