Radical road map
toward a Renaissance

By Noralyn Mustafa

INSPIRED by the road map drafted by the government of President George W. Bush toward peace for Palestine and Israel, imbued with the same optimism and motivated by the same yearning for peace and development in Southern Philippines, and bolstered by the prospect of millions of dollars to be "poured" into Mindanao (and Sulu), we called an emergency meeting of our loose group of critics, analysts, forecasters, and even doomsayers to discuss the implications of this confluence of events that, in our collective mind, is the most monumental development that could pave the way for nothing less than a renaissance in Southern Philippines.

But first, about the "loose group." Actually it is made up of only seven members, although we tried to make it a mystical 13, to approximate in membership, if not in the magnitude of ideas Napoleon Hill's "mastermind," which in turn was modeled after Christ's men who sup, but our own rules of exclusivity defeated that ideal.

Although we represent different callings (one is a priest), politicians, military officers and even government officials and employees can join our meetings only as invited guests. We have, in other words, assumed the role of the Fifth Column. And because we meet only on Saturdays, we call ourselves the Saturday Group.

Last Wednesday was the first time we met on a non-Saturday and I had to call or text each one and demolish their excuses with the prospect of my spaghetti with its corned beef sauce simmered to perfection, and watching the sun go down through the curtain of bougainvillea in my enchanted garden (the birds and the bees and the wind do most of the planting).

So they came, we discussed and by unanimous decision, recorded our ideas on paper and came up with our own "road map," which is necessarily premised on the fact that relative peace has been made possible with the total elimination of all lawless elements, the disarming of all warlords, and the confiscation of all loose firearms.

Otherwise, consider this proposal as just the workings of fevered minds grasping pieces of dreams, or pebbles thrown in a puddle that sink into nothing but endless rings.

Excerpts:

1. The Constitution should be changed so that a federal system of government can be established. This should make possible the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a state composed of the provinces that are geographically contiguous with evident historical and cultural commonalities: Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and the Zamboanga Peninsula. These are the provinces that composed the Sultanate of Sulu, and to complete this historical and logical configuration, Palawan must be returned to this grouping (remember Mindsupala?) and rectify the most scandalous case of land-grabbing in the latter part of this century when Ferdinand Marcos in 1980 (or was it 1981?), with one stroke of the pen committed the anomaly of transferring Palawan to Region IV.

2. Establish a naval base in the Sulu Archipelago. The provinces listed above have a naval tradition because the sultanate maintained naval forces of excellent seafarers composed of Tausug, Sama Tawi-Tawi, and Sama Balangingi. Considering our proximity to the rest of Southeast Asia, this is absolutely imperative.

3. Return the barter trade to Sulu; after all, the Tausugs invented it. Transferring this lucrative trade to Zamboanga City was another crime of the Marcos regime that resulted in the loss of livelihood of hundreds of Tausugs and the exodus of the rest. Since it is now no longer viable to have a barter retail trade in Jolo, convert it into a kind of freeport where all barter goods will be brought from the source and sold wholesale to barter trade dealers from Zamboanga City, who will be strictly prohibited from sailing to Sabah, etc., to directly purchase goods.

4. Ensure that basic services like water and electricity will be constant and adequate; and communication facilities should be at par with the rest of the country.

5. Establish processing plants for Sulu's main products: seaweed and other marine products, coconut, fruits and abaca, with appropriate technology for increased production.

6. Institute a long-term affirmative program for education on all levels, including faculty development: well-equipped schools, a special program that will allow more high school graduates to qualify for enrollment in the University of the Philippines system and state universities in the national capital region. Upon the implementation of this road map, the faculty of all state universities and colleges in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi especially, should all be sent for further studies. They will be replaced by fresh graduates of UP in what may be the educational equivalent of the "doctors to the barrios" program.

7. Improve the Jolo seaport to accommodate inter-island vessels like before, and finish the unfinished airport as well as the unfinished circumferential road.

8. Upgrade Sulu's only government-owned hospital with top-of-the-line equipment, with a competitive salary range for its personnel to keep the more competent ones from seeking employment elsewhere. In the present situation, doctors and nurses, aside from their training, must have a masochistic complex to be able to work there.

9. Design an intensive tourism campaign that will target both the domestic and international markets.

And so this is our road map for whatever it is worth.

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