My heart breaks while watching the news about what is happening now in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). And my thoughts take me back to June 2013 when I helped facilitate a workshop on Bangsamoro Political Party Building at the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute in Cotabato City.
Yes, as early as 2013, even before the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was signed (it was signed in 2014), the MILF was already preparing to form a political party that will participate in the envisioned parliamentary elections. In fact, the name United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) was inspired by that workshop. That’s how serious they were to transition from an armed struggle to a parliamentary struggle.
There were 25 workshop participants from the MILF, mostly base commanders, led by MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal. In his opening remarks, Chair Iqbal shared the journey of the MILF from a “period of armed conflict” (1972-1997) to the peace process, which began in 1997. He noted then that the MILF “now subscribes to the supremacy of the peace process.”
During that period he described as “the last stages of negotiations,” MILF was in the process of deciding whether to transform itself into a political party or into a social movement with a separate political party in anticipation of the elections for the new Bangsamoro government.
Chair Iqbal emphasized, though, that even as they are open to learn about various political parties and electoral strategies, the MILF must “find our own correct formula.”
I remember the thoughtful discussions from that workshop where the participants noted that political parties in the region started “good and strong” but were later eaten by the system (“nilamon ng sistema”) so they saw it as a priority to change the current system. However, they also noted that changing the rules of the game in the Philippines entails constitutional change, which may take a long time to happen.
MILF reflected that it needed to win first to be taken seriously so it can effectively change the rules. But in the current political landscape, it also needed to learn how to effectively build coalitions without being co-opted by traditional politicians. And MILF recognizes that, sadly, there is no genuine autonomy in the region as politics is still dominated and controlled by the national government.
When we talked about their training needs related to building a political party, one thing stood out to me — “handling of contradictions.” That it came out as a training need implied how the MILF was entering this new phase of political battle completely grounded and with eyes wide open. They knew it could happen to them — co-optation and manipulation — within a terrain that is unfamiliar to them.
Learning to handle contradictions means you do not pretend that the tension does not exist. It means learning to “walk with a limp” — to move forward even through you are carrying two opposing truths at the same time.
One contradiction is between speed and legitimacy. The armed struggle logic is the system is evil so no more waiting, change must happen now. The parliamentary logic is it takes time to make reforms within the system and change takes votes, committees, and compromises. You wait years for one small law. Handling both might be taking what you can get now while pushing for more.
Another contradiction is between purity and alliance. The armed struggle logic is we do not negotiate with oppressors. Our side is right and their side is wrong. The parliamentary logic is to pass an anti-political dynasty bill, you need votes from people you despise — corrupt centrists, old regime leftovers, even former enemies. Handling both may mean never trusting them but needing their votes now.
And there is the contradiction between transparency and strategy. The armed struggle logic is we are the righteous, we hide nothing from our people. The parliamentary logic is sometimes you cannot say everything publicly because it will be used against you. So sometimes you negotiate behind close doors. Handling both could be learning the difference between secrecy for survival (acceptable) versus secrecy for privilege (corruption).
Then there is contradiction between memory and moving on. The armed struggle logic is never forget the martyrs, never forgive the crimes. The parliamentary logic is you have to work with people who once shot at you. You have to accept amnesty laws. You have to “move forward.” Handling both may be not forgetting what they did, but not letting revenge destroy the peace you built.
The armed struggle teaches you a binary worldview: us versus them; good versus evil; fight or die. That clarity is what keeps fighters alive in the jungle. It is beautiful in its simplicity.
But governance is gray. It is messy. Governance demands that you wake up every morning with a knot in your stomach because you are making deals with people you once swore to kill.
Many revolutionaries break when faced with these contradictions in governance. They either become rigid purists who refuse to compromise, then lose all power and achieve nothing or become cynical sellouts who abandon every principle, then become indistinguishable from the old elite.
Learning to handle contradictions is the third path. It is not comfortable. It is not heroic in the movie sense. But it is how you actually accomplish something without losing your soul.
A former rebel commander once told me: “In the mountains, my enemy was the soldier with the rifle. Now my enemy is the bureaucrat who delays the budget for three years. That’s not simple. But if I scream at him, I get nothing. If I learn his system, I might win. I hate learning his system. But I hate poverty more.” That is how he handled contradiction. Holding his disgust and his pragmatism in the same hand.
This means accepting that you will never feel fully clean again. You will always have one foot in the mud of compromise and one foot reaching for the stars of your original dream.
They say the pure never win. And the corrupt never should. The ones who endure are the ones who learn to hold their principles with open hands, walk through the gray without losing their way, and stay loyal to the dream without becoming a slave to the compromise.
Let us hope and pray that it is not yet too late for the MILF to “find our correct formula,” as Chair Iqbal said back in 2013.
