Peace and Development With emphasis on Mindanao.pptx

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1. Peace and Development in Mindanao

2. The Island of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago Mindanao, an island located in the south of the Republic of the Philippines, has long been home to members of the Islamic faith. The resistance by the Bangsamoro people that began with the Spanish invasion of the 16th Century has continued into the present as their liberation movement sought independence from first the United States and later the Republic of the Philippines itself.

3. The History of Mindanao Islam first arrived in Mindanao in the 13th Century. Mindanao remains a crossroads for a diverse array of ethnic and religious groups, including the descendants of Japanese immigrants.

4. Islam is believed to have first arrived in Mindanao in the 13th Century. According to local legend, Muslims from what is now Malaysia visited the island and attempted to convert a pair of brothers who were leaders of their communities. While the older brother was deeply moved by the teachings of Islam and decided to convert, the younger did not. To avoid any strife with his brother, the younger man decided to move to the mountains. The Muslim residents of Mindanao are said to be the descendants of the older brother while the indigenous groups on the mountains like the Manobo and Teduray are said to be the descendants of the younger.

5. Early 20th Century , about ninety percent of the population of Mindanao was Muslim. But with the “resettlement policy” adopted by the American territorial government in 1912 , large numbers of Christians began to settle on the island. A reas in South Cotabato like Tupi , Koronadal , and Surallah were chosen for settlement . After the Philippines gained formal independence from the United States following the Second World War, the new government embarked on a full-fledged resettlement program and moved Christians from Luzon and the Visayas to areas across Mindanao.

6. The government’s resettlement program was accompanied by land grants , with each immigrant receiving up to twenty-four hectares of land for free. Companies and organizations that moved were granted up to 1,024 hectares . The Muslims of Mindanao were legally loss of their ancestral lands through these government policies, decades later, there is incessant conflict over this land. The result of these policies enacted over the past century is that roughly eighty percent of the twenty-five million people now living on Mindanao are Christian.

7. Immigrants of Japanese Descent Davao, a city of more than a million people located in eastern Mindanao, first became a destination for significant Japanese immigration in the early 1900s. These Japanese immigrants had been hired to work on the construction of a highway from Manila in central Luzon to Baguio, a city located in the island’s northern mountains. Once the construction came to an end, they looked south to Mindanao and began moving to Davao because of its widespread cultivation of abaca (the raw material for Manila hemp). By the time of the Second World War more than 20,000 Japanese lived in the city and there was a prosperous Nihonmachi (Japan town) in the city’s Mintal district. Japanese immigrants lived in areas across Mindanao like Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Marawi , and Cotabato and largely worked in agriculture and commerce.

8. The People and Religions of Mindanao The ethnic and religious distribution of modern Mindanao is complicated. There are large numbers of Muslims in the central provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao and on the islands of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi .

9. They spend their days faithfully following the five pillars of Islam. Verses of the Koran play at great volume from mosque loudspeakers, announcing the five daily prayer times. Goats are slaughtered for celebrations and they hold feasts known as “ kanduli .” Everyone fasts from sunrise to sundown during the holy month of Ramadan and avoids scheduling meetings and appointments for the afternoon as it becomes difficult to concentrate on work at that time. They try to get their important work done early in the morning, instead. People greet each other with “ As- salamu alaykum ” and receive “ Alaykum as- salamu ” in reply.

10. Many of the Christian settlers on Mindanao apparently originated from the Visayan islands of Panay, Cebu, and Negros, so while Tagalog is used as a common tongue, Visayan is used exclusively at home. Naturally, these Christians drink alcohol and eat pork, with the Filipino specialty of lechón (roast suckling pig) an indispensable part of their celebrations.

11. Broadly speaking, there are three ethnic groups on Mindanao: Christians, Muslims, and the indigenous groups. I ndigenous groups continue to follow the indigenous religion of the area. They worship the myriad spirits who exist in nature and hold unique ceremonies through which they pay homage to them. There are said to be more than twenty such groups. Their traditional clothing features combinations of bright colors like red, yellow, and green, and anyone who watches native dancers performing in traditional costume will be spellbound.

12. The Ancestral Domain Issue T hese three groups live together on Mindanao, the history of this co-existence has very much not been a peaceful one. The Christians who came to Mindanao through the Philippine government’s resettlement policy in the 1960s (largely from the Visayas ) formed local communities based on their Christian culture. And with the government providing them with land, the area they occupied steadily expanded. This was all done completely legally.

13. O lder Muslims remember this process somewhat differently. They say that the Christians who came from the north were the impoverished, those who had been without land and enough to eat. the Muslims loaned the Christians a portion of the land that had been passed on to them by their ancestors. Then, one day, the Christians came to the Muslims and announced that “The Philippines government has formally recognized our ownership of the land that we reclaimed through the sweat of our brows. From now on, that land belongs to us, the Christians.”

14. The two groups took up arms and fought. The Christians to protect the new paradise that they had worked hard to make for themselves, and the Muslims to protect the land that had been passed on to them by their ancestors.

15. The History of the Mindanao Conflict The Muslims living on Mindanao formed armed groups and confronted the Philippine government as part of a liberation movement to protect the rights and land of the Moro people. The Moros are not monolithic, however. They divided into two groups that only concluded a peace agreement following fighting and negotiations.

16. The Moro National Liberation Front In March 1968, young Muslim army recruits were brought to Corregidor (an island in Manila Bay) for training. They were then killed by Christian army officers after mutinying. When the officers involved in the massacre were found not guilty by a military court , it led to widespread Muslim outrage against Christians and the intensification of the armed conflict between the two communities. Calls rose up for the Muslims to show solidarity as Moros . Muslim students in Manila labeled the massacre the “ worst crime of the century ” and protests spread through the city. Conflicts between armed Christian and Muslim groups on Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago escalated, resulting in more than 30,000 people fleeing their fields and villages to avoid the conflict.

17. These events provide the backdrop for the founding of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1971 by Nur Misuari , a lecturer at the University of the Philippines, and his two associates Abul Khayr Alonto and Salamat Hashim . The MNLF was an armed group that sought the independence of the Bangsamoro (the Moro people).

18. Muslims in the southern Philippines can be broadly divided – both linguistically and geographically – between Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. They can be then further subdivided into groups like the Maguindanao , Maranao , Tausug, Yakan , Sama , and Bajau.

19. The Final Peace Agreement with the MNL Armed attacks by Muslim separatists increased in the 1980s. The number of internally displaced persons from Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago reached nearly a million people and more than 50,000 were killed in the fighting. Corazon Aquino became president of the Philippines in 1986 following the People Power Revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos. She took the Muslim issue very seriously and held talks with Chairman Nur Misuari in August 1986 on the Sulu Archipelago, the MNLF’s stronghold.

20. Republic Act No. 6734 – An Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao – was enacted in 1989 and explicitly stated that the people of Muslim Mindanao had the right of autonomy “within the framework of the Constitution and national sovereignty.”

21. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was established following a referendum, though it only encompassed the four Muslim majority provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi , Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao . The ARMM’s first gubernatorial election was held in 1990 and it was decided that the ARMM government’s offices would be placed in Cotabato .

22. Fidel Ramos , who had served as chief of staff of the armed forces under Aquino , was elected president in 1992. Immediately after taking office, he moved to restore the government’s peace negotiations with the MNLF. Chairman Nur Misuari responded to this effort and explored negotiating positions with the MNLF leadership. The result of these lengthy negotiations was the Final Peace Accord signed by the Philippines government and MNLF on September 2 ,. Nur Misuari was elected governor of th1996e ARMM government in elections held later that year.

23. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front Salamat Hashim , who had founded the MNLF alongside Nur Misuari, was born in Pagalungan , Maguindanao in 1942. He spent eleven years in Cairo and studied Islam at Al- Azhar University. While a student, he came into contact with Middle Eastern and African anti-colonial movements and became greatly influenced by contemporary Islamist thought .

24. The 1976 Tripoli Agreement was a peace deal between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) , brokered by Libya under Muammar Gaddafi . It aimed to end the armed conflict in Mindanao by granting autonomy to Muslim-majority areas.

25. After the signing of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement between the Philippine government and the MNLF, differences surfaced between Salamat Hasihm and Nur Misuari over the goals of the Moro liberation movement and how they were to be achieved. The MNLF split into a Misuari faction based in the Sulu Archipelago and a Salamat faction based in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur. These two factions would eventually enter into armed conflict with each other.

26. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was founded in 1984 by Salamat Hashim after breaking away from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) due to ideological differences . Hashim , influenced by Islamist thought, sought to establish an Islamic state based on Sharia law to protect the Bangsamoro people's rights. The MILF continued armed resistance even after the MNLF signed a peace agreement in 1996.

27. However, in 2012, the MILF and the Philippine government reached the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), leading to the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). This resulted in the abolition of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the creation of a highly autonomous Bangsamoro government , achieving justice for the Bangsamoro people.

28. The highly autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao is now called the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) . It was established in 2019, replacing the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) after the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) . The BARMM has greater political and fiscal autonomy, allowing the Bangsamoro people to have more control over their governance, laws, and development.

29. Own Governments The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) operates like an independent government, with committees handling politics, military, education, health, finance, and more. It has a structured political and military system , with leadership at different levels—from villages to provinces.

30. The Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) serves as the military wing of the MILF, with over 45,000 fighters and 31 military bases across Mindanao. Soldiers, often called "farmer soldiers," work in agriculture when not engaged in combat. They do not receive salaries but follow the principle of self-reliance , as promoted by MILF founder Salamat Hashim .

31. Women also play an essential role in the MILF. The Bangsamoro Islamic Women’s Auxiliary Brigade (BIWAB) consists of young and middle-aged women who support soldiers by protecting their homes, tending to the wounded, and providing logistical help. During intense fighting, farming families struggled as men went to war, leaving women to manage agricultural work alone. The BIWAB members were young but dedicated, balancing their duties at home and on the battlefield.

32. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) built a strong support base by creating political and military systems that reached even the smallest villages ( barangays ). They provided services like education, welfare, food, and financial support , making them widely respected among the Bangsamoro people. This solid backing helped the MILF gain recognition from the Philippine government , which officially started peace talks with them in 1997 under President Ramos .

33. The Family Feud Rido is a clan or family feud common in Mindanao, particularly among Muslim communities. It often arises from disputes over land, political positions, honor, or personal conflicts . Because weapons are easily available, these feuds can escalate into violent, long-term conflicts, sometimes lasting for generations. Rido is a major obstacle to peace in Mindanao, as it weakens communities, disrupts governance, and fuels further violence . While peace agreements like those between the Philippine government and the MILF help resolve larger conflicts, rido remains a local issue that requires mediation, justice, and community efforts to end permanently.

34. Agreements Between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Bangsamoro

35. The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Bangsamoro , represented by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and later the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), have signed several agreements aimed at resolving conflicts and granting autonomy to the Bangsamoro people.

36. 1976 Tripoli Agreement Signed on December 23, 1976 in Tripoli, Libya under the mediation of Muammar Gaddafi . It was the first peace agreement between the Philippine government and MNLF . Granted autonomy to 13 provinces and 9 cities in Mindanao, but implementation stalled due to disagreements.

37. Provinces Granted Autonomy Basilan Sulu Tawi-Tawi Zamboanga del Sur Zamboanga del Norte North Cotabato South Cotabato Maguindanao Lanao del Sur Lanao del Norte Sultan Kudarat Davao del Sur Palawan Cities Granted Autonomy Marawi Cotabato City Zamboanga City Davao City Iligan City General Santos City Pagadian Dipolog Puerto Princesa (in Palawan)

38. Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao 5 provinces Basilan , Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao , Sulu, and Tawi‑Tawi . The regional center is the City of Cotabato .

39. The Tripoli Agreement granted autonomy to these areas, its implementation stalled due to conflicts between the Philippine government and the MNLF . Instead of full autonomy, the government created the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 1989 , covering only Maguindanao , Lanao del Sur, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi after a plebiscite.

40. 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA) Signed on September 2, 1996 , between the Philippine government and MNLF under President Fidel Ramos . Led to the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) . Allowed MNLF members to join the government and integrate into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

41. 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) Signed on October 15, 2012 , between the Philippine government and MILF . Established the transition from ARMM to Bangsamoro . Recognized the Bangsamoro people’s right to self-determination . Laid the groundwork for the creation of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) .

42. 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) Signed on March 27, 2014 , under President Benigno Aquino III . Finalized the dissolution of ARMM and the creation of BARMM . Ensured greater autonomy and self-governance for the Bangsamoro people. Led to the passing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) .

43. 2018 Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) Signed into law on July 26, 2018 , under President Rodrigo Duterte . Provided for the establishment of BARMM with broader autonomy and fiscal independence. Allowed for a parliamentary system in the Bangsamoro region. Officially replaced ARMM with BARMM after a plebiscite in January 2019 .

44. Current Status BARMM was officially formed in 2019 , granting the Bangsamoro region more political and economic power. The Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) governs the region until 2025 , when the first BARMM elections will be held .