peace process in mindanao essay

Peacebuilding from the grassroots: Resolving conflicts in Mindanao

Written by Julius Cesar Trajano .

Image credit: Mindanao Street Scene by Gary Todd /Flickr; Licence: CC0 1.0 DEED

The peace process between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was hailed as a significant step towards ending four decades of armed conflict in Mindanao, southern Philippines. In 2018, the Philippine Congress ratified the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which aims to carve a self-ruled region for Muslims in Mindanao. In January 2019, a majority of the people of the Muslim provinces in Mindanao voted in the plebiscite for their communities to be included in the new autonomous region called the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

However, the Mindanao peace process should not end just because a peace agreement has been signed or a new autonomous region has been ratified by the people of Mindanao. Despite the progress that has been seen in relation to this peace process, significant challenges to the goal of inclusive peace and development in Muslim Mindanao remain. The presence of other rebel groups advocating for separatism, as well as violent extremist groups and warring political clans, all pose significant threats to peacebuilding in Mindanao.

The Mindanao peace process is a clear case study of the importance of bottom-up approaches to peacebuilding. This is a good time to explore comprehensively this bottom-up peacebuilding approach, which is being driven primarily by the vulnerable communities themselves.

In the context of conflict resolution in the southern Philippines, grassroots-based, bottom-up processes and initiatives are being generated to protect the peace process. This article examines three major contributions of local organisations and actors to the Mindanao peacebuilding process in recent years. These are: (1) countering violent extremism; (2) articulating women’s voices in the peace process; and (3) resolving local conflicts and ‘ rido ’ (clan wars).

Countering violent extremism

There is a new facet in the decades-old armed conflict in Muslim Mindanao: the emergence of violent extremist ideology that has been inspired by the rise of Islamic State (ISIS ) in the Middle East. In 2017, a large group of ISIS-inspired militants attacked and occupied for five months the City of Marawi, a Muslim-majority city in Mindanao. The militants were members of the extremist groups Abu Sayyaf and Maute that had declared allegiance to ISIS.

Experts have attributed the rise of pro-ISIS extremist groups in recent years partly to the delay in implementing the peace agreements agreed with the main Moro rebel movements – i.e. the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) – as well as the refusal of other armed groups to participate in the peace process. Prior to the successful establishment of the BARMM under the governance of the MILF, the uncertain prospects for implementation of the peace agreements in the past created opportunities for violent extremist groups to discredit the peace process and gain popularity among marginalised sections of Filipino Muslims and also to recruit Moro youth.

Several organisations have started conducting activities to counter pro-ISIS violent extremism in Muslim Mindanao. One such organisation is the Institute for Autonomy and Government (IAG), a public-policy centre based in Mindanao which provides research, capacity-building training and technical assistance in order to advance meaningful autonomy and governance in Mindanao.

In 2017 the IAG conducted a research project to investigate the vulnerability of Muslim youth to radicalisation and recruitment by violent extremist groups in Mindanao. The IAG report offers policy recommendations to counter violent extremism. One such recommendation is for the Philippine government to adopt a comprehensive policy framework to counter extremism that can guide national and local government units in crafting long-term programmes for its prevention.

Local religious leaders also play an important role in countering violent extremism. During the Marawi crisis, there was a strong focus on their role and how they could counter the narrative of the pro-ISIS Maute group. Established in 1996, the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) is a key institution for advancing the peace process in Mindanao. BUC is composed of Catholic bishops, Muslim ulama and Protestant bishop-pastors in Mindanao who collectively envision a society where different religious communities can live together peacefully and harmoniously.

At the height of the Marawi conflict, BUC convened the Multi-Sectoral Peace Conference in Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao in July 2017. The Conference gathered together religious leaders from Mindanao, military officials, local government officials and NGOs. Together, the BUC and its dialogue partners strongly recommended the introduction of peace education with Islamic concepts as an antidote to extremism.

Articulating women’s voices

Women’s NGOs also contribute to the Mindanao peace process beyond the formal peace talks. Educating the public on Bangsamoro history is one of their contributions. Moro women and peace advocates have cited the significance of educating both the Bangsamoro and Filipino people on Bangsamoro history in order to gain nationwide support for the success of the peace process.

One important movement that conducts peace education is the Women’s Organisation Movement in the Bangsamoro (WOMB), a consortium of Bangsamoro women’s organisations mostly engaged in peace advocacy work. WOMB regularly organises advocacy training workshops in a bid to provide peace advocates and women’s organisations with appropriate strategies in policy advocacy towards realising Bangsamoro autonomy.

Another contribution of women’s organisations to the peace process is assisting war evacuees. Most recently, at the height of the Marawi conflict in 2017, a Marawi-based NGO composed of Muslim women called the Al-Mujadilah Development Foundation was at the forefront of providing life-saving aid to an estimated 220,000 civilians affected by the conflict in the city. Its aid workers explained that women and children affected by the conflict were more vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence, even in evacuation centres. Thus, women aid volunteers and workers need to be on the frontline of providing humanitarian relief, given that they understand women’s needs best of all.

Resolving local conflicts and rido

Community-based mediation is another important process outside the formal peace talks. This is primarily driven by the prevalence of local conflicts such as rido in Muslim Mindanao. Rido, or clan wars, have further complicated the delicate security situation in Muslim Mindanao. Rido is the state of recurring hostilities among families and clans, involving retaliatory acts of armed conflict triggered by an affront or disgrace to the honour of a family or its members. As of 2017, most of the 235 unresolved rido cases were due to land ownership issues and local politics.

In this regard, resolving local rido cases and the associated armed violence must be considered as another peace process which complements the broader Mindanao peace process. Several NGOs are conducting community-based mediation to resolve rido . One such organisation is Tumikang Sama Sama (TSS), which means ‘Together We Move Forward’ in the Tausug language of Sulu Province. TSS is now a large independent organisation of well-respected community mediators who seek to address the security challenges in Sulu Province arising from rido . Between 2010 and 2014, TSS handled 82 rido cases and helped formally settle 48 such cases in conflict-ridden Sulu. TSS uses a combination of formal legal mechanisms and indigenous cultural traditions to achieve results.

As demonstrated in this article, there are several significant issues such as clan wars and an increase in extremist ideology that are not directly addressed by the top-down peace process or by the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Grassroots actors can contribute to mitigating and resolving these issues that may otherwise threaten the sustainability of the overall peace process.

Julius Cesar Trajano is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The author bears full responsibility for the facts cited and opinions expressed in this article.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Farmers have died waiting: Malacañang reviews DAR’s flip flop on conversion of irrigated farmland

Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

The Tripoli Agreement of 1976: Lessons, impact on the Mindanao peace process

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)

A FORTNIGHT AGO on July 27, 2018, President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that was finalized by the Senate and the House of Representatives bicameral conference committee, and which enrolled some amendments to the draft submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Committee. A ceremonial signing event was held on Aug. 6, 2018. But the seminal document covering the peace process in Mindanao, The Tripoli Agreement, was signed in 1976, or over two generations ago. This guest article offers the backstory of negotiations for peace and development in Southern Philippines.

ALMOST 42 years ago, an important document signed in Tripoli, Libya became a benchmark in the history of the Mindanao peace process. On 23 December 1976, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) signed the Tripoli Agreement, which created the first autonomous region in the southern Philippines.

More than just providing for the first autonomous region in Mindanao, the Tripoli Agreement symbolized the highly indefinite, open-ended and circuitous nature of the Mindanao peace process. The agreement also signalled the beginning of the internationalisation of intrastate conflict resolution in the Philippines, a departure from the so-called ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) convention of non-interference into member states’ internal conflicts. The new strategy involved the facilitation and mediation of international bodies like the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the good offices of a foreign government—that of Libya.

As the very first peace accord signed between the Philippine government and a Moro rebel group, the Tripoli Agreement was only a small step, but it was hoped it would be an important step in the right direction—towards lasting peace in the Bangsamoro, then in all of Mindanao and eventually in the entire country. Unfortunately, the accord started what became a protracted peace process on the wrong foot, and for the wrong reasons.

Considered one of the world’s longest-running internal conflicts, the armed hostilities in the southern Philippines involved the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and different iterations of Moro rebel groups, starting with the MNLF, which was created in the early 1970s.

After the signing of the Tripoli Agreement, some of the founding members of the MNLF, such as Ustadz Salamat Hashim, decided to form their own group. Part of the MNLF delegation present in Tripoli For the signing of the agreement in December 1976, Ustadz Hashim led the MILF from its founding years until his death in 2001.

A pyrrhic victory

As signing an agreement with the MNLF at the urging of a global power like the OIC was no small concession for Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the agreement was considered a pyrrhic victory for the MNLF and a breakthrough for peace. However, it provided only false hopes to Philippine peace constituencies and did not fulfil its promise.

By 1977, a breakaway faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), announced their existence and launched offensives against Philippine government forces. The MILF claimed to be more moderate than the MNLF, stating that their struggle was aimed at attaining ‘genuine autonomy within the sovereignty of the Philippines’. In contrast, the MNLF’s battle cry demanded independence from the Philippine state.

As noted earlier, the Tripoli Agreement was a benchmark in the long history of the Mindanao peace process. For one, it firmed up the MNLFs’ position of belligerence vis-à-vis the Philippine government. This distinctive position came with the added bonus of the MNLF’s being accorded observer status in the meetings of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a status that continues to the present day. For another, the Tripoli Agreement was evidence of the Philippine government’s acquiescence to a geopolitical game changer—the increasing political power of certain OIC countries, almost all of which were awash in black gold or oil.

It is widely known that President Marcos decided to seek Libya’s intercession after he learnt of the dwindling oil and fuel reserves in the Philippines at that time. Then and now, the country has been dependent on the Middle Eastern oil-rich member countries of the OIC for its oil supply. The OIC, which saw how Muslims were suffering during Marcos’ martial law, had earlier threatened an oil embargo on the Philippines should the latter refuse to start peace talks with the MNLF.

Wily strategist

President Marcos consented to sign a ‘peace agreement’ with the MNLF under the aegis of the Libyan government, then headed by Muammar Qaddafi. After a series of meetings with Philippine government representatives, led by no less than the First Lady at that time, Imelda Marcos, Qaddafi facilitated the signing of the Tripoli Agreement in 1976.

However, wily strategist that he was, President Marcos found the means to hoodwink the MNLF into signing an agreement filled with provisions that lacked clarity in terms of future implementation, for example, mantra-like phrases such as ‘to be discussed later’, ‘to be fixed later’ or ‘to be determined later’. Eleven of the agreement’s nineteen provisions ended with either ‘to be discussed later’ or ‘to be fixed or determined later’.

For instance, the provision on the integration or ‘joining’ of MNLF forces to the Philippine military was to be ‘discussed later’. This specific provision started with a statement that defense and national security were the concern of the national or central government. This was a devious way of seemingly consenting to the demands of the other party to share in the powers of maintaining national security, but without operationalizing the granting of authority since the ‘joining’ of the MNLF to the Philippine military forces was to be ‘discussed later’. Opportunities for ‘later’ discussion of MNLF integration were not made available until after the signing of the Final Peace Agreement in September 1996.

Interminable wait

The sad consequences of the vague wording were that the ‘fixing’ or ‘later discussion’ stretched to an almost indeterminable time, spanning more than three decades and three presidential terms (1976 to 1996). And nothing was really ever fixed, even after former president Fidel V. Ramos initiated the peace process that led to the signing of the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the MNLF on 2 September 1996.

However, nothing was ‘final’ in the Final Peace Agreement. The guns of the MNLF may have been silenced, but a few hours after the FPA signing, the MILF launched its first major offensives in various areas of Mindanao where they enjoyed substantial support. These offensives signalled the need for a further peace process to be considered by the government, this time with a ‘new’ player—the MILF. To make matters worse, the series of retaliatory actions by the Philippine government in response to the MILF offensives created a distraction or detour that impeded the implementation of the full provisions of the FPA.

Incremental gains

After more than 17 years of painstaking negotiations with the Philippine government (1996–2013), the MILF seemed to have succeeded in forging several peace accords, including a new Tripoli Agreement signed in 2006. All the accords that provided incremental gains for the MILF can be subsumed within two major agreements: the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), signed in 2012, and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), signed two years later in 2014. The CAB incorporated all the unimplemented provisions in previous agreements, including those in the FPA and the original Tripoli Agreement.

The CAB provided for the creation of a body that was to formulate the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which was in keeping with the substantial provisions of the CAB, the result of bilateral efforts between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF peace panels.

A CAB-compliant BBL was supposed to be approved in the Philippine Congress in mid-2015, but the infamous Mamasapano tragedy, a serious and bloody distraction, occurred on 25 January 2015. Forty-four members of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and twenty-four individuals, including women and children, lost their lives during the execution of Oplan Exodus, a PNP operation against suspected Malaysian terrorist Zulkiflin bin Hir (aka Marwan) and his close aide, Basit Usman. Marwan had earlier embedded himself among the Maguindanawon communities in a remote barangay of Mamasapano town, allegedly teaching local terrorist groups how to manufacture improvised explosives.

The marshland part of the town is popularly known as a ‘hotbed’ of various armed groups, including the MILF, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (a breakaway faction of the MILF), guns for hire and other lawless elements. The SAF elements reportedly carried out Oplan Exodus without coordinating properly with the Joint Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH), created after the signing of several peace accords between the GPG and the MILF. The JCCCH is one of several peacekeeping bodies composed of elements from both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the MILF to ensure that the terms of the peace accords are kept and hostilities are avoided while peace talks are going on.

Mamasapano tragedy

It was early dawn of 25 January 2015 when fully armed SAF swooped down on shanties in the area, believed to be where Marwan was sleeping. The PNP reported the operation as a ‘partial’ success: they killed Marwan, but Basit Usman escaped. But they paid a heavy price for their limited success in the death toll: 44 members of SAF and 25 civilians. The PNP, however, reported a different profile of the dead: 44 SAF, 18 MILF and five civilians. It was also believed that some MILF fired at the SAF causing their deaths.

After the tragic incident, the members of a predominantly Catholic House of Representatives renounced their previous statement of support for the first version of the CAB-compliant BBL. Consequently, almost all members of both the lower chamber (House of Representatives) and the upper chamber (Senate) condemned the incident, placing the blame on the MILF for the deaths of the 68 individuals.

With the assumption to office of the current Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, several peace advocates had high hopes that the CAB-compliant BBL, temporarily shelved after Mamasapano and the exit of former president Benigno S. Aquino III, would be enacted. Duterte, who is from Mindanao, had promised prior to his election that he would address the ‘historical injustices’ against the Bangsamoro by expediting the passage of the BBL.

Towards the last quarter of 2016, President Duterte created another Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) to draft a new version of the BBL that would get the nod of the two legislative houses. The new BTC was inclusive of both the MNLF and MILF as well as representatives of government and the indigenous peoples.

Carpet-bombed Marawi

A new BBL version was ready to be submitted when another distraction happened: the Marawi siege, which began on 23 May 2017. People’s optimism was again transformed into pessimism and despair.

For five months, a major part of the city of Marawi was ‘carpet bombed’ (President Duterte’s description of the air strikes) on a daily basis, almost destroying the city’s infrastructure. The strikes were in retaliation for the offensive launched by a ragtag group of ‘terrorists’ called the Maute Group, believed to be supporting the internationally feared terror group ISIS. In support of the massive and aggressive military action against the Maute, President Duterte also declared martial law in Mindanao, a situation that eerily harked back to the dark days of Marcos’ martial law in the 1970s.

Despite a series of lobbying efforts and some community-based consultations, the new BBL version garnered very little support from legislators. Both houses of Congress mangled the BTC version and further undermined the intent of granting genuine autonomy to the Bangsamoro—the main reason for all the previous agreements, especially the Tripoli Agreement.

Lessons from history

The fate of the new BBL version now hangs like the proverbial sword of Damocles in the hands of a bicameral committee tasked with reconciling the conflicting upper and lower house versions of the BBL. Peace advocates see only a tiny ray of hope in the members of this Congressional committee, many of whom are known to hold deep prejudices against the Bangsamoro.

More than four decades after the signing of the Tripoli Agreement in 1976, with all the twists and turns in the longstanding Mindanao peace process, there seems to be no hope in sight that the armed struggle of the Moro rebel groups will yield substantial gains in the Bangsamoro’s quest for self-determination.

Would the present peace process and the passage of a truly CAB-compliant BBL have succeeded if the circumstances surrounding the signing of the first Tripoli Agreement had been ‘proper’? Would the present context of the peace process have changed if the Tripoli Agreement had had a rational grounding, i.e. an understanding that it was time to address the long years of historical injustice and the legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people rather than buttress the political interests of a dictatorship?

Such rhetorical questions lead us to a future that will recycle the lessons of history that have never been learnt.

* Rufa Cagoco-Guiam is a retired sociology professor at the Mindanao State University – General Santos city. This essay was commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation and first published for the exhibition ‘A Tripoli Agreement’ (July 14 – September 1, 2018) curated by Renan Laru-an.

Staying the course on the Mindanao peace process

Axel van trotsenburg.

World Bank Senior Managing Director

Join the Conversation

• Share on mail
• comments added

Interview: the Struggle for Peace in Mindanao, the Philippines

The southern Philippines has known a long history of armed conflict. Among those regions is Mindanao, where in February 2019 the Bangsamoro people voted to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). This law is a big leap towards peace in the Southern Philippines. To understand why this is such a big leap for peace we interviewed Marc Batac, who is the Regional Programme Coordinator at our member organisation Initiatives for International Dialogue  (IID) in the Philippines. IID has been involved in the peace process in Mindanao for almost twenty years.

To give us an overview of the conflict in Mindanao: how did the conflict come about, what are the root causes, who are the main actors and what is it about?

The root cause of armed conflict in Mindanao can be found in the narrative of Mindanao peoples’ continuing struggle for their right to self-determination. A struggle that involves an assertion of their identity and demand for meaningful governance in the face of the national government’s failure to realise genuine social progress and peace and development in the southern Philippines. The struggle is also a response to “historical injustices” and grave human rights violations committed against the peoples of Mindanao.

With the clamor to correct these historical injustices and to recognise their inherent right to chart their own political and cultural path, the Bangsamoro people – together with their non-Moro allies – have struggled to get their calls heard and acted upon by the central government.

A huge number of the victims of the conflict in Mindanao have been ordinary civilians: women and men, young and old who were either displaced from their communities or killed in the crossfire by bullets and bombs that recognize no gender, religion, creed or stature.

There are two opposing views when it comes to the armed struggle in the Bangsamoro region: While the central government had earlier viewed the armed struggle as an act of rebellion against the state, the other party has always claimed it as a legitimate exercise of their right to self-determination.

Over the years, the State has come to recognise the Bangsamoro and Indigenous Peoples struggle for just and lasting peace in Mindanao, albeit always within the framework of the country’s constitution.

A huge number of the victims of the conflict in Mindanao have been ordinary civilians: women and men, young and old who were either displaced from their communities or killed in the crossfire by bullets and bombs that recognize no gender, religion, creed or stature. The impact and social cost of the decades-old war to the people and the entire nation have been vicious and costly. The infographic on the cost of war in Mindanao (see below) explains previous Philippine governments’ huge spending on wars in Mindanao, which clearly talks about ‘lives lost’ rather than ‘lives improved’. Finding peaceful solutions to the causes of the armed conflict in Mindanao is never easy as the toll has affected not just Mindanao but the entire country. This has discouraged foreign and local investments and ultimately bleeding the nation’s coffers with the previous governments spending more on war than on basic social services.

While previous governments tried to resolve these conflicts, the root cause is the failure to address the Mindanao peoples legitimate struggle for their ‘right to self-determination, dignity and governance’, and is a major challenge to achieving sustainable peace in the region.

The conflict between the Government of the Philippines and the armed groups in Mindanao, particularly the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is not the only conflict affecting the whole region. The conflict in Mindanao is multi-faceted, involving numerous armed groups, as well as clans, criminal gangs and political elites. Main actors to this decades-old conflict are: the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and other groups such as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Abu Sayyaf (considered a bandit group engaged in various criminal activities like kidnapping and bombings), as well as other armed non-state actors who are consistently ‘in conflict’ with the central government.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) has been passed, which is for now the successful conclusion of a peace process. Can you explain what this is? And how it happened?

The purpose and intent of the law is to establish the new Bangsamoro political entity and provide for its basic structure of government. This also includes an expansion of the territory in recognition of the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people. Said law provides that the Bangsamoro Government will have a parliamentary form of government. The two key components of the peace process that will determine its eventual success are the passing of the BOL and the plebiscite for its ratification in the proposed Bangsamoro territory. With the BOL passage comes a roadmap that outlines a smooth transition leading to the creation of the Bangsamoro government that promises to fulfil the Bangsamoro’s aspirations for peace, justice, economic development and self-governance. The new Bangsamoro political entity will in effect abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and provide for a basic structure of government in recognition of the justness and legitimacy of the cause of the Bangsamoro people and their desire to chart their own political future through a democratic process.

The BOL is a product not only of political negotiations between the Bangsamoro and the Philippine government through their respective principals and negotiators but of the peacebuilding community’s decades of peacemaking and conflict prevention work and initiatives, both inside and outside of Mindanao and the Philippines.

What has civil society, and particularly Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), done for this peacebuilding process? And why is it important?

IID became more involved into the Mindanao peace process when then President Joseph Estrada unleashed an “all-out war” against the MILF in 2000 that resulted in countless deaths, wounded and massive dislocation of mainly Moro communities.  IID’s Moro and Mindanao partners sought the assistance of civil society and IID in helping to galvanize a response and projection of their voices and perspectives into the entire peace process. IID then proceeded to establish platforms and networks to concretize this accompaniment, forming the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) – a Tri-people (Moro, settlers and Indigenous peoples) network that engaged the peace process. MPC in turn established the Bantay Ceasefire (Ceasefire Watch) – a grassroots and community-based ceasefire-monitoring network.

GPPAC Southeast Asia members in the Philippines have been in the forefront of engaging the peace process in Mindanao since the “all-out war” declared by then President Estrada in 2000 against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Eventually, IID together with its partner communities were able to go through consensus building and lobbied in Congress a civil society agenda on crucial provisions in the draft BBL, conducted public advocacy activities and engaged lawmakers and the media.

Why is this such a big win for peace in the Philippines and the region?

GPPAC Southeast Asia members in the Philippines have been in the forefront of engaging the peace process in Mindanao since the “all-out war” declared by then President Estrada in 2000 against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It has since initiated and helped establish various networks for peace in the country, including Bantay Ceasefire, Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), Friends of the Bangsamoro (FoBM) and All-Out Peace (AOP) among others.

For us, the enactment of BOL is major step forward in achieving a just and sustainable peace in Mindanao. The BOL, if implemented according to its intent and purpose, could finally open a smooth path towards peace, development and social progress in the south of the Philippines. A product of a long-drawn peace negotiation, it also serves as a 'justice instrument', which can help in correcting historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro people, the indigenous peoples, and other inhabitants of Mindanao--injustices that continue to haunt them up to this day.

The BOL, if implemented according to its intent and purpose, could finally open a smooth path towards peace, development and social progress in the south of the Philippines.

For numerous decades, Mindanao and its peoples have witnessed the exceptional savagery of armed conflict. The results have been equally vicious: from the unending cycle of multiple displacements by hapless communities to depleting our nation's fiscal health. In all these armed conflicts happening around Mindanao, the most marginalized and vulnerable especially our women, children and the elderly, were made to endure the profound and unceasing pains of conflicts they never wished to be part of. Now that the BOL has been successfully ratified, and the installation of a transition structure through the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) is underway, prospects towards a significant improvement in the lives of the peoples of Mindanao and hopefully in the whole country as well.

Are you hopeful that this change will be sustainable for a more peaceful Mindanao? And what needs to be done now?

While the ratification of the BOL and the eventual establishment of the Bangsamoro government are significant political milestones towards realising just peace and social progress not only for Mindanao but for the whole country, we believe that it is not the end-all and be-all of the struggle for peace. What still needs to be addressed during the process are difficult issues around governance, inclusion, land distribution, incursion of foreign aid, dealing with shadow economies and violent extremism in a fragile peace process. The promise of a more enhanced and meaningful autonomy can reach its full potential if a peacebuilding strategy, coupled with participation and protection pathways, is substantively embedded in governance in the incipient Bangsamoro. Civil society has to develop what is now a “post-conflict peacebuilding” paradigm, wherein we have to locate our role and added value during political transition around hard and intractable issues around land, governance, transitional justice and security.

Peace monitoring will continue to be a staple strategy fulfilling civil society’s role as a third party in the peace process. There are other aspects of the law that must be monitored and ensured especially when the “caretaker” BTA starts its job weeks from now, including how in the transition period the normalization programs will be equally supported and cascaded to ensure decommissioning of the MILF forces and support to these combatants and amnesty, transformation of camps and conflict-affected communities. This, of course, will entail bringing to the Normalization table the issues on displacement and post-reconstruction of those IDPs during the sieges in Zamboanga and Marawi cities, including the displaced indigenous communities due to intermittent armed hostilities in ancestral domain areas in the BARMM.

Civil society has to develop what is now a “post-conflict peacebuilding” paradigm, wherein we have to locate our role and added value during political transition around hard and intractable issues around land, governance, transitional justice and security.

Lastly, a whole of society approach in developing and implementing government programs in the BARMM shall respond to social cohesion, trust building and work on inclusion of minority and minoritized issues concerning the IPs in the region and the Christian population. From a civil society’s perspective, it is not a mere governance issue that is at stake here, but actualising the negotiated consensus (BOL, FAB/CAB, and all previously signed peace agreements) and the essence of social justice by guaranteeing affirmative action every step of the way. The civil society scorecard should be designed to critically monitor the following:

• Realizing meaningful autonomy and right to self-rule of the Bangsamoro (and the inhabitants of the region) based on their distinct cultural identities, historical struggle, faiths, heritage and traditions;
• Grant genuine and efficient fiscal autonomy for the Bangsamoro;
• Provide the Bangsamoro effective management and control over and benefits of the natural resources in the Bangsamoro territory;
• Full Inclusion of the Indigenous Peoples rights in the Bangsamoro governance to ensure the recognition and protection of their rights and to correct historical marginalization and exclusion; and
• Realizing a transitional justice and reconciliation program for the Bangsamoro. Heed previous recommendations to establish a Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission for the Bangsamoro (NTJRCB) that shall among others ensure and promote justice, healing and reconciliation.
• the Philippines
• Southeast Asia

Share this article on

Related highlights.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel? Moving Forward in the Philippines Peace Process

GPPAC Encourages Continued Peace Talks in the Philippines: “Peace talks are paramount for the sustainable future of the Philippines”

GPPAC Statement on Philippines Peace Process

Talk ain’t cheap when keeping the peace.

Content Search

Philippines

The peace process in Mindanao, the Philippines: evolution and lessons learned

Attachments.

By Kristian Herbolzheimer

Executive summary

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (2014) marks the first significant peace agreement worldwide in ten years and has become an inevitable reference for any other contemporary peace process. During 17 years of negotiations the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front managed to build up a creative hybrid architecture for verifying the ceasefire, supporting the negotiations and implementing the agreements, with the participation of Filipinos and members of the international community, the military and civilians, and institutions and civil society. This report analyses the keys that allowed the parties to reach an agreement and the challenges ahead in terms of implementation. It devotes special attention to the management of security-related issues during the transition from war to peace.

Related Content

Climate change and conflict in barmm, cso workshop brief on implementation of the normalization annex: march 14-15, 2024, calming the long war in the philippine countryside, philippines: fulfilling our humanitarian mission in 2023.

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical Numismatics
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Social History
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Emotions
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Culture
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Meta-Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Society
• Law and Politics
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Legal System - Costs and Funding
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Restitution
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Oncology
• Medical Toxicology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Medical Ethics
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Games
• Computer Security
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business History
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Social Issues in Business and Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Social Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Sustainability
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• Ethnic Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Theory
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Disability Studies
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

11 The Philippines: Peace Talks and Autonomy in Mindanao

• Published: March 2019
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

This chapter examines how political interests in Mindanao and in Manila have made it difficult to resolve the territorial cleavage in southern Philippines, even though the 1987 Constitution envisioned Muslim autonomy within the unitary republic. It first provides a historical background on the Muslim insurgency in Mindanao, led by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and later, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It also considers the 1976 Tripoli agreement signed under martial law, the drafting of the 1987 Constitution, and the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in 1989. It goes on to describe the period of constitutional engagement and more specifically, the “constitutional moment” for resolving the Mindanao question that began in mid-2010. Finally, it analyzes the outcome of the peace talks between the government and the Moro insurgents, along with some of significant the lessons that can be drawn from the experience.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Making Peace in Deeply Divided Societies: the Case of Mindanao in the southern Philippines

2020, Small Wars Journal

The southernmost island of Mindanao has faced almost three decades of civil war between the Christian-dominated Philippine government in Manila and the Moro Muslims who once sought for political independence. In finally securing the peace among various Christian, Muslim, and indigenous ethnic groups, the Philippine government has signed various peace agreements with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) in 2011 as the most recent. This agreement formally recognized the end of armed insurgency of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in favor of self-governance. However, the fragile peace in Mindanao is still plagued by several internal and external actors that continue to promote extremist violence in the region. Furthermore, the disagreements between various ethnic groups in settling their differences through territorial power-sharing often end up in a deadlock. In conclusion, the article argues that there are several factors why peace settlements in heterogenous societies such as Mindanao continue to experience cyclical violence which are the lack of political trust to the Moros for self-governance, complexity of the ‘violent extremism’ problem, exclusionary politics among previously hostile ethnic groups, and the lack of transitional justice and disarmament and reintegration mechanisms for former fighters in rectifying the atrocities committed by all parties.

Related Papers

Dorien Vanden Boer

This paper is divided into three major parts. The first section provides an historic overview of the conflict in Mindanao and takes the view that this conflict is as much a history of integration as it is a history of confrontation. Large parts of the Muslim elite have always been reluctant to engage in open warfare and have been more interested in reinforcing their authority through an accommodation within the Philippine state. As a consequence, shortly after the eruption of violence in the early seventies, a process of continuous consultation has unfolded between the Philippine state and representatives of the main rebel movements in the region. As a result, violence between the MNLF/MILF and the Philippine state has largely been over the particular terms and conditions by which large sections of the Muslim population wish to integrate within this state and cannot be understood as a conflict solely in opposition to the state. The second section of the paper attempts to understand the role of violence and coercion in the local political economy. While the overall narrative of 'Muslim minority versus Philippine state' is still acknowledged as an important one, the paper illustrates how everyday violence in the region has some particular, heterogeneous and ambiguous characteristics. First of all, rebel commanders, although formally representing a main organisation such as the MILF or the MNLF, have considerable autonomy vis-à-vis their mother organisation. This implies that such rebel groups cannot be approached as tightly structured organisations and the authority they exert should be understood as a type of mediated authority which is exercised through these commanders. A second observation relates to the highly fluid nature of identity labels in the region. Elite constellations, necessary for preserving or obtaining control over the local political economy, transgress Christian versus Muslim, or MNLF versus MILF, dichotomies and different actors from different denominations become part of these alliances. It is in particular when these elite constellations are subject to change, as is often the case in the run-up to local elections, that violence tends to be prevalent. Lastly, the authors argue that in a region characterised by a high level of legal insecurity, the capacity for coercion becomes a vital asset in the creation of political legitimacy. This is obvious in the field of resource management which is characterised by low levels of tenure security and land titling. Within this context, the capacity for coercion becomes a central tool to guarantee secure access to a certain property rights regime.The final section of the paper thus addresses the implications for peacebuilding and conflict management by focusing on two case studies of land conflicts in the region.

Journal of Indian School of Political Economy

Resham Ranjan

The present study investigates the causes, patterns, and implications of the separatist movement in Mindanao of the Philippines. The research focuses on the causes of the separatist movement and the obstacles to attaining a lasting peace settlement in the Philippine south. The study further provides a detailed study of the role of the government, the separatist insurgent groups and third-party mediators in influencing the conflict. It also comparatively studies the peace agreements signed between the government and the insurgent groups since the 1970s, and their implications and limitations, and tries to chart out a comprehensive socioeconomic and political solution of the conflict.

Nathan Quimpo

This article examines why the decades-old Moro insurgency in Mindanao, southern Philippines, has remained difficult to resolve, and how recent international developments, such as the jihadization of once secular ethnonationalist movements and the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), have influenced it. The author argues that jihadism made significant inroads in the Moro nationalist struggle already in the 1990s, way before 9/11, and that since 2007, a more moderate Islamism has gained ascendancy. He argues further that the Moro insurgency has remained intractable because of grave errors committed by the Arroyo and Aquino administrations; recurrent outbursts of anti-Moro hysteria incited by demagogic politicians; and a continuing weak third-party role in the Mindanao peace process. He warns that the apparent collapse of the most recent peace pact between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) poses the danger of the possible rise of new ISIS-linked jihadist groups.

International Journal of Social Sciences: Current and Future Research Trends

Raihan Yusoph , Abubacar Ali

After more than five decades of peace talks, the Philippine government has granted its Muslim population an autonomous government known as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). As observed, the biggest obstacle in the Bangsamoro peace process is no longer whether the parties can reach an agreement, but whether that agreement can really bring sustainable peace and development. To find workable solutions to the problems of the country's minoritized Muslims, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) must look beyond their narrow group interests. To accomplish this, it must prioritize programs and initiate sufficient interventions that will sincerely address reconciliation and distributive justice, which is a prerequisite for conflict transformation and an essential component of long-term peacebuilding. However, now that the new government headed by Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and with less than three years remaining of BARMM's transition, the government raises skepticism and even doubts, if there will be a tangible output by 2025. This study will look at previous efforts in post-conflict reconstruction and will delve into key issues and challenges in the Bangsamoro peace process that can stymie peacebuilding. Finally, to suggest pragmatic studies and interventions that could strengthen BARMM's peacebuilding efforts. This research relied solely on qualitative data gathered from reliable and authentic books, journals, and first-hand sources such as Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD).

Journal of Peacebuilding & Development

Juliette Loesch

International and Cultural Psychology

Rudy Rodil , Judith M. de Guzman

Journal of Terrorism and Radicalization Studies

Pinar Kadioglu Chen

The conflict between the Philippines government and the Moro people has been ongoing for over a half-decade, with no prospect of achieving sustainable peace. Although the international perception of conflict endurance appears to be fixated on violent campaigns of separatist Islamic extremist groups linked with larger Jihadist groups like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), al-Qaida, and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS); the conflict has a much more complex reality on the ground stemming from the centuries-long socio-economic marginalisation, dispossession, displacement, discrimination, and lack of political representation. Through a detailed historical survey, this article analyses the socio economic and political developments that transformed the actors, and the nature of the clash between the government and the Moro insurgent groups since the Republic of the Philippines was established in 1946. In doing so, it highlights the negative impacts of the violent and corrupt governance culture, the influence of Jihadist ideals, and inconsistent state policies towards peace. Furthermore, it exposes the reason behind the peace impasse as a misadventure of Liberal peacebuilding that is incompatible with the local socio-cultural, political, and economic context.

Malcolm Cook

Julius Okojie

Marly Bacaron

The South-western and Central areas of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao are a zone of conflict. These conflicts can be explained by the sporadic violence caused by armed encounters and hostilities between the military and the secessionist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or kidnap for ransom groups. Clan feuds, locally known as “Rido”, have only recently been acknowledged as exacerbating the conflict. Although Rido is practised in some form or another throughout the country and often manifests itself in political violence, Rido in the Southern Philippines region is unique in the sense that it seems to have become legitimised as a socially accepted phenomenon anchored on social and cultural structures of the marginalised ethnic Muslim and indigenous tribes. This paper explores the various facets of Rido including its socio-political nature and impact, highlighting the indigenous conflict resolution tools used and their overall importance in current peace building initiatives and policies.

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

Maria Vivod

Sachiko Ishikawa

The Politics of Death: Political Violence in Southeast Asia

Rizal Buendia

Cyrel San Gabriel

Rey Hidalgo

Asian Journal of Peacebuilding

Jeroen Adam

Anna Louise Strachan

Axellus Tabanaxis

Ava Patricia Avila

Marjanie S. Macasalong

Jules Benitez

Sian Herbert

Patrick Agonias

MORO READER

Kenneth Bauzon

Muhammed Yâsir Okumuş

JULIUS CESAR

Journal of ASEAN Studies

John Lee Candelaria

Jeoffrey Houvenaeghel

Collin Acton

Dorien Vanden Boer , Jeroen Adam

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

More results...

PeaceRep : Peace and Conflict Resolution Centre

Rethinking peace & transition processes in a changing conflict landscape

Seminars, discussions and more from PeaceRep consortium members.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law: A Concrete Step towards Peace in Mindanao

In this guest post, Asli Ozcelik and Jenna Sapiano examine the peace process in the Philippines through a constitutional perspective, drawing on their presentations at this year’s ICON-S conference at the University of Hong Kong. Jenna Sapiano, visiting research fellow at iCourts and Asli Ozcelik, doctoral candidate at the University of Glasgow, organised a panel, supported by the PSRP, on ‘Re-thinking peace and constitution-making’. The panel was chaired by Prof Vicki Jackson and Prof Christie S. Warren.

On 26 July 2018, President Duterte signed the landmark Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). The BOL is the outcome of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), signed between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on 27 March 2014. [i] The agreement ended the decades-long conflict between the government and the indigenous Moro population on the island of Mindanao; however, the four years between the conclusion of the agreement and the passage of the BOL proved challenging for its implementation. An armed attack in January 2015, known as the ‘Mamasapano incident’, in which 63 people were killed, including 44 Philippine police officers, weakened confidence in the peace process. The delays in the passage of the BOL and concerns among the critics regarding its constitutionality raised further questions, especially by the MILF.

The issue of constitutionality has been a sticking point throughout the entire peace process. The shadow of a 2008 Supreme Court decision loomed over the CAB negotiations. [ii] The decision concerned the constitutionality of an earlier peace agreement, the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). The MOA-AD was initialled but not signed when the Court struck it down on several grounds of unconstitutionality and illegality. The Court found that the constitutional amendment needed to implement the agreement breached procedural requirements amounting to a ‘grave abuse of discretion’ by the Government. The Court also concluded that expanding the powers of the autonomous territory to the extent proposed in the MOA-AD conceded too much authority from the centre. Further, the Court objected to the proposed ‘association’ between the autonomous territory and the national government, suggesting it ran ‘counter to the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic.’

The armed conflict resumed shortly after the decision. When the parties initiated a new round of peace negotiations in 2011 they were mindful of a possible constitutionality challenge awaiting any future agreement. Reportedly, a former Supreme Court judge was included on the government’s negotiation team. In addition to substantive changes to the self-governance arrangement to ensure its constitutionality, the parties also adopted less forceful language on constitutional amendments. In 2016, the Court rejected unconstitutionality petitions directed at the CAB and the preceding Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) of 12 October 2012 as unripe for adjudication. The Court noted that they included ‘no commitment, express or implied, that the Constitution will be amended or that a law will be passed comprising all the provisions indicated in the CAB and the FAB’. [iii] The Court effectively reminded the parties that the implementation of the CAB had to respect the existing constitution by emphasising that the legislature retained full discretion to enact the implementing law, which remained subject to judicial review.

The BOL replaces the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region by 2022. The law must still be approved by a referendum, set to be held later in 2018. The new autonomous region will be granted greater political and fiscal autonomy exercised through a parliamentary government in the region. However, the final text of the BOL grants much less symbolic autonomy to the Bangsamoro homeland than proposed in the draft law, taking seriously the concern of the Supreme Court in the MOA-AD decision. In the process of drafting the BOL, the House of Representatives and the Senate made several amendments to the proposed Bangsamoro law (the proposed BBL) prepared by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (tasked with drafting the law by then President Benigno Aquino III). As an example, the ratified BOL recognises the Bangsamoro people’s ‘right to chart their political future through a democratic process that will secure their identity and posterity’ (Preamble, the BOL) instead of their ‘right to self-determination and self-governance’ (Art IV, Section 1, the proposed BBL). The preamble no longer starts with the phrase ‘We, the Bangsamoro People and other inhabitants’. In its place the BOL begins: ‘In recognition of the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people and other inhabitants in the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao […] the Filipino people, by the act of the Congress of the Philippines, do hereby ordain and promulgate this Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’.

Despite these efforts to bring the BOL in line with the decision of the Supreme Court, concerns regarding its constitutionality remain. Supposedly, critics intend to challenge the law before the Supreme Court. Without an amendment to the constitution, several provisions of the BOL may risk being considered unconstitutional. However, if the July 2018 draft federal constitution adopted by the Philippines Constitution Consultative is eventually adopted with the BOL appended to it, as is suggested in the draft, the BOL’s future would be more secure. [iv]

Since 2010, negotiated settlements to intra-state armed conflicts have been in decline with an emerging turn to the favouring of military means. [v] The conclusion of the CAB in 2014 and its evolving internal implementation with the passage of the BOL are positive notes for the field of conflict resolution. Yet, the Bangsamoro peace process underscores the challenges of negotiating peace within the framework of an existing constitution and in the shadow of an apex court. It also highlights the significance of ensuring constitutional legitimacy throughout the process. If the BOL fails to be fully implemented through the necessary constitutional procedures, as in 2008 with the breakdown of the peace process, the possibility for a resumption of violence remains.

[i] For a chronology of peace agreements concluded in relation to the Mindanao conflict, see C. Bell and V. Utley (2015) “Chronology of Mindanao Peace Agreements’, Political Settlements Research Programme Briefing Paper 02. Available at: < https://peacerep.org/files/2015/10/Briefing-Paper-Philippines-Mindanao-Chronology.pdf >

[ii] The Province of North Cotabato v. The Government of the Republic of the Philippines Peace Panel on Ancestral Domain , G.R. No. 183591 (14 October 2008).

[iii] Philippine Constitution Association (PHILCONSA) v Philippine Government (GPH), G.R. No. 218406 (29 November 2016).

[iv] Philippines Constitution Consultative Committee, Power to the People Bayanihan Federalism Power to the Regions Draft Constitution for a Strong, Indissoluble Republic (9 July 2018) Art XI (D) Section 25.

[v] Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict (Main Messages and Emerging Policy Directions) (The United Nations and the World Bank 2017) 1, 6.

You Might Also Like

Al-shabaab and the limits of ma’awisley – state-sponsored vigilantism.

With an introduction by Nisar Majid, this blogpost by Abdifatah Ismael Tahir offers an analysis of the Ma’awisley movement...

Hard to Reach Areas, Staff Diversity and Conflict Risks – A Blind Spot?

Nisar Majid and Sarah Kilani explore the intersection of hard-to-reach (HTR) areas and staff diversity in humanitarian aid, focusing...

El Berde, Somalia – From a UK Wedding to Transnational Conflict Mitigation

Khalif Abdirahman and Nisar Majid explore a real-life example of conflict mitigation in El Berde, Somalia.

Select a language

The peace process in Mindanao, the Philippines

Downloads: 1 available

Available in

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is the main peace agreement to be signed worldwide since the agreement that stopped the armed conflict in Nepal in 2006. The Mindanao process is now a crucial reference for other peace processes, given that it is the most recent.

This report from NOREF written by Conciliation Resources’ Director of the Philippines programme provides an insider perspective on the developments and innovations over 17 years of negotiations, and reflects on lessons that might be relevant for other peace processes.

It also explores the challenges ahead in terms of implementation, focusing on the management of security-related issues during the transition from war to peace.

Philippines: Mindanao's Unique Opportunity for a Just and Lasting Peace

History shows that creating peace is difficult and takes time, especially where poverty and conflict have become routine.   There are no silver bullets for ensuring success that brings stability and opportunity to beleaguered populations, as each situation requires specific local solutions.   That is true for the Philippines, where a March peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) sought to end decades of violence that killed more than 120,000 people and crippled development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the nation’s Muslim-majority territory.   Now the national legislature is taking up a law to implement the heart of the peace plan—creating a truly autonomous Muslim homeland of the Bangsamoro on Mindanao—as an essential first step toward resolving core issues such as deactivating MILF fighters and shifting the political focus to sorely needed economic and social development.   To support the peace process, the international community must fully participate to bolster the momentum and spirit of the March pact. The World Bank welcomed the chance to participate in the recent Philippines Development Forum on the Bangsamoro in Davao City. In this Forum, the MILF presented its vision for the region through a Bangsamoro Development Plan that lays out concrete actions to get kids back in school, improve people’s health, help farmers increase income, and bring in investment to create jobs.   Government officials, including President Benigno Aquino III and the MILF leadership, joined with civil society, business leaders, and partners from the international community to discuss ways to accelerate economic and social development as part of the region’s transition toward lasting peace. The event was a powerful show of solidarity for the Bangsamoro people aimed at shifting the focus from conflict to peace and development while recognizing the distinct cultural and historical identity of the Bangsamoro people as a national asset. For the World Bank Group, the quest for political stability and self-sustaining development is a long-term effort.   The need is obvious. While Mindanao has rapidly growing cities, it also has the country’s greatest concentration of rural poverty. In the ARMM, poverty afflicts more than 55 percent of the population. Over half the region’s students never finish school, and high unemployment makes young men vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups.   Overcoming distrust from decades of violence and neglect in the region takes more than spending money or providing roads, schools and clinics. International experience has shown that for peace to take root, people must witness improvements in governance and security, equal justice, and more jobs—and this must come sooner than later.   Enacting the new law will advance the process to the real challenges to daily peace, such as helping fighters make the transition from military activities to jobs in productive areas.   It is crucial for the government and international institutions such as the World Bank Group, along with Filipino and overseas businesses, to be ready with programs to support the process. Those programs must be inclusive and ensure that all parties and affected populations are well represented.   In Bangsamoro, that means opportunities must reflect the views and interests of all those who were rendered voiceless in the development discussions, including Muslim citizens as well as minority groups such as indigenous peoples and non-Moro settlers.   Flagship programs for indigenous peoples and women’s economic empowerment would signal such an inclusive approach. So would a system that determines who gets aid based on need rather than ethnic group.   Programs should promote greater transparency by Bangsamoro authorities, including an anti-corruption strategy and steps to make governance data publicly available. Developing civil society to amplify the Bangsamoro people’s voices and hold their political representatives accountable is just as important.   For economic development, the focus should be on improving the regulatory environment for businesses, increasing access to credit for farmers, providing skills training for available work, and direct interventions such as cash-for-work programs to ease short-term unemployment. Other needs include training to help women and unemployed youth fend for themselves, such as addressing the high adult illiteracy in the region, particularly among women.   World Bank Group projects include partnerships to create jobs by bolstering rural development and spurring private investment in the nation’s growing agri-business sector working with our private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation.   The World Bank Group is willing to invest heavily in a peaceful future for Bangsamoro. Toward this end, we are already undertaking and willing to expand projects that are inclusive, high in job content, and sustainable.   The Philippines government and MILF have embarked on a peace mission that holds great promise but also faces challenges. The World Bank Group is putting its bets on the promise of peace and will be a long-term partner to help overcome the legacy of violence and poverty.   Such opportunities are rare and fleeting. Collectively, we have the power to ensure this agreement becomes a model for future peace efforts.

• RESULTS PAGE Mindanao Trust Fund Apr 10, 2013
• RESULTS PAGE ARMM Social Fund Project Apr 10, 2013
• PRESS RELEASE World Bank Group Scales Up Support for Mindanao Peace Process Jul 15, 2014

Media Contacts