THE Philippine Council of Management (Philcoman), a non-profit federation of professional and technological societies, institutions, academe, business enterprises and professional managers dedicated to the development of management and improvement of its practices in all aspects of the Philippine society, has timely alerted the people and their representatives in the national and local legislatures to the following questions:
(1) Whether the Bangsamoro, a politico-military construct of the murderous terrorist syndicate, known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), dissociates itself from the Republic of the Philippines;
(2) Whether the Republika ng Haringbayang Katagalugan (as established by Pangulong Bonifacio and the Katipunan) that evolved into the Revolutionary Philippine Republic (as defended by General Miguel Malvar) superordinates the Moro community (as imagined by the MILF);
(3) Whether the Bangsamoro (as claimed by the MILF) is merely the Southeast Asian germ of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant;
(4) Whether the Bangsamoro (as defined by the MILF) is merely a trojan horse of Han expansionists, hegemonists and other external danger-lords; and
(5) Whether the Bangsamoro (as embodied by the MILF) will hinder the regime of love contemplated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
Philcoman Director and Spokesman Bernard Karganilla said that if the people say yes, then the notion of a Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) is
unacceptable.
The Philcoman, in effect, is asking the descendants of Emilio Jacinto and other heroes and their delegates in Congress and local councils whether the discussion of the BBL is an exercise in futility, given that the MILF does not:
(1) Renounce terrorism and other acts of violence;
(2) Surrender its armaments;
(3) Pledge allegiance to the Philippine Constitution;
(4) Shed off its belligerency; and
(5) Refrain from seeking intervention from foreign powers.
A venerable non-government organization of managers founded in 1954 by 10 associations, the Philcoman “wondered if the nation of Saints Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod can tolerate more victims at the jihadist hands of the MILF—the same killing machine liable for the massacre of 44 elite police officers in Mamasapano and the beheading of Philippine Marines and Army soldiers in Basilan’s Al Barka, the dastardly attack on Siocon and Kauswagan, where scores of innocent civilians were sacrificed to the will of the jinns, and the bombings of the Davao Airport and the Sasa Port in Davao City, among others.
The Philcoman (inspired and guided by the likes of Dr. Lilian M. Gilbreth, Dr. Daniel M. Braum and Dean Cesar H. Concio) inquires of the BBL proponents whether they or any of the negotiators have tried to explain love to the MILF (“Bin Laden provided equipment and training assistance to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,” according to the 9/11 Commission in page 58 of its Official Report).
The Philcoman (dedicated to the development of management and improvement of its practices in all aspects of the Philippine society) challenges the MILF to dismantle the “mantiqi” (operating cells and networks) of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Abu Sayyaf, and other terrorist cabals in Mindanao.
The Philcoman believes that the Nation of Datu Kalipulakos (Lapu-Lapu), Dagohoys, Macario Sakays and Terry Adevosos will safeguard its own territorial integrity, national interest and social welfare.
In a meeting, members of the Philcoman board of directors unanimously agreed that the solution to the Mindanao problem is not the passage of the BBL, but to strenghten the existing constitutionally ordained Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and to strictly enforce the gun ban and prosecute violators.
Unless the government removes the guns from terrorists and criminal elements, there is no way you can achieve peace in Mindanao.
Philcoman said: “Right now, the government is negotiating with the MILF at the point of its guns and is often threatened with war and terrorism if the BBL is not approved in its entirety.”
Philcoman further stated that, for many years now, the MILF has been expanding its territories in Mindanao because the government failed to realize early on that a negotiating table to the MILF is just an extension of its battlefield as events have shown.
To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@gmail.com