CBCS’s Humble Beginnings and the Long Road to Peace

Reading the golden pages of history would reveal how the Bangsamoro people had faced through time certain situations and entities that challenged their existence both as a people and as a nation. The Spanish, American, and Japanese invasions and the contentious inclusion of Bangsamoro homeland in the formation of the Philippine republic in 1946 are, to name a few, some concrete examples of these instances.

If one would look at these historical accounts and delve into the actors involved, the agenda behind, and the strategies employed, one could see that the present major conflicts and injustices that continue to inflict the Bangsamoro and the Mindanaoans in general are rooted in the past and multifaceted in nature.

To put it simple, before the coming of the colonizers the Bangsamoro people were living in peace; after they left all (including the non-Moros) were shattered. It is for this reason that the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society was formed in 2003.

The CBCS, faced with the challenge of picking up the pieces back again for the Bangsamoro people, struggled to invite Moro non-government and people’s organizations Mindanao-wide to join the network. However, like any other endeavors, it had never been easy for the CBCS at the outset, and there had been setbacks along the way.

Nevertheless the CBCS stood tall against all odds, and through its barely six years of existence as a network, it has already gone a long way in bringing together Bangsamoro civil society organizations.

The secret? Sustained cooperation, collaboration and coordination in facing the challenges of creating a peaceful environment towards the realization of human rights, justice and good governance, the CBCS central office and Regional Management Committees say.

Today, the CBCS already has 164 member-organizations, and still increasing. The CBCS has become a key influential actor in the pursuit of peace and development in the Bangsamoro homeland. Today also, there are existing or emerging issues and concerns that need special attention, the CBCS admits.

These include the RP-US Balikatan Exercises, mining issues and displacement of people, elections and electoral struggles in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 1996 GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement and the Tripartite Review, impasse in the GRP-MILF peace talks, national scandals and political crisis, massacres and arbitrary arrests, global anti-terrorism campaign, climate change, charter change, MNLF-MILF unity issue, proposed national ID system and the ID system in Sulu, presence of US forces, anti-insurgency program of the government, and “rido” (clan conflict) issues.

These realities are based on geographical, political, social and economic avarice and injustice; they are rooted on ignorance, discrimination and prejudice; and are results of decades of colonial hegemony, the CBCS says.

These need to be addressed peacefully or they can endanger social healing efforts in Mindanao; they can trigger renaissance of acrimony and distrust between the Bangsamoro people and the Settlers, the CBCS adds.

As for the entire Bangsamoro people? Disunited, indecisive, uninformed, and unvoiced out stance on these issues and concerns could open the room for multidimensional opportunism at the expense of the people and can cause apparent divide among ethno-linguistic groups and shattering of their right to self-determination, the CBCS admits.

Everything is still clear today for the CBCS, as it was at the onset. In the grand task of bridging the gaps and building the future, the CBCS has embraced the vision of being a network of Moro civil society organizations that is able to collectively assert its influence in helping transform social and structural changes in Muslim Mindanao; a network that is able to sustain working together to achieve peace, justice and human development in a context of plural society. It envisions a society governed by justice where all peoples are respected of their inalienable rights to exercise self-determination, co-exist harmoniously and live with prosperity and dignity.

The CBCS recognizes that the road to peace and development in the Bangsamoro homeland is long and winding. It might take many generations. Meantime, hopes and prayers must not be shattered; gaps must be filled for the future of the Bangsamoro people and the Mindanaoans as a whole. (www.cbcsi.org)