Conclusion
COLOR mode refers to the change in a hue when another color is added to it. Tints result when white is added to a color, shades when black is put in, and tones when gray is incorporated. If an issue could be taken as a color, there were two specific issues that were tackled in the Pakighinabi from which tones, shades and tints could be derived. These were the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (Carhrihl), and the Lumad. The focus on Carhrihl during the Pakighinabi could not be helped, after all it was one of the four substantive issues in the peace talks as mentioned by incoming Anakpawis party list Rep. Ariel Casilao, and the first major agreement signed by the GPH and NDFP. The fact that no joint investigation occurred on the 6,397 cases of Carhrihl violations filed with the Joint Monitoring Committee was definitely a shade. A bright spot, or tint, to Carhrihl was its use by women in conflict-affected areas to assert their rights as reported by panelist Bai Ali Indayla of Gabriela Women’s Party. And if the offer mentioned by panelist Dr. Gail Ilagan for the local Bantay Bayanihan to serve as the civilian oversight of the NPA units in Davao City could not be taken as a tint, at the very least let it be a tone. Bantay Bayanihan is a civil society-led initiative on providing oversight to the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), particularly the implementation of the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan. There were definitely shades in the Lumad narratives raised during the Pakighinabi. Timuway Jimid mentioned that many Lumad were victims of Martial Law, counter-insurgency and extractive industries like mining, and that it is unfortunate that they were lumped under “other indigenous peoples” in item 10 of the NDFP 12-point program. But what I could not immediately decipher in the Pakighinabi was the loud laughter that punctuated the remarks of Timuway Jimid such as when he said that the Lumad were “non-existing,” and reiterated the Lumad assertion that they “are the owners of the house, bisita lang kayo.” I would like to think that the loud laughter during the Pakighinabi was not a shade—that is, that the audience found the stories humorous, or approved of the suffering of the Lumad — but more of a tone, the gray that is the embarrassed laughter of people who felt uncomfortable with the situation of the Lumad and did not know how to express their discomfort. Or perhaps it could have even been a tint in that it was the laughter of people who understood the irony in Timuway Jimid’s remarks, and an expression of their support for the critique articulated by the ironic statements. Because regardless of where one stood with respect to the GPH-NDFP peace talks, there is nothing humorous about the situation of the Lumad. Perhaps another tint in the Lumad hue was Ka Fidel’s information that the NDFP has an IP organization among its affiliates. Hopefully, this IP organization would lead continuing conversations that would get past the controversial view imputed to an NDFP leader that IPs are but a transitory stage in development. I had hoped to close the synthesis of the June 8 Pakighinabi by referring to Timuway Jimid’s statement that left wing and right wing did not matter to the Lumad because a bird could not fly without them. But that would be a case of endorsing a binary after I had argued for multiple colors. Then I thought of using the rainbow as a device, but that might not sit well with the LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual) community who held the first Davao city-wide Pride March last June 1. Perhaps the sapin-sapin, the Filipino rice cake, would be a better image because it is local and has different colors. But the sapin-sapin layers that sit on top of another somehow evoke relationships of power and division. In the end, I would like to offer the image of the cathedral window jelly, a dessert that features colorful gelatin cubes interspersed and embedded in a creamy mold, and which is said to be uniquely Filipino. The creamy gelatin mold enables each colored jelly to come out, and serves as a binder that unites the different colors as one dish. Best of all, the cathedral window jelly could be shared and enjoyed by, and thus nourish and benefit many. This image and experience seem apropos for what the different stakeholders present in the June 8 Pakighinabi are seeking to achieve for the Philippines of the coming days through the GPH-NDFP peace process. (Mags Z. Maglana is a Mindanawon who has worked in various capacities over the past 30 years for peace, good governance, sustainable development, and the promotion of human rights. E-mail: magszmaglana@gmail.com)
