EDITORIAL – Peace be with us

HAIL to the peace that will soon come! This seems to be the shout of hope and jubilation of Filipinos, especially those who call  Mindanao their home, in reaction to news that the negotiators of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have at long last decided that it is time to sign a framework agreement on a Bangsamoro homeland. The breakthrough preliminary document, 13 pages in all, will give way to the signing of a formal peace deal days from now, after a transition commission shall have fine-tuned its provisions.
The urgent task now concomitant with fine-tuning is a serious open scrutiny of the document which directly affects 4.17 million people in the proposed Bangsamoro. This represents 4.5 percent of the country’s 2010 population, living in four provinces, two cities, 113 towns and 2,470 barangays.
Most people, who appear to be  pleasantly surprised by the turn of events, cannot seem to imagine that anything could still derail the peace process at it stands today, bordering on denial stage.
Really, peace advocates, Christian and Muslim leaders, soldiers, and even former spoilers are euphoric over this positive development. As a result, there is now a conscious drive for a stronger constituency for peace, another term for increased the number of Filipinos genuinely concerned with the attainment of peace.
We need such a constituency, not only for the GPH-MILF talks, but also for the negotiation between the government and the  New People’s Army-Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front. This one would affect not only the people of Mindanao, but more importantly the entire country. So be it.