Now that the new rounds of Peace Talks between the GPH and th MILF are about to wind up in a foreign country, may I again ask the following questions: 1. Have they considered Mindanao and Sulu as distinct and separate Sultanates which were joined by the Americans as one military district and called it the Moroland and later on the Moro Province? 2. Have they considered the undeniable historical fact that these two Sultanates were not conquered by the Spanish Crown and therefore, were her colonial possessions; were not parts of the Spanish colonial government of the Philippines? Were not parts of the First Philippine Republic established by Gen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo? 3. Have they considered the well-established historical fact that these two sultanates were sold and ceded by Spain to the United States under Article III of the December 10, 1898 Treaty of Paris without the knowledge an express consent of their respective reigning sultans, legislatures, and adherents? 4. Have they considered the fact that because of this irregular sale and cession by Spain to the United States, these two sultanates became a territorial possession of the United States and eventually incorporated by the framers of the 1935 Constitution as part of the national territory of the Philippine Republic which was finally granted self-government on July 4, 1946 pursuant to the provision of the Tydings-McDuffie Law enacted by the American Congress despite the two petitions of the Muslim leaders in Mindanao and Sulu collectively expressing opposition to such incorporation for they preferred to remain under the American Flag? 5. Have they considered the fact that the root-cause of the Mindanao Crisis is the illegal sale and cession of these two sultanates by Spain to the United States under Article III of the December 10, 1898 Treaty of Paris? If these questions were thoroughly addressed and resolved by our Peace Panels, then we have very good reason to hope that the final Peace Deal between the GPH and the MILF will finally bear the desired fruits of all our peace efforts.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 02:09:13 +0000
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