Ending The Armed Conflict In Philippines (Mindanao – Milf)

Description of Case

Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, is home to a diverse population, 20 percent of whom are Muslims and identify as Moro (also referred to as Bangsamoro). Owing to the nature and longevity of the post-war authoritarian regimes that ruled the country, this community was marginalised for decades and lacked anything but token political representation.[1] During the widespread armed conflict between the Government of the Philippines and a series of communist groups that began immediately after the Second World War and continues to this day, displaced communities from across the Philippines were encouraged by the administration in Manila to settle in Mindanao. This process isolated the Moro community even further and, after some Muslim recruits in the Philippine military were killed by their officers in 1968, intercommunal clashes erupted across the island. Later that year, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was established and began training in nearby Malaysia. In 1972, the MNLF launched an insurgency against the Government of the Philippines with the goal of achieving total independence for Mindanao. When this objective was reduced to autonomy within the Philippines, the movement fractured, with the hard-line element adopting the name the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). MILF halted its insurgency during the MNLF peace process and entered into talks with the government 1999, only for conflict to erupt again the following year.[2]

Efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict between MILF and the Government of the Philippines took place throughout the 2000s, with a ceasefire negotiated in 2003 and monitored by an International Monitoring Team (IMT) organised by the Organisation of Islamic Conference observation mission (composed of members from Brunei, Libya, and Malaysia) holding for most of 2004-2006.[3] In 2009, the IMT was supported by EU and Norwegian personnel, along with three local organisations. With these foundations in place, an International Contact Group (composed of the governments of the UK, Japan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, and the NGOs Conciliation Resources, the Community of Sant’Egidio the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and Muhammadiyah) was created to observe and advise on the peace process.[4] In this framework, the belligerents negotiated agreements on ending the conflict, wealth and power sharing, and normalising relations, before finally signing the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro on 27 March 2014.[5] This accord created a new autonomous polity called Bangsamoro to replace the Autonomous Region created in 1996 and established a Transitional Authority led by the MILF leadership to govern the region for a limited period. Implementation was supported by a Japanese monitoring mission, the Mindanao Task Force, and a Third-Party Monitoring Team, composed of local and international NGO staff, in addition to a Joint MILF-Government of Philippines committee (encompassing local monitoring teams across 13 provinces) and the Bangsamoro Development Authority, with which MILF could access development funds.[6]

[1] Miriam Coronel Ferrer. Costly Wars, Elusive Peace. (Quezon: University of the Philippines Press, 2013) p.140

[2] UCDP. Philippines: Mindanao. (UCDP, 2022) Available at: https://ucdp.uu.se/conflict/308 (Accessed 28/01/2022)

[3] Ferrer. Costly Wars, Elusive Peace. pp.301-2

[4] Kristian Herbolzheimer. “The peace process in Mindanao, the Philippines: evolution and lessons learned.” Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre Report. (2015) pp.2-3 Available at: https://www.c-r.org/resource/peace-process-mindanao-philippines# (Accessed 28/01/2022)

[5] Dato’ Tengku Abdul Ghafar. Beyond the Peace Table: Reflections on The GPH-MILF Peace Process. (Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, 2017) Available at: https://www.centrepeaceconflictstudies.org/beyond-the-peace-table-reflections-on-the-gph-milf-peace-process/ (Accessed 28/01/2022); The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, 2014. Available at: https://peacemaker.un.org/philippines-comprehensiveagreement2014 (Accessed 28/01/2022)

[6] Ferrer. Costly Wars, Elusive Peace. p.303; Herbolzheimer. “The peace process in Mindanao, the Philippines.” p.3