9 April 2009

North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Pinol continued his lashing at former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the form of pointers on how he will conduct his task in Mindanao once a formal arrangement will be made with the Philippine government on his role in the GRP-MILF peace process.

Cited in the column of Recah Trinidad in the March 31, 2009 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pinol offered the following pointers to Mr. Blair, which political observers considered as an insult and affront to the British leader, who is respected worldwide:

1. He must work on the deep-seated biases and prejudices between the Christians and the Muslims in the South. We’ve tried this by offering scholarships to our Muslim, Christian and tribal children knowing that education is the key to understanding. We also started a program called “Children of Peace” which hopes to develop bright Muslim, Christian and tribal children of today to be tolerant leaders of the province in the future.

2. He must make sure that the political apparatus established during the MNLF-GRP Peace Agreement of 1996 works and serves the people of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to be able to support the idea that the Muslims of the South, given their own breathing space, will be able to provide their people a better life.

3. He must be able to stop corruption in the ARMM, where billions of pesos in special assistance funds and the local government’s share from the Internal Revenue Allocation end up either in the pockets of some officials or in the vaults of the casinos in the nearby cities.

4. He must be able to provide justice to the victims of the conflict, both Muslims and Christians so these people will put their trust and confidence back in government and the justice system.. Perhaps, he should look at the case of four Muslim farmers murdered by the former mayor of Banisilan, who now roams free as a bird after the Secretary of Justice ruled that the killings were done in self-defense.

5. He should be able to bring Umbra Kato and his ilk to justice, including those who have killed hundreds in the many bombing incidents perpetrated by the rebels in civilian populated areas.

6. Most of all, Mr. Blair must understand that the piece of paper that our government and the MILF would like to sign, called the peace agreement, would be worthless if poverty, deprivation, the lack of opportunities and hopelessness envelope our people in the Southern Philippines.

The column also quoted Pinol saying: “Should Mr. Blair be able to do this (added to his charisma and charm), “we will have true and lasting peace in the South.”

Pinol described the effort of the Arroyo government in seeking the help of Blair in the Mindanao conflict as a “circus”.

Responding to this, Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF committee on information, described Pinol’s so-called pointers as nothing but package of insults sealed with arrogance and pretension.

“Why can the Arroyo administration allow a mere vice governor to insult a respected foreign guest and friend, who is world renown and who wants to share his experience in conflict resolution? It is time to go for Arroyo for serious lack of leadership, otherwise, Pinol would be called to Malacanang to explain,” Musa said.