Renato Constantino, a Filipino historian and writer well known for his Filipino nationalist interpretation of history, had this to say: “The Muslim South became a beleaguered fortress, a sizeable segment of indigenous society that tenaciously resisted Hispanization and colonization. Because of its consequent isolation, it was able to preserve its indigenous customs and culture as well as to continue to receive Muslim influences. Throughout the Spanish occupation, the Muslims were not considered part of the developing society and the Muslim region was treated as foreign territory.” (“A Past Revisited”, Renato Constantino, 1975). –TC Com Robert Maulana Marohombsar Alonto Two historical documents to countercheck on this; to be able to rationalize such a statement by Historian Renato Constantino: The Treaty of Paris in 1898 and the 1899 Bates Treaty. The Treaty of Paris in 1898 which was as we know to have been the agreement between Spain and the United States to have effectively ended the Spanish-American war. No Filipino participation in any of this talks neither to suggest Filipinos were in consultation or consulted, neither are there representations in attendance signify ‘existence’ as Filipino entities justify as being part or parcel to the treaty or in the crafting of the treaty documentation itself. The Bates Agreement on the other was crafted and participated in by the Moro Mohammedan people as represented by their elder, the Sultan of Sulu and US Gen John C Bates in 1899, just a year of the Paris treaty in 1898, then Gen Bates a duly authorized representative of the United States. The crafting and validation of the Bates Agreement was given credence and emphasis in a speech delivered by US Congressman Robert Bacon addressing the US House of Representatives in May 6, 1926. The Montevideo protocol was participated in by the United States and was a signatory in 1933 two years ahead of the 1935 Philippine Constitution. Therefore, to include Mindanao Sulu and Palawan, the territory recognized by the United States as belonging to the Moro people enshrined in the Bates Agreement would have been a violation of the US Constitution depriving the Bates Agreement and the Moro people of the referendum vote as required for by the Montevideo protocol of which the United States was signatory. Outside of the enumerated legal arguments are serious violations of existing UN laws on War Crimes on the Jabidah incident in 1968 and many other massacre incidents from then on to also include the Maguindanao massacre incident in Nov 2009 clearly a criminal behavior by the Philippine government transgressing on international laws. Given this premise, the burden should lie on the side of the GPH hurry up the peace process or face the consequence of such follies that definitely is never the unmaking of the Bangsamoro people.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 01:20:41 +0000
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