The Tausug grieve

Now that Sabah stand-off ended,  some Tausug women grieve. 

Like how Mehol Sadain grieve.

"As a Tausug, I mourn the death of fellow Tausugs in Lahad Datu in Sabah. As a Muslim, I am aghast at Muslims killing their fellow Muslims on land they consider part of their homeland. As a government official, I call on the authorities and the parties involved, in Malaysia and the Philippines, to stretch their patience and exhaust all peaceful and diplomatic means to resolve the crisis without further violence and bloodshed," Sadain lamented in his facebook wall.

He said the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, which he serves, stand ready to extend all assistance to resolve the stand-off but his message was bit late than the announcement of Malaysian emissary who told the Philippine national government:  "the stand-off was over."

The media reported that there were 10 dead and 4 persons wounded from the Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo; two from the Malaysian police forces. But Philippine government needs this figures validated.

What confused me most was why the crisis management was handled that way which resulted to armed confrontation when that could be resolved peacefully.

“This issue should have been resolved jointly by the Philippine and Malaysian government, “ said Carino Antequisa, of Mindanao Peace-building Institute (MPI) and a Philippine accompanier of CAFOD.

 "Conflict could have deescalated if the Malaysian government was able to accommodate the group of Kiram, give them food, and sit together with officials of the government of Philippines to settle the matter diplomatically. This way, the issue could have been dealt more responsibly, jointly, and in a cordial or friendly manner," Antequisa said.

To reckon, 180 members of Sultanate Royal Security Forces from Sulu went to Lahad Datu of Malaysia to assert their historical claim over their ancestral domain. 

They expressed their dismay about the exclusion of their claims under the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) inked between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to which Ging Deles, head of the Office of Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, replied in an ABS-CBN interview earlier this week, that this issue was not raised during the consultation they conducted with some members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), thus, suggested that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) should deal the problem.

Kiram's group also wanted Malaysia to "increase the lease's fees" in exchange for continued utilization of their ancestral domain.

In response, the Malaysian security forces instead provided them a deadline to leave the area, Thursday, February 28, rather than discuss the issue amicably.

President Benigno Aquino III considered 'Sabah claim' a dormant issue and asked the group of Kiram, holed up in Sabah, to return “peacefully to avoid possible bloodshed.” A ship was sent to them for humanitarian support, but Kiram's group was not persuaded.

Aquino also asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) to study the sultanate’s claim.

 "It cannot be denied that the Sulu residents have historical claim over that ancestral domain but the best solution is not through the barrels of guns but through joint state discussion on the problem because presently-- the land claim by Kiram and his group is already within the conflicting jurisdictions of two states," said Antequisa.

 “Nothing will be lost to Philippines and Malaysia if they will jointly deal with the Sultan and his followers from Sulu. I think it would have been better if Malaysia accommodated them temporarily rather than shot them,” he said.

 “The two states should deal the issue that predates them,” Antequisa added.

 "It’s not also remote for Malaysian government to help Muslim Filipinos for their welfare. It’s also possible for Philippines and Malaysian government to declare Sabah as a special zone where Sulu people, living in Lahad Datu, could live harmoniously with them," he said.

 Abel Moya, former manager of Pakigdait Inc. that works on peacebuilding in conflict zones of Lanao, suggested that all of the parties of the present conflict in Sabah must solve the issue through negotiations using the framework of conflict transformation.

“The resolution should be contextualized in history,” he said.

 Moya suggested that the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) may assist the DoJ and the DFA because they have the mediation skills and OPAPP too can reflect on the inclusivity of political settlement to address that concern raised that they are excluded under FAB.

 “The group of Kiram are Muslim Filipinos and their issues remain part of Mindanaoan issues   on their continuing quest for right to self-determination.” Moya pointed.

How to Communicate Peacefully?

"Don’t denigrate; appreciate 

Don’t detract; attract 

Don’t suspect; respect 

Don’t manipulate; cooperate 

Don’t discard; regard 

Don’t offend; commend 

Don’t indoctrinate; illuminate

Don’t impose; propose

Don’t mortify; dignify

Don’t humiliate; humanize

Don’t resist; assist

Don’t attack (verbally); question"

-Matos, Brazil

Conflict of interests and investments

Most conflicts are economically-driven. As controversies on Scarborough shoal heightened, we need to understand the diverse dynamism within Phil-Chinese relations. 

In earlier centuries, Philippines welcomed Chinese merchants for barter and trading. Their business was focused on paper-based products, livestock, pharmaceutical and plastic toys. Chinese merchants later started pouring investments for manufacturing industry (Dela Cruz, 2008). The latter include textiles. Many of them are into infrastructure and real estate investments as they have evidently constructed hotels, malls, restaurants, and the like.

Over the years, China ranked as among the top leading traders of our country with an investment of less than US$ 1. 5 B (Del Rosario, 2012). They expanded agricultural interest over 1.2 million hectares of agricultural areas, part of which is aimed at producing rice, sorghum, corn and ethanol (Dela Cruz, 2008). Some of these are done in Palawan areas.

In return, China accommodated an estimated 200,000 overseas Filipino skilled workers. These are either teachers, IT experts (working on US-owned companies operating in mainland China) and in the hospitality industry (working in hotels, restaurants etc.).  They import our bananas and other agri-products. For leisure and enjoyment, they also open its gates as tourist destination for neighboring countries. Del Rosario (2012) accounted that Philippine investment in China is greater (than China's investment in our country) at nearly US $ 3 B. 

As our government open the mineral exploration and production to foreign investments, the Chinese business sector also leaped to engage in mining for chromite, gold, and silver in Mindanao. The mining operations are not without controversies as these are met with local oppositions due to its encroachment in indigenous people's ancestral domain; potential vast ecological destruction; human rights and security-related concerns; and, policy-related violations. 

Recently, China offered Philippine government substantial amount as loan to cover for the improvement of infrastructure facilities e.g. Angat Dam, railway system, airport, roads, & ports (Dela Cruz, 2008). We're never certain what went on with these projects.  Whilst we struggle against the sale of Agus and Pulangi hydropower complexes, China positioned itself to benefit from our power industry by investing on our main transmission assets. 

As this bilateral relations progress, we now confront China's controversial claim over Scarborough shoal---geographically located within our territorial and maritime area. This isn't just about fishes, certainly. However, while the controversy is brought to international court for resolve, stakeholders of this country should continually learn more for us to ascertain China's strategic direction under this bilateral relation. Indeed, the issue isn't only challenging territorial and security concerns. It’s also challenging our executive and legislatures about how foreign policy and regulations are enforced.

Amid these developments, China's political norm needs to be noted too. Bhaskar (2012) pointed that China's officials are divided in their stance pertaining to foreign relations and diplomatic strategies.  Those who belong to the "internationalists" prefer compliance with international norms and of optimizing system for global governance (Bhaskar, 2012). They weigh more significance on social cohesion and interrelation above sovereign power. The other group, "realists", likes the utilization of military power to illustrate their dominance in the international scene. This view dominated in the current claim over areas marked under disputes. This simply affirm that their constituents' worldviews are polarized and ergo, we deal with the two.  Bhaskar (2012) contended that the scaling interest of China to control resources in foreign countries becomes necessary to meet China's internal supply-and-demand.  Or, simply put, their needs. This is true noting China's over reliance on oil and ore imports (Bhaskar, 2012). On the other hand, it’s also likely that they wanted to control resource and maintain profit free from the regulations of other sovereign states. 

Other political analysts argue that the controversy in Scarborough shoal is merely used as a political tactic to cover internal rifts and problems within the mainland. Whether this is true or not, it’s still unwise to preach lies to their constituents to justify and confuse them on issues pertaining territorial claims. On the other hand, Philippines opts for peaceful and diplomatic resolve on internal and external rifts although we maintain vigilance on the security aspect because our envoys are dealing with Chinese military officials who hold much authority on their strategic foreign policy (Bhaskar, 2012).

While we hope for friendly ties, we bend our knees to pray and light candles to keep the peace. We note that our relations with our Chinese communities within the Philippines remain warm and in good grace.

References:

Bhaskar, R. (2012). China's Foreign Policy Debate-Analysis. Eurasia Review (News and Analysis). http://www.eurasiareview.com/18052012-chinas-foreign-policy-debate-analysis/ Accessed: May 19, 2012.

Dela Cruz, A. (2008). Chinese Investments in the Philippines. China Business, Mla., Philippines.

Del Rosario, A. (2012). Remarks of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario on Philippine Foreign Affairs at the Joint Membership Meeting of the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines, Makati, Philippines.