CHA-CHA AGAIN?: Some really bad drivers refuse to admit that their vehicle stalls and gives a bumpy, lumpy ride because of their own ineptness. To solve the problem, they insist on buying another vehicle.

You guessed it – despite a spanking new car, the stubborn driver and his passengers still do not get a straight, smooth ride.

Now, what was that I heard that somebody wants to solve problems of bad governance by changing from the present presidential system to a new-fangled federal setup but allowing the same driver to cling on to the wheel?

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UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Malacanang just admitted that the Memorandum of Agreement signed (“initialed”) by the government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to lay the basis for a Bangsamoro state is unconstitutional.

By saying that the MoA and its implementing documents will require amending the 1987 Constitution, Malacanang says in effect that all those papers that the Supreme Court had been asked to examine do not conform to the Basic Charter.

There would be no need to amend the Constitution if the MoA and its implementing documents were already constitutional.

Unless, of course, somebody wants Charter Change for something else.

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BALKANIZATION: We have been saying that President Gloria Arroyo should level with the people and tell them exactly what is going on.

Filipinos should not go through the trauma of being presented one morning with the fait accompli of their nation, the only one they have, clumsily and criminally cut up into mutually hostile Balkan states.

Where do we begin explaining? With the urgency of the question, we can begin anywhere as long as we begin and keep at it.

We can begin, for instance, with the report of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) titled “Toward Peace in Southern Philippines.” Prepared by G. Eugene Martin and Astrid S. Tuminez,  the 24-page report is a summary and assessment of the USIP's Philippine Facilitation Project in 2003--2007.

(Access the USIP report – as well as the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement -- at my www.manilamail.com website.)

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STATE PROJECT: The US Department of State asked the USIP in 2003 to undertake a project to help expedite a peace agreement between the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). To do this, USIP launched the Philippine Facilitation Project (PFP).

Reading the report, one gets an idea of how a quasi-government organization operated among unsuspecting natives, massaging government officials and rebels alike – and influencing all sectors.

It was doing all that for the US Department of State. It is assumed that the USIP had local contacts and operatives who collaborated with it on the project.

The USIP said it built “productive relationships” with both the government and the MILF, helped them come up with solutions to issues of ancestral domain, and started dialogue among Moro ethnic groups.

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INFO DRIVE: The PFP’s approach included sharing lessons learned from other conflict areas around the world; training civil society leaders in conflict management; promoting interfaith dialogue and cooperation via the Bishops-Ulama Forum; supporting the training of Mindanao history teachers on teaching a historical narrative reflecting the Moro experience; and launching dialogue among young Moro leaders.

To improve press coverage, PFP held two workshops for media. It said it added marginally to more balanced coverage. It also conducted six workshops on conflict management, negotiation, and communication for Philippine military officers.

You may not have noticed it, but the USIP said it helped inform the public, and the elite in Manila in particular, of issues underlying the conflict, while suggesting means of resolving them. The USIP said it spent money for the publication of policy papers distributed to scholars, analysts, journalists, and policymakers.

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U.S. STANCE: Touching on US policy on Mindanao, the report said the State Department was not sure in 2003 of the MILF’s connections to terrorist elements and chose to have USIP take the lead in establishing contacts with it.

The institute said it had close relationships with the State Department, the embassy in Manila and the USAID in working on its assignment.

Elaborating, it said “State and the embassy encouraged the GRP to focus on the peace process; USAID undertook economic development assistance in Mindanao; and USIP worked with the GRP and MILF on substantive aspects of negotiation.

The embassy, it added, was also closely engaged in counterterrorism training and defense reform with the AFP and was thus linked to a highly visible American military presence in Mindanao.

The institute had greater flexibility to work with a wide range of actors “while in close touch with the embassy and State, had a degree of separation from official policy channels, was not identified with US military counterterrorism policies.”

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MILF FAVORED: The report said: “US official attitudes about dealing directly with the MILF changed over time.

“The GRP-MILF ceasefire had effectively held for four years, making MILF areas safer for travel. The MILF remained off the US list of foreign terrorist organizations, and its negotiations with the government continued.

“Embassy officials began meeting directly with MILF leaders. One embassy official noted that the formal peace process, which had been USIP’s focus, was not the most critical element of future stability in Mindanao.

“The embassy would increase its direct involvement, and USAID would expand its contacts with the MILF through the Bangsamoro Development Agency, working with the organization to plan future development activities.”

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