Historic Philippine peace deal
The Philippines has signed a peace accord with the nation's largest separatist group,
ending decades of conflict. Under the deal, the country's Muslim population is to receive
a semi-autonomous region.
Peace was declared in the Philippines after nearly 40 years of conflict that has left tens
of thousands of people dead. The agreement signed on Thursday was between the
separatist group - Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - and the government under
President Benigno Aquino III. The faction is the country's largest Muslim rebel group
and the main insurgent group which has been fighting for autonomy.
"The comprehensive agreement on Bangsamoro is the crowning glory of our struggle,"
MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim said at the ceremony in Manila. The term "Bangsamoro"
is a local term which refers to a Muslim homeland.
"With this agreement the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro and the commitment
of the government of the Philippines to recognize those aspirations are now sealed,"
Ebrahim said.
President Aquino called the plan "a path that can lead to a permanent change in Muslim
Mindanao."
The peace agreement foresees the creation of an autonomous region for the Muslim
population to be located in the southern Mindanao region. It will have a power-sharing
agreement with the central government, allowing its own leadership to control most of
its own natural resources and revenues. Elections are to be held there by mid-2016.
Ahead of the signing on Thursday, President Aquino's advisor praised the decision,
which ends roughly 17 years of negotiations.
"It is important, it is historic. It is going to be a major contribution for the peace and
development of the entire country," presidential advisor Teresita Deles said. "Never
have we had the overwhelming domestic and political capital to make this peace deal
endure with stability and permanence that we do today."
In the late 1960s, the Communist Party of the Philippines alongside the New People's
Army began waging a guerrilla war against the predominantly Catholic government in
Manila. Decades of fighting left tens of thousands of people dead. The conflict has also
led to the impoverishment of Mindanao and fostered corruption in the region.
Brief History of the Conflict
The Government of the Philippines (GPH) has long sought to find ways and means to
address the discontent of the Moros in Mindanao. However, efforts in the past have
been criticized as mainly assimilationist, without regard to their special characteristics
and desire for the right to self-government. The Moros claim a distinct history and way
of life from the majority
The Moros claim a distinct history and way of life from the majority Filipinos who were
incorporated in the Spanish colonial regime. They claim that they were annexed to the
Philippine territory under the American regime, and later in the independent Philippine
Republic, without their consent. As a result of economic policies, new land laws, and
migration programs that began in the 1900s, the Moros have become minorities in their
traditional abode. Today, the Muslim-dominated provinces in Mindanao are among the
poorest provinces in the country with per capita incomes and human development
indices below the national average. In national politics and society, they feel they are
discriminated and marginalized. All these have built-up resentment that was mobilized
in the form of armed movements against the Philippine state. The armed conflict in
Muslim Mindanao that began in the late 1960s
The armed conflict in Muslim Mindanao that began in the late 1960s was in the nature
of an independence movement. However, since the 1976 Tripoli Agreement signed
between the Marcos government and the Nur Misuari-led Moro National Liberation
Front (MNLF), the terms of negotiations revolved around crafting an autonomous
arrangement within the Philippine state as an expression of the Moro people’s right to
self-determination. The 1987 Philippine Constitution called for the establishment of an
The 1987 Philippine Constitution called for the establishment of an autonomous region
in Muslim Mindanao. The Congress subsequently passed two organic acts for the
establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) – the Republic
Act No. 6734 in 1989, and the Republic Act No. 9054 (amending Republic Act No.
6734) in 2001 as part of the terms of Final Peace Agreement (FPA) signed between the
MNLF and the Ramos Administration in 1996. Yet, these proved unsatisfactory to both
the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a break-away group of Moro
leaders led by Salamat Hashim that was formally constituted in 1984. The MNLF
claimed that several key provisions in the 1996 FPA remain unimplemented. The MILF,
for its part, wanted the highest form of autonomy while remaining an integral part of the
Philippine territory.
The GPH has pursued peace negotiations with the Moro liberation groups in order to
end the armed conflict, address the social, cultural and economic inequities, and arrive
at a viable political arrangement that will reconcile the ideals of Moro self-government,
good governance, and national sovereignty.
1997-2000: First Stage of GPH – MILF Peace Negotiations
The peace negotiations from 1997 to 2000 could be characterized as revolving mainly
around security issues. Mechanisms such as the Coordinating Committee on the
Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG), and the
International Monitoring Team (IMT) were established. Confidence-building measures
and ceasefire agreements were firmed up in the early stages of the negotiations.
During this period, negotiations were conducted in Mindanao without third party
facilitation or mediation. But the all-out war in 2000 halted the conduct of the peace talks
and caused the withdrawal of the MILF from the negotiating table.
2001-2014: Second Stage of GPH – MILF Peace Negotiations
This stage is marked with the involvement of international players, particularly Malaysia
as the third party facilitator. The talks entered into substantive discussions outside of the
cessation of hostilities and rehabilitation and development, such as discussions on the
political settlement and the details of the arrangement for autonomy and self-
governance.
The MOA-AD
The draft Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was finalized
and initialed on 27 July 2008, and was scheduled for signing on 5 August 2008 in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. However, it was restrained by the Supreme Court on the same day.
Serious objections to the draft agreement by local officials in the affected areas and the
attacks from renegade MILF elements on civilian communities in several parts of
Mindanao prompted a policy decision. The non-signing triggered attacks from renegade
MILF elements and more than 500,000 people were displaced as a result of the fighting.
By November 2008, Malaysia decided to pull out its contingent in the Malaysian-led
IMT.It would only be on July 2009 that backchannel efforts led to the effecting of the
Suspension of Military Operations (SOMO) by the government forces and the
Suspension of Military Actions (SOMA) by the MILF.
It should be noted that the ill-fated MOA-AD was NOT envisioned or intended to be the
GPH-MILF Final Peace Agreement. Even if the MOA-AD were signed, the mechanisms
and modalities of governance would still have had to be spelled out in a Final Peace
Agreement/Comprehensive Compact. It only discussed the last of the three (3)
substantive aspects of the
It only discussed the last of the three (3) substantive aspects of the 2001 Tripoli Peace
Agreement (the two earlier aspects being Security Mechanisms and Rehabilitation and
Development, which have been earlier agreed upon). Negotiations conducted post-
MOA-AD highlight several important mechanisms such as the formation of the
International Contact Group (ICG). The ICG is primarily mandated to exert the
necessary leverage and assistance towards sustaining the trust and confidence of both
sides at the negotiating table.
In June 2010, the Declaration of Continuity for the Peace Negotiations between the
GPH and the MILF was signed. An attempt to ensure the continuity in the talks under
the incoming administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, it recognized the
significant achievements in the negotiations, affirmed the Parties’ commitment to a
peaceful solution to the conflict, and contained the Parties’ agreement to consider “new
formulas that permanently respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro
people for just peace, freedom founded on parity of esteem, equal treatment for their
identity, ethos, and rights and for the Bangsamoro as a whole to exercise self-
governance on the basis of consent in accordance to an agreed framework which shall
be negotiated and adopted by the Parties” and “in good faith, build on prior consensus
points achieved.” The Declaration thus put a closure to this stage of the peace
negotiations and laid down the foundation for the continuation of the peace process into
the Aquino administration.
GOVERNMENTPEACETREATIESWITH
MUSLIMGOVERNMENTPEACETREATIESWITH MUSLIM
In 1996 the Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) signed a
Final Peace Agreement, which granted the Muslim majority areas autonomy.
However, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which split from the MNLF in
1984.
But the Peace between a half of MILF doesn’t agreed in what’s the
Government Purpose.
Government way to Declared a Peace Agreement with our Muslims country
Benigno Simeon Cujuangco Aquino III
Born February 8,1960 is a filipino politician who served as the 15th
President of the Philippines.
He was elected on June 30, 2010.
He is the one who stand to stop a Asia’s Largest Rebellions through Peace
Agreement.
March 23, 2014: New Chance for Peace.
After years-long negotiations, the Philippine government and Muslim
rebels have signed a treaty to end one of Asia's longest and
deadliest rebellions.
The move follows when the High Ranking Guerilla leaders has been
arrested.
Philippine authorities had prepared for this operation for months.
The New People’s Army (NPA).
• Has been leading a guerrilla war against the federal government in
Manila. The Maoist-dominated NPA is one of the oldest guerrilla
movements in Asia and is designated by the EU as a terrorist organization
since 2002.
• Decades of fighting between government forces and communist
rebels have already caused tens of thousands of deaths.
• Philippine Security Forces expecting the New People’s Army to
retaliate for the arrest of their leaders.
Peace Treaty
Different Muslim rebel groups on the southern island of Mindanao have
been fighting for autonomy or independence for more than four decades. But
following 17 years of negotiations between the largest separatist groups and the
government an agreement is now in sight.
March 27, 2014.
• Leaders of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are set to sign a
historic peace deal with Manila, designed to put an end to one of the
longest and most violent insurgencies in Southeast Asia
• Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have so far been
excluded from the negotiations and could still pose a threat to peace
prospects on the island.
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is under Pressure.
• In the meantime, the Filipino government has said it welcomes new
talks with the Communist party.
• Negotiations between the CPP and the government broke off last
year which is 2013. Casiple believes that the latest developments have
provided a new chance for peace: "A continuation of the peace talks and
the signing of an agreement are more likely following the arrest of the party
leaders. Their detention will strengthen the position of those CPP members
who want to push negotiations forward."
Peace between the Government and with our country Muslim people has been
Declared
March 27, 2014: Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB)
• is a final peace agreement signed between the Government of the
Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on 27 March 2014 at the
Malacañang Palace in Manila.
Peace Agreement Between MILF and Government
• After nearly 40 years of conflict that has left tens of thousands of
people dead. The agreement signed was between the separatist group -
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) - and the government under President
Benigno Aquino III. The faction is the country's largest Muslim rebel group
and the main insurgent group which has been fighting for autonomy.
• The comprehensive agreement on Bangsamoro is the crowning glory of
struggle, MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim said at the ceremony in Manila.
The term "Bangsamoro" is a local term which refers to a MUSLIM
HOMELAND.
• With this agreement the legitimate aspirations of the Bangsamoro and the
commitment of the government of the Philippines to recognize those
aspirations are now sealed.
• The peace agreement foresees the creation of an autonomous region
for the Muslim population to be located in the southern Mindanao region
and that is ARMM or Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao replaced
with BAR or Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
• It will have a power-sharing agreement with the central government,
allowing its own leadership to control most of its own natural resources
and revenues.
• President Aquino's advisor praised the decision, which ends roughly
17 years of negotiations.
