“With the rise of violence in Zamboanga City, should the Philippine government still pursue the Bangsamoro framework agreement? Why or why not?”
“[I] think this crisis shows how the government and civil society groups should pursue the talks on creating a Bangsamoro entity. Steps must be taken to ensure that a modified Bangsamoro framework agreement is more inclusive of reasonable interests and concerns. Socio-economic inequality and pervasive marginalization contributes to violence; this crisis gives us all the more impetus to figure out how to make the Bangsamoro agreement fairer and more inclusive.”
Harvey Chua, President, The Ateneo Assembly
“Yes, I think they should push through with the Bangsamoro peace agreement. Abandoning the agreement would most probably lead the government to respond to the Zamboanga violence with other acts of violence, like sending in more troops. The only real solution to ending violence would be responding to the situation with an act of peace, which the agreement offers as a possibility. Even other international countries and organizations such as the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Japan, Thailand, Australia, UK, USA and more encourage the Bangsamoro peace agreement. [They] have high hopes for its success in our country.”
Cara Paguio (I BS CTM)
“Yes. At the heart of many of the issues is inclusion, which Bangsamoro aims to address. The solution isn’t to abandon entirely all hopes of instituting a system that will work, but to engage in better dialogue with all concerned to make sure that Bangsamoro truly does cater to the rationalities of everyone for whom it is intended.”
AJ Elicaño, Secretary-General, Sanggunian
“The ideal is still to promote peace, but when a group no longer promotes peace by endangering the welfare of others, then the state must act appropriately to defend its citizens.”
Nicolo Ludovice, Assistant Instructor, History Department
“At all cost, yes. I firmly believe that the best solution will still have much to do with diplomacy. All-out war is not an option. Instead, the government must pressure the Muslim leaders to reach an agreement. They must keep pushing for mutual agreements in order to keep the situation at a peace-making state. As of now, even the Muslim groups are divided. The Philippine government can only continue to reach a win-win situation with all fractions involved.”
Ethan Laud (I AB Dip IR)
“It depends on how they (Philippine government) want the people to see them. If they want to be seen as a government that tries to become reasonable and religious, then they would opt for the peace agreement. But if they want to end the conflict already and if it is a last resort or if they are willing to take the sacrifice of losing more lives, then they will just continue to oppose the rebels until no one is left. It is not as to what the people want to happen, but what the government wants to happen.”
Mendy Mariano (I BS MGT)
“Yes, because if the government decides to tighten their grasp on the regions covered by the Bangsamoro agreement in a purely military fashion, it would give more reason for those people (the rebels) to feel that they are being oppressed by the Philippine government, just as the Filipinos felt during the Marcos regime. The Bangsamoro peace agreement would give the people in Mindanao more freedom to govern themselves and would deter future insurgencies [regard this] matter.”
Carlo Pascual (II BS CS)
“I think the Philippine government shouldn’t pursue the peace agreement with the Bangsamoro, given [the rebels’] continuous bad blood with the government and the few times that they chose to disobey the government. Given the fact that the government has already given [the rebels] what they asked for, it is definitely hard to give them that second chance.”
Luke Anthony Santos (II AB MEC)
