Title: PEACE AND HUMAN SECURITY OF MINDANAO
Abstract
The conflict in Mindanao is complex, multilayered and defies simple explanation.
The region includes at least six major non-state armed groups, with dozens of
militia units.
The protracted nature of conflict and instability has led to the emergence of other
types of conflict, particularly between local elites competing for power.
At first glance, all the right conditions appear to be in place for aid to make a
significant contribution to peace and development—the Government of the
Philippines has been remarkably open to international assistance; there has been
a formal political transition underway since
1996; the region has a special autonomy arrangement in place; and senior
government officials, including some military officials, have provided relatively
strong and consistent support for the peace settlement. Yet, despite large
amounts of aid for more than a decade, Mindanao's conflict environment has not
improved.
Introduction
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.
The root cause of armed conflict in Mindanao can be found in the narrative of Mindanao
people’s continuing struggle for their right to self-determination. A struggle that
involves as assertion of their identity and demand for meaningful governance in the face
of the national governments failure to realize 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.
A huge number of victims of the conflict in Mindanao have been ordinary civilians:
women and men, young and old who were either displace 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 the Mindanao.
Finding peaceful solutions to the causes of the armed conflict in the Mindanao is never
easy as the toll has affected not just Mindanao but the entire country. While previous
governments tried to resolve this conflict, the root cause is the failure to address the
Mindanao people legitimate struggles for their right to self-determination, dignity and
governance and is a major challenge to achieving sustainable peace in the region.
For numerous decades, Mindanao and its peoples witnessed the exceptional savagery of
armed conflict. The results have been equally vicious: from the unending cycle of
multiple displacement by hapless communities to depleting our nations fiscal health. In
all these armed-conflict happening around in Mindanao, the most marginalized and
vulnerable especially our women, children and the elderly, where made to endure the
profound and unceasing pains of conflicts they never wish to be part of.
Main idea
The current armed conflict in Mindanao reflects the recurring call for the
fulfillment of the right to self-determination of the Muslim population in the
Philippines in order to obtain sustainable peace.
With almost forty years of on and off fighting between Muslim armed
opposition groups and the Philippine military forces, and the resulting high
toll on human lives, the search for sustainable peace and full respect for
human rights remains a big challenge.
The current armed conflict started in late 1960s, when a Muslim armed group
(Moro National Liberation Front or MNLF) started to advocate for a “Moro
homeland.” The Philippine government responded through military means,
resulting in numerous deaths among, and displacement of, the civilian
population (Muslims as well as Christians). In the 1970s, the Philippine
government initiated peace talks and obtained a peace agreement with the
then main Muslim armed opposition group (MNLF) to stop the conflict and
address the problems. But armed confrontations broke out every now and
then, between the Philippine military and the MNLF and also with another
Muslim armed opposition group (Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF). For
every break out of armed hostilities, thousands of non- combatants are caught
in the crossfire, and suffer displacement and other human rights violations.
To emphasize their deep sense of independence as a people, many Muslims in
Mindanao collectively call themselves “Moro,” the word used by the colonial
Spanish government to refer to the Muslim people. This extends to the use of
the word “Bangsamoro” (Moro Nation) to indicate a people separate from the
rest of the Philippine population.
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.
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.
Conclusion
Citation
