Random Thoughts – Iqbal’s real name: Much ado about nothing

We are probably one of the most litigious countries in the world. Thousands, if not millions, of pesos are spent on legal cases over technical matters that would have been ironed out at the onset had the opposing parties chose to see eye to eye. Many of these cases went all to the way up to the Supreme Court where Einstein’s relativity theory vis-à-vis time is exemplified most vividly. Especially in rural and depressed places in the countryside, filing a case against one’s neighbor may be a source of pride and power. It sounds weird but that is probably one of the remaining potent weapons of the weak and the poor. After all, Lady Justice is blind and the Equal Protection Clause is enshrined in the Constitution.
We have insatiable penchant for technicalities and substantial components of the conflict get buried in the process. The excessively misplaced emphasis on Mohagher Iqbal’s real name is reflective of our litigious culture. Yes, some may argue over the possibility that the chief negotiator is not a Filipino but a Malaysian and that the government peace panel is presumably negotiating with a phantom. Senator Alan Cayetano is no better. If Iqbal is a Malaysian, he said, then the peace negotiation was technically an invasion. There is so much ado about nothing here actually.
Among revolutionaries and rebels, the use of nom de guerre is a standard practice, notwithstanding laws regulating the use of aliases. Even if that antiquated national law specifically criminalizes Iqbal’s use of an alias, it is inutile to expect Iqbal or any other revolutionaries and rebels to simply comply with such. The last thing any rebel or revolutionary will do is to kowtow to the laws and edicts of the Establishment that he desires to topple. Revolutionaries, in particular, are not deterred by penal laws. They wage their revolution precisely to overhaul the socio-political order, the same order that created those laws they deem repulsive. This explains why in many cases where acts committed are political in nature, criminal liabilities for illegal possession of weapons and murder, among others, are absorbed in certain crimes, like treason and subversion. All the more reason then for illegal use of aliases.
The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law offers to solve the age-old peace problem in Mindanao. The Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao is a failed socio-political experiment—no debate on that. The reasons are deeply permeated in the grassroots level garnished by the practice of political patronage from imperial Manila. The seemingly incessant graft and corrupt practices in the region are mere offshoots of the more basic problem. I am a Christian myself. My Ilongo forebears came to Mindanao in search of land and resources that earlier belonged to Muslims and lumad communities. The struggle for genuine autonomy in Muslim Mindanao is sovereignty-based, not a mere armed clamor for administrative reforms. Thanks to the Mamasapano Incident or Massacre—however one calls it—there was an outpouring of grief and anger that eventually resulted to popular calls for the scrapping of the proposed BBL.
Iqbal is a Filipino. He was born of Filipino parents in Maguindanao. He is not a Malaysian. He is probably more Filipino than many UP graduates who chose to work, live and die abroad, instead of sharing their intelligence and skills among the Filipino taxpayers who earlier sent them to college. He is probably more Filipino than the cohorts of Chinese smugglers and syndicates who flood the country with counterfeit items and poison-laden food products in the name of profit alone. He is probably more Filipino than many of us who chose to be mere individuals, instead of being citizens of this country. He, who waged war in the mountains away from the comfort of his family home, is probably more Filipino than these corrupt politicians and government functionaries dwelling in palatial homes paid for by stolen public funds.
Lest I be misconstrued, this is not in defense of Iqbal or any other revolutionaries who committed so many atrocities. This is a passionate commentary against our shortsighted approach towards the proposed BBL that holds the promise of helping us find that elusive peace in Mindanao. The Framework Agreement could have been signed by Aristotle, if he were to rise from the dead, or by the Devil himself. That does not matter anymore. Form, not substance.