Roots of The Conflict

Roots of the conflict
The 2005 Philippine Human Development Report (2005 PHDR) lists the
following major historical and contemporary roots of the conflict in
Mindanao: [1]
1. The forcible/illegal annexation of Moroland to the Philippines under the
Treaty of Paris in 1898; [2]
2. Military pacification by the American colonial government;
3. Imposition of confiscatory land laws;
4. “Indionization” (or Filipinization) of public administration in Moroland and
the destruction of traditional political institutions;
5. Government financed/induced land settlement and migration to Moroland; [3]
6. Land-grabbing/conflicts;
7. Cultural inroads against the Moros;
8. The Jabidah Massacre in 1968 (killing of Muslim army recruits by their
superiors); [4]
9. Ilaga (Christian vigilante) and military atrocities in 1970-72; and
10. Government neglect and inaction on Moro protests and grievances.
The 2005 PHDR states that the declaration of martial law on 21 September
1972 by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos was a triggering event of the
contemporary Moro armed struggle.
The migration of Filipinos from the northern and central regions of the
Philippines to Mindanao led to conflicts. As the 2005 PHDR explains:
The Muslims resented the loss of their lands, including
those idle but which formed part of their traditional
community. This resentment grew as Muslims witnessed
the usurpation by Christian settlers of vast tract of prime
lands. This ignited disputes between them and the Christian
settlers. The question on land ownership and land disputes
between Muslims and Christians was crucial during the
post-war period.
eace initiatives
The resulting armed conflict from the early 1970s created a major crisis in
Mindanao, and in the Philippines as a whole. In December 1976, the
Philippine government signed an agreement with the MNLF through the
intercession of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). This
agreement, known as the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, provided for the creation
of an autonomous region in Mindanao and Palawan (covering thirteen
provinces), and the establishment of an autonomous government, judicial
system (for Sharia law), and special security forces.
In 1977, President Marcos and the Batasang Pambansa (legislature) came out
with a series of laws to implement the 1976 Tripoli Agreement that resulted
in the creation of “Sangguniang Pampook [Regional Council] in each of
Regions IX and XII” in Mindanao. [6] This solution was rejected by the
MNLF. [7]
The 1987 Philippine Constitution brought in a new legal basis for a Muslim
autonomous government in Mindanao. It has a provision (Article X) for an
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, whose creation is dependent on
acceptance in a plebiscite by the people in the affected provinces.
Consequently, in 1989, a
law [8] was enacted that led to a plebiscite for the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). In 1990, ARMM was established covering the
provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu and
Tawi-Tawi, whose respective populations voted in a plebiscite for inclusion
into the new region.
But peace was still elusive. Formal peace talks between the government and
MNLF had to start again in 1993 through the mediation of OIC and the
Indonesian government. The Philippine government and the MNLF signed
the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) to complete the implementation of
the "1976 Tripoli Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the
Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)." The
1996 agreement called for the establishment of a “Special Zone of Peace and
Development (SZOPAD), the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and
Development (SPCPD), and the Consultative Assembly,” and the merging of
the MNLF forces with the Philippine military, among other provisions. The
agreement also called for an amendment to the law that created the ARMM.
In 2001, the law was the amended [9] that led to a plebiscite in other
provinces with predominant Muslim population regarding their inclusion in
the ARMM. One province (Basilan) and one city (Marawi) joined the
ARMM as a result.
By winning in the 1996 elections for the ARMM posts, the MNLF virtually
took power since 1996 over six provinces and one city with predominant
Muslim population. But the autonomous region formula was not a complete
solution toward peace in Mindanao. Another Muslim armed opposition
group, the MILF, demanded an independent Islamic state. The Philippine
government had to deal with MILF separately for a negotiated settlement of
its demands.
The 2005 PHDR states that by early 2000s, “three tracks had emerged,
parallel though sometimes converging, which now constitute the current
evolution of the Moro conflict: (1) the implementation of the GRP-MNLF
Peace Agreement; (2) the GRP-MILF peace negotiations; and (3) Post-9/11
terrorism and counterterrorism on the Moro front.” [10]
The Philippine government (GRP) and the MILF started peace talks toward a
negotiated political settlement in 1996. Support for the peace talks by
Malaysia, Indonesia and Libya led to the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on
Peace of 2001. The Implementing Guidelines on the Security Aspect of the
GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement of Peace of 2001 was signed on 7 May 2002
in Putrajaya, Malaysia. To maintain the ceasefire, three mechanisms were
adopted 1) Joint Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities, 2)
the International Monitoring Team (composed of representatives from
Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Libya), and 3) the Ad Hoc Joint Action
Group.
The continuing peace negotiations between the GRP and MILF resulted in a
2008 Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain Aspect of the
GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement of Peace of 2001 (MOA-AD). The MOA-AD
provides for the delineation of the Bangsamoro homeland, similar to the
delineation of the ancestral domain of indigenous Filipinos. [11] It provides
for the establishment of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), which is the
legal body that will govern the Bangsamoro homeland. Both GRP and MILF
saw the MOA-AD as a necessary step to a final peace agreement.
But before the scheduled signing of the MOA-AD on 5 August 2008 in
Kuala Lumpur was held, its legality was questioned before the Philippine
Supreme Court. The Philippine government decided not to sign the
agreement in view of the opposition raised by some Christian local
government leaders in Mindanao and other political personalities. The court
declared the unsigned MOA-AD unconstitutional in October 2008. [12] The
court viewed the BJE, provided for in the MOA-AD, as “more of a state than
an autonomous region” allowed by the 1987 Constitution for the ARMM
governing body.
Human rights and the peace agreements
Did the agreements between the Philippine government and the MILF
consider the human rights dimension of the issues at hand? Some say the
MOA- AD ignored human rights due to the unlimited power given to the
BJE. [13]
As one author pointed out,14 the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the
discussion of the MOA-AD, the General Framework of Agreement of Intent
Between the GRP and the MILF (GFAI) dated 27 August 1998, the
Agreement on the General Framework for the Resumption of Peace Talks
Between the GRP and the MILF (AGFRPT) dated 24 March 2001, and the
Tripoli Agreement on Peace Between the GRP and the MILF (TAP) dated 22
June 2001 all refer to the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, and mention the principles of justice, freedom and respect
for the identity and culture of the Moro people. The TOR also includes the
“ILO Convention No. 169, in correlation to the UN [United Nations]
Declaration of Rights of the Indigenous Peoples.”
Even the Philippine Supreme Court referred to the UN Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples in discussing the appropriateness of the
MOA-AD provision on the right of the Moros to a homeland.

Roots of The Conflict

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Roots of The Conflict

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Roots of The Conflict

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Roots of the conflict

Human rights and the peace agreements

You might also like