Sunday 4 November 2012

EXCELLENT ROLE FOR PEACE PACT?



 


By : MOHD   JEFRI  RADIUS  

WHAT does the title of this simple write up means in the broader sense of the words? It is just to define the likelihood or possibility of another significant event, a token of appreciation from The Philippines Government for Malaysia’s role as mediator, which finally led to the memorable sealing of the historic peace pact between The Philippines Government and The Bangsa Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); after the horrific chronologies of bloodshed, clashes or insurgency for over four decades that has claimed more than 150,000 lives in the Southern Philippines.

President Benigno Aquino III described the occasion as an opportunity “to finally achieve genuine and lastling peace“, while the Chief of the MILF Murad Ebrahim was quoted as saying “We have inked the most important document in the Chapter of our history.“
A new region gifted with rich potential minerals deposits is being created as spelt out in the framework agreement for peace,vested with greater political powers and more  control over resources compared to the existing semi-autonomous region.
The region will be known as “Bangsamoro, which literarily means Land of the Moros, who dominate majority of  the population living within its territorial scope and extend.

PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who led the delegation of Malaysian dignitaries including Sabah CM Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi to Manila recently to witness the signing of the peace pact expressed his gratitude posted in his One Malaysia Blog,” This belief in moderation, tolerance and understanding is something we hold dear in Malaysia and through the movement of moderation, we must continue to promote these values globally”. (Daily Express Oct 20th, 2012)
Sensibly, we could randomly guess the significance of Najib’s message that rolled across the board for us to interpret, relevant to the historic signing ceremony recently. 
We could not rule out the probability that a thought of settling the long standing issue of The Sabah Claim could have flashed in the minds of our premier with more feedbacks from our Minister of Foreign Affairs Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, as the momentum is right and timely for a deal of the issue, as the primary agenda to be discussed amicably and diplomatically at the round table, to seek the perennial settlement once and for all, judging from or considering Malaysia’s significant and contributive roles as mediator in turning the peace visions and missions in The Bangsamoro Land into reality.

Retrospectively, the idea of The Sabah Annexation, which was officially endorsed by The Philippines Government during The Marcos Administration in 1968, was believed to have been strategically mooted and executed, purely based upon reference made to the literary contents of the Historical 1878 Deed, whereby the documented statement signed by the late Sultan of Sulu, Mohammed Jamalul Alam with two European Baron Overbeck and Alfred Dent, spelt out the historic sovereignty of the Sulu Sultanate over vast tract of territories, particularly on the Eastern Region of North Borneo.  
It is rather amusing to note that The Base Line Act (Section 2446) of The Philippines Constitution reads “Sabah is part of The Republic of The Philippines  ”, but under The United Nations Charter such provision is declared null and void.
Sabah became part of the Federated States of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963 and has been enjoying the fruits of her independence with tremendous development and robust economic growths especially under the current dynamic leadership of BN  State Government leads by CM Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
Ironically, although Malaysia and The Philippines are two of the current nine members of the regional grouping of the Association of The South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the sensitivity of this specific Filipino Bill, which was transcribed and documented in The Philippines Constitution, has yet to be revoked amicably in the  mutual or cordial interest and spirit of ASEAN.
In the mid 1980’s, The Marcos Administration revived the issue of the Sabah Claim by fixing certain terms and conditions to the Malaysian Government before the claim in question could be denounced or dropped publicly.
The  demand for compensation in the form of monetary payment amounting to the tune of several billions in United States currency plus lengthy period of crude oil supplies to The Philippines, constituted two of the primary conditional terms.    
 
However, the nature of the demand appeared substantially unreasonable, which the Malaysian Government could not accept.
When Corazon Aquino replaced Marcos via the transitional of The People Power (Massive Public Demonstration storming the Malacanang Palace, The issue of the Sabah Claim along with the so–called demand was gradually grounded to a standstill until today.
The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) comprises four provinces (Magunindanao & Lanao Del Sur on the mainland, while the islands provinces consisted of Sulu and Tawi–Tawi ) with an extensive total land area of 11, 996 sq km and having an estimated population statistics numbering more than three million peoples excluding those who had made massive exodus out of their homeland during the crux of the civil war in Mindanao between The Philippines Government and The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in early ‘70’s.
The East Malaysian State of Sabah’s long shores and coastlines, stretching from the tip of Bengkoka Peninsular at the Northern region right down to Cowie Harbour within the proximity of Indonesian territorial border of Kalimantan, holds or keeps untold mysteries and secret foot prints, made by intruders, who had successfully managed to sneak silently  or illegally into the State . 

Mustafa’s USNO led Alliance State Government welcomed the string of unstoppable influx of political refugees from the Southern Philippines on humanitarian grounds without fixed conditions at that time.
Over the years, these so–called political refugees did not show willingness to return even though the crux of the wars and conflicts had slowed down on several occasions. The scenario worsened when a new breed of Filipinos classified as “Illegal Immigrants“ infested every nook and corner of the State in the thousands in search of greener pasture, raising many eye brows and questions WHY?

Our patrolling coastal guards were not able to detect the aliens secret  routes made via back doors neither spotted on sight on the vastness of the open seas nor upon reaching our shores.
During the previous Regularisation Programme, which ended on Aug 31, 1997, the Federal Special Task Force estimated Indonesian and Filipinos inclusive of their dependents to be more than 400,000. 
Lately, Federal Task Force for Sabah and Labuan Director Datuk Suhaimi Mohd Salleh said “Exact numbers of Filipinos in Sabah hard to determine – In Sabah they have been  categorized as Refugees, Legal Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants , a factor that makes it difficult to state their accurate  population in the State.

"Another factor is that there is no liaison office of the Philippines or their Consulate in Sabah to enable their citizens to obtain passports and other valid travel documents.“ (Daily Express October 19th, 2012).

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman was quoted as saying that his government and the Sabah Government could work jointly to address the problem of the huge presence of Filipino refugees in Sabah “If there is no conflict and there are economic opportunities in this region, then the Bangsamoro brothers will be pushed to come back.“
It is still fresh in the memories of many living Sabahans that Prof.Nur Masuri, former Governor of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cum Chairman of MNLF while on a sojourn to Sabah way back in 1997, a year after he signed the previous peace plan with the Philippines government “Masuri had expectated to call on the estimated 300,000 Filipinos  immigrants in Sabah to return home as their resources would be required to rebuild the Southern Region when peace had been fully restored ” (The New Straits Times October 28th 1997)
Ironically, Masuri’s Visions and Missions did not materialize as clusters of problems, stigmas and conflicts  of interest and opinions , begun to crop up without a solution in sight from within his own organization leading to  the creation of the MILF, led by Hasim Salamat and posing a stiff threat to Masuri’s Peace Plan and Autonomy within the region.
The emergence of Abu Sayyaf, the most radical group operating within the region and well known for raising funds by kidnapping people for ransom was another obstacle to Masuari’s peace plan then. Some analysts believe it is linked to Al –Qaeda, the organization formed  by the late Osama Bin Laden.  
Former Philippines President Gloria Macapagal had once rejected Malaysian Authority’s massive repatriation of Filipinos illegal immigrants from Sabah back into the Philippines during the era of Tun Abdullah Badawi Administration on the ground of Stateless or without proper identifications.  
 Advance fine expectation gleamed from the hearts of several Malaysian leaders irrespective of their political ideologies once the historic peace pact was signed by the  relevant parties.
CM Musa, who was among the State dignitaries invited by Najib to witness the signing of the peace treaty accord in Manila recently said “It is a reflection of the commitment towards ending decades of violence  and give  the Bangsamoro  people a  chance to live on their own land in peace “While PKR Sabah Immigration and Electoral Reform Bureau Dr Chong Eng Leong said “All the  estimated 84,000 IMM13 holders must surrender the yellow IMM13 cards and can be treated like other foreign migrants. They should be issued with  temporary entry visa before they are sent back to their country unless in possession of work permits.“ 
The successful implementation of the Peace Accord Treaty between the relevant parties augurs perfectly well for the Bangsamoro business leaders to tap the marketing prospects available locally and abroad via the integration platform of TheBrunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines - East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)
Although the framework is in place, a transition commission has yet to be established to finalise more issues before the whole proposal will be wrapped up for a Referendum.
The Philippines Government had vested this task to The International Monitoring Team (IMT) which has been on peace mission since Sept, 2004, to continue monitoring the momentum of resolving  the armed conflict between the rival parties  in Mindanao.
Apart from Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, England and Norway have participated in the IMT Joint Task Grouping.   
Hence, Malaysia’s rays of hope in seeking perennial settlement to the long stand Sabah Claim Issue is within sight of touch with the possibility of turning this dream into reality one day, judging from our country’s role as mediator that had fruitfully led to the signing of the historic peace accord treaty between the Philippines Government and  the MILF in Manila recently. The wisdom of  Horace tells us “ The Beginning  is the most important part of the work.“

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