by Daisy Jane Apit
Davao Today intern
DAVAO CITY – Moro leaders said their communities raised concern about possible Palace maneuver to foist the recently signed Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) to the international business community rather than address pestering issues like human rights abuses in Moro areas.
Jerome Succor Aba, spokesperson of the Suara Bangsamoro, said that while they acknowledged some importance of the agreement, they would call on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other Moro organizations “to stay vigilant over the other maneuvers of the administration”.
“We are worried that the administration will use the CAB to peddle charter change among the Moro people so that they will recognize it but afterwards will only allow foreign entities to exploit 100 percent of its resources,” he said, after the representatives of the groups from the provinces of Zamboanga, Cotabato, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and General Santos- Marbel City gathered here for a Youth and Community Leaders workshop on the CAB.
“Kinikilala naming ‘yung ang naganap na pirmihan ng CAB. Ito ang resulta ng peace negotiations ng MILF pati ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas. Pero kami ay nananawagan na dapat tayong maging maingat, mapagbantay sa mga maniobrang gagawin ng reheming Aquino na gamitin lamang tong CAB sa kanyang pansariling interes at pati na doon sa mga dayuhang namumuhunan, (We recognize the CAB as it is a result of the peace negotiation between the MILF and the Philippine government. But, we call on the Moro people to remain vigilant of the maneuvers of the Aquino regime who wants to use CA for his personal interests and the interests of foreign investors),” Aba said.
One group, the Moro human right organization Kawagib, said the suspicion surfaced after the complaints over civilian rights abuses were not acted upon through the years.
“Sa kabila ng paglagda ng CAB, nanatili ang kawalan ng hustisya sa mamamayang Moro (Amid the signing of the CAB, justice remains elusive for the Moro people),” said Yusoph Sabpa, spokesperson of Kawagib.
Sabpa said that “the administration wants to use the CAB to cover up the human rights violations against Moro people and to disarm, immobilize and integrate” the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the Army of the of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under the GPH (Government of the Philippines).
The Moro Revolutionary Liberation Organization, an allied organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, said in a statement one day after the signing of the CAB, that a Malaysian company with its local counterpart already entered into an agreement with the local government of Maguindanao to develop a 6,000-hectare banana plantation.
“The plantation will be built at the center of where the Maguindanao massacre happened,” said Jihad Al-Qursi, spokesperson of MRLO.
Al-Qursi said that the United States was also currently “in a hurry to sign an agreement to exploit the Liguasan Marsh which is rich in natural gas.
For the Moro organization of youth, it said “hindi talaga ang CAB ang kasalukuyang kasagutan sa problemang hinaharap ng kabataang Moro at ng sambayanang Bangsamoro bagkus ang tunay na kalayaan ay ang karapatan para sa sariling pagpapasya (the CAB is not the answer to the problems of the Moro youth and the Moro nation, but real freedom comes from self-determination),” said Sittie Raihana Esmael, spokesperson of the Liga ng Kabataang Moro (LKM).
CAB was signed March 27 this year as the final peace agreement between the GPH and the MILF. (davaotoday.com)
