Editor's note: The IAG archives still speak loudly in today's current events. They form part of the "building blocks" that brought us to where we are now in the Mindanao peace process. By featuring past discourses, IAG hopes to contribute to the greater understanding and appreciation of the different stages in the peace process. This article originally appeared in print in the First Quarter 2006 issue of IAG's Autonomy and Peace Review. The first online version was posted on March 18, 2013.

 

Q and A: The Mindanao Peace Process

 

1. What is the Mindanao conflict all about?

 

It refers to the struggle of the country’s Muslims or Moros to assert their distinct identity, history and way of life. Before the Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards and later by the Americans, the Muslims had their own political institutions and economic structures in the Sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao, and the Pat a Pongampong ko Ranao. They consider themselves a free nation assimilated to the Philippines against their will, thereby becoming a minority in their own land. They are fighting against what they consider as discrimination by the national government and the majority population.

 

In 1961, Congressman Ombra Amilbangsa filed a bill in the House of Representatives seeking recognition of the independence of the Muslim province of Sulu. In 1968, the Moro Independence Movement demanded the establishment of an Islamic state in the Muslim areas of Cotabato, Davao, Zamboanga, Zamboanga City, Basilan, Lanao, Sulu and Palawan. In 1972, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) waged an armed struggle to establish a Bangsamoro Republic in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan. In 1984, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was formed and it demanded the establishment of an independent Islamic state. The MILF waged an armed campaign against the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 1997 until 2003, when it renewed negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

 

2. What are the specific issues raised by the MNLF and the MILF?

 

The Bangsamoro right to self-determination is the natural right of every people and this is recognized by the United Nations. The right to self-determination includes the right to a name or a people’s own identity, the right to a territory, the right to the resources of this territory, and the right to self-governance.

 

3. Did the resort to arms by the MNLF, MILF and the GRP bring us closer to the resolution of the Mindanao conflict?

 

No. On the contrary, the use of force by all sides has made the conflict more difficult to resolve as it never addressed the root causes of the problem. The cost of the war for the inhabitants of the region is staggering. Consider this: in 1971 alone, 1,000 people died. From 1972 to 1976, 100,00 to 120,000 people were killed, 50% from the MNLF, 30% from the AFP and 20% from the civilian population. It is estimated that the cost of the war in the 70’s ran up to 73 billion pesos. The 2005 UN Philippine Human Development Report states that, since 1975, the conflict in Mindanao has cost between PHP5-10 billion yearly.

 

Civilians have suffered tremendously from repeated displacement . In battles between the MILF and the AFP, 30,000 internally displaced people (IDP) were recorded in 1997; 1,014,645 in 2000; 24,000 in 2001; and 75,419 in 2003. The huge physical, social and economic costs of the war have in fact deepened the animosity and distrust among the contending parties as well as divisions among peoples along religious lines. Instead of resolving the conflict, the use of force has in fact brought about conditions that have made the dispute more difficult to resolve.

 

4. So if war has not solved this conflict, do peace talks have a better chance to resolve this problem?

 

While peace talks have not yet fully resolved the conflict, they have slowly but significantly de-escalated the intensity of the fighting as the parties in the talks try to address the root causes of the problem. In 1975-1976, the Tripoli Agreement between the GRP and the MNLF called for autonomy in 13 provinces and cities in the southern Philippines, but the area of autonomy has been reduced to five provinces and one city composing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) today. In 1996, the GRP and the MNLF signed the Final Peace Agreement to implement the Tripoli Agreement. While the MNLF ended its 25-year armed struggle for Mindanao independence, the MILF continued to fight. It signed a ceasefire the next year, in 1997. The current peace talks seek to finally bring peace to Mindanao by convincing the MILF and GRP that grievances can be resolved peacefully without violence.

 

5. What are the issues being talked about in the GRP-MILF negotiations?

 

There are three major issues in the talks: 1) security, 2) humanitarian, rehabilitation and development, and 3) ancestral domain. When resolved, these issues would address problems of instability and violence in the region, foster respect for human rights and promote economic development of conflict affected areas. Ancestral domain is the most critical issue in the negotiations as it refers to Bangsamoro identity, culture, traditional lands, governance and control over economic resources.

 

6. How sure are we that there will be no more war if the MILF and GRP agree to peace?

 

There is no guarantee that a GRP-MILF peace agreement will end the war forever. But developments in the past five years of negotiations raise hopes that this peace agreement will be more meaningful than previous ones and that a working pact will be implemented to the advantage of the Bangsamoro and other peoples in Mindanao.

 

First, the ceasefire agreed upon by the GRP and the MILF is holding and armed encounters have been drastically reduced. Second, the parties are making headway in joint programs such as interdicting criminal and terrorist elements in MILF areas and in delivering economic development in conflict-affected areas. Third, there is a strong presence of civil society groups especially in facilitating people-to-people peace processes in the grassroots level. Fourth, there is strong international support for the peace process. Fifth, unlike previous peace talks that were centered on institutions, the ongoing negotiations address head-on basic Moro grievances such as Moro ancestral domain, land and natural resources issues. Sixth, the global war on terror has encouraged the Philippine government into acting more decisively to bring lasting peace and economic progress to Mindanao.

 

7. What prevents the MILF and even the MNLF and other future insurgent groups from taking up arms once again?

 

That is always a possibility especially when implementation of peace agreements is wanting, as shown by the failed uprising in 2001 and 2005, allegedly by MNLF elements in Sulu. This is why everyone, not only government officials but also ordinary Filipinos, should work for peace. War is never the solution, as we in Mindanao should know. More than 120,000 soldiers and civilians died from 1972 to 1976, the height of the MNLF insurgency, with an estimated 1 million people displaced from their homes and livelihoods.

 

The scars of war remain to this day. Look at the poor and hungry people around you. According to the World Bank, 62.9% of the residents of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao are poor, compared with 34% for the Philippines as a whole. Infant mortality is 72 per 1,000 live births compared to only 42 per 1,000 live births nationally. Men here die at 55.5 years of age, compared with 66.3 years nationwide, while women live to 59.3 years, compared with 71.6 years in the rest of the country. And only 39.2% of youths in the autonomous region are enrolled in high school, versus 72.2% in the Philippines as a whole. Among the nation’s 16 regions, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao consistently ranks at or near the bottom on indicators of human development.

 

8. What brought about this terrible state of affairs?

 

The vicious cycle of poverty and displacement in Muslim Mindanao is a result of a complicated history that dates back to Spanish times. Before the Spaniards came in 1565, Islamic communities were already thriving in Sulu, where the first sultan came to power around 1450, and in what is now Maguindanao, which was founded by Sharif Kabunsuan around 1515. For three centuries, the Moros, as the Spaniards called the inhabitants of Mindanao and Sulu, successfully fought off incursions by the foreign colonizers, and kept their religion, lands and way of life intact.

 

All that changed when the Americans defeated the Spaniards in 1898. By 1914, the United States had largely succeeded in subjugating the Moros. The Americans encouraged entire populations in Luzon and the Visayas, mostly landless and ambitious Christians, to migrate to Mindanao. The policy continued after the Philippines regained independence. During the Spanish times, Moros made up 98% of the Mindanao population. Today, Christian migrants account for 80% of the inhabitants and own 93% of the land. Eight out of ten Moros are landless in their own homeland.

 

9. We are Christian migrants from Iloilo. Does this mean we have to give up our land to the Moros and go back to the Visayas?

 

No, of course not. But it is important for you to acknowledge that the Moros have been systematically discriminated and alienated from the lands they had lived in for centuries. Injustice has clearly been done to the Bangsamoro, but there is nothing to be gained by pointing fingers. The people involved have long been dead. The best thing that we, their descendants, can do is to move forward and correct the injustices of colonization without, however, creating new injustices. This means finding a formula under which Muslims, Christians and other indigenous groups can live in peace and harmony in Mindanao.

 

10. Is such a formula possible?

 

Neither the two provisional autonomous regions established by Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s nor the present ARMM promulgated during Fidel Ramos’s presidency in the 1990s has been effective. This is why the current negotiations between the government and the MILF are so important. They represent the third attempt at a lasting solution to the Mindanao problem. The external climate looks exceptionally promising. For example, Malaysia, which used to turn a blind eye to the use of Sabah as a training ground and supply and communications center by Moro fighters, is now an active broker in the peace talks with the MILF.

 

The internal dynamics look positive too. With prodding and support from the international community, the Philippine government appears strongly determined this time to forge a good agreement and, even more important, to implement it effectively. As for the MILF, it has already shown some flexibility by agreeing, for example, to give other indigenous groups the right to decide whether they want to be part of a Bangsamoro juridical entity in the future.

 

11. What will happen to the rights of the Lumad communities to their ancestral domain/lands?

 

The MILF acknowledges the right of the Lumad to free choice. They are free to join or not join the Bangsamoro. Their right to their domains/lands will also be respected.

 

12. What has been accomplished by the GRP-MILF peace talks so far?

 

This can be seen in the three aspects in the agenda of the negotiations, namely,

♦ Security, the main component of which is a ceasefire

♦ Humanitarian aid, rehabilitation and development

♦ Ancestral domain

 

A ceasefire agreement has been signed and has been holding. After the all-out war of 2000, the situation has rapidly improved. There were 698 armed encounters in 2002, which fell to 559 incidents in 2003, and only 15 in 2004. Just ten (10) skirmishes were reported from January to March 2005, and none at all from April 2005 to the present. This has been the work of the Joint GRP-MILF Ceasefire Committee. They are working hand in hand with several local monitoring teams all over the 13 conflict-affected provinces and with the International Monitoring Team, consisting of 60 military and civilian contingents from Malaysia, Brunei and Libya. An Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) has been created to go after criminal elements in the conflict-affected areas, like the kidnap for ransom groups. The AHJAG has solved more than ten cases of kidnapping.

 

A Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) has been created to determine, lead and manage development activities in Bangsamoro areas. A Joint Needs Assessment for Mindanao Trust Fund completed as early as September 2004 has set aside US$150 million to be released after the signing of a peace agreement between the GRP and the MILF. There is an ongoing capacity-building program for Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) personnel. There is also a GRP inter-agency Technical Working Group to partner with BDA for projects in MILF communities. And the mechanism for the Bangsamoro Leadership and Management Institute is being put in place as the main instrument for capacity building of leaders and professionals.

 

13. Okay, so what will an agreement with the MILF look like?

 

The agreement will surely acknowledge the unique history and identity of the Bangsamoro people, recognize and protect Bangsamoro rights to their land and natural resources, ensure the Bangsamoro’s direct participation in socio-economic development efforts within their ancestral domain, and will include a workable formula for genuine Bangsamoro self-governance.

 

The boundaries of the Bangsamoro Ancestral Domain shall be jointly determined by the GRP and the MILF. There will be measures agreed upon to address legitimate grievances arising from unjust dispossession and/or marginalization.

 

14. How will Cha-Cha – the proposed changes in the Philippine Constitution – affect the talks with the MILF?

 

The proposed changes to the Constitution will take a long time to be acted on, and there is no guarantee that they will be passed or that Filipinos will ratify the changes in a plebiscite. If the peace agreement with the MILF is signed before Cha-Cha, then it is expected that its provisions would be taken into account in the Cha-Cha deliberations, along with the issue of the ARMM. If no peace agreement with the MILF is signed before the final draft of the new constitution is finalized, the expectation is that the Cha-Cha will be formulated in such a way that would flexibly cover the future outcome of the peace process.

 

15. What can we do to support the peace process?

 

It is important especially for the Christian majority to acknowledge that everyone is part of the problem and the only way we can resolve this conflict is for the whole nation to support the formula agreed upon in the peace talks. The formula will call for sacrifices from all sides, and we should be able to accept our share in making compromises for the sake of peace.

 

One of the immediate things we can do is to stop and think before uttering anything derogatory about an institution or a person, based on religion. We should set aside religious and cultural prejudices in our everyday lives. Christians and Muslims alike should not speak negatively about each other, especially in front of their children, because this perpetuates the misunderstanding and hostility that have led us to our present problems.

 

This is not easy to do. The slurs we utter against each other do not sound bad after a while because we have grown used to them, because these are things that we heard our parents and grandparents say and which we, in turn, transmit to our own children and grandchildren, whether we mean to or not. “Moros are treacherous.” “Christians are thieves.” Stated enough times, these dubious opinions become stereotypes that we sadly accept as true.

 

16. What can social institutions do for the peace process?

 

Schools, churches, mosques and the media have a role to play in reinforcing positive, rather than negative, images of Muslims and Christians in Mindanao. In the classroom and from the pulpit, teachers and religious leaders can reinforce the values of tolerance for diversity and differences. The media can be extra careful in reporting Christian-Muslim conflicts to avoid inflaming passions. Politicians should resist the temptation to use the religion card to win elections.

 

And everyone should step away from the extremists on both sides – the hardliners in government who preach that only force can keep Muslim Mindanao part of the Philippines, and the Islamic militants who would burn everything to the ground to exact revenge for the sins of colonialism and to create their own narrow and insular state.

 

17. Should we not be actively part of the talks as its outcome will directly affect us?

 

The issues in the negotiations are complex and difficult. Negotiators should be given the opportunity to freely explore options, which would be extremely difficult if the conflicting positions of all stakeholders are brought to bear on the talks. However, the two parties periodically conduct briefings and consultations. When they finally forge an agreement, both sides will fully disclose all its provisions, explain them to the public, and strongly campaign to persuade everyone to support the pact.

 

In time, the citizens of Muslim Mindanao will be asked to vote on the accord in a plebiscite. We should vote one way or the other only after a thorough and objective study. We should always remember that the real issue here is the long term. Will voting yes or voting no ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for our children and grandchildren without repeating the injustices of the past and without creating new problems? The answer is in our own hands.

 

 

Benedicto Bacani, former law dean of Notre Dame University, is the executive director of IAG. Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of any personality, group, party or instrumentality involved in the Mindanao peace process.