April/September 2009 Philippines Report

General Situation

After almost a year of suspended peace talks between the government of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF Peace Panel, the Chairmen of both the Peace Panels recommenced the process of directly engaging each other through "Non-Meetings" since June 2009. The immediate outcome of the Non-Meetings was the issuance of the SOMO (Suspension of Military Operations) and SOMA (Suspension of Military Action) by both the GRP and MILF in the last week of July 2009, which contributed to reducing incidences of fire fights as compared to the previous months. The Non-Meetings also produced fresh space to explore the possibilities of restarting the peace talks and further broadening the Ceasefire Mechanism Structure to have an overall framework, including Ceasefire Monitoring, Civilian Protection and an International Contact Group. In a major breakthrough, both Peace Panels in their joint statement agreed on the formation of an International Contact Group and to use the controversial MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) as a reference document for the peace talks.

There are still more than 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have yet to return to their places of origin. The IDPs are seeking security assurances from both parties before returning home and are also requesting livelihood support as most of their farmlands have been destroyed by the shelling and bombing that occurred from August 2008 to July 2009. The majority of the IDPs are from the province of Maguindanao and the rest are from the provinces of North Cotabato and Lanao regions.

In the pre-SOMO and SOMA period in the conflict affected areas of Mindanao witnessed shelling, aerial bombing, fire fights, round ups, burning of houses and blockage of relief supplies to the IDPs. Many cases of human rights violations like extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests, abduction, torture and threats were reported to human rights groups. During the same period, there was a number of bomb explosions in the regions of Cotabato, Illigan and Sulu which created increased fear among the civilians and further escalated the tensions between the key parties involved in the peace process.

Many kidnapping incidents took place all over Mindanao, especially in the areas of Sulu, Basilan, Cotabato and North Cotabato. The Armed Forces of the Philippines attacked locations of Kidnapping for Ransom Groups (KFRGs), especially the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the hinterland areas of Sulu and Basilan which led to the displacement of civilians.

The functions of the GRP and MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) remained suspended in the areas where military operations were occurring, although both the GRP and MILF CCCH kept their internal communication links open to ensure the continuity of the CCCH structure.

The surge in violence in Mindanao and the extended displacement of thousands of families attracted more media attention compared to the past, and many high level officials from international organizations and the diplomatic community visited Cotabato City and evacuation centres near the conflict affected areas on a regular basis. To meet the coordination needs of various humanitarian operations, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) established its office in Cotabato City and deployed a permanent representative. Similarly, UNICEF increased the levels of its operations in Mindanao and deployed permanent international staff in Cotabato City. Other international organizations increased the numbers of their local and expat staff to meet the enormous protection and relief needs of IDPs and civilians in the conflict affected areas of Mindanao.

The local civil society organizations welcomed the enhanced international presence. They organized various forums, Bakwit power (IDPs Power) program and media groups' visits to IDP areas to persuade the key parties in the Mindanao conflict to stop the fighting, to ensure the safe return of the IDPs and resume the suspended peace talks to find a solution of the Mindanao conflict through dialogue. The civil society organizations welcomed the proposed new framework agreement.

NP-P work

In the period reported, NP Philippines (NP-P) began to implement phase II of the project - the increase from a small international presence of 5-6 International Civilian Peacekeepers (ICPs) to a project several times larger.

In central Mindanao and in Manila the NP-P project is moving forward according to plan, while in the areas of western Mindanao, especially Zamboanga, Sulu and Basilan due to security concerns, it has had to adapt a lower profile.

After the In-country training in March of new international civilian peacekeepers, reinforcements were sent to the existing field site in Maguindanao and a new field site office was established in the municipality of Pikit to cover the critical areas of North Cotabato. In addition, a liaison office was established in Makati, Manila to generate support at higher levels on a permanent basis. At the same time, advance teams proceeded to the Lanao provinces (Lanao del Sur / Lanao del Norte) to start the process of consolidating relationships with partners, communities and armed stakeholders in the Lanao region and eventually in July to set up a NP-P regional office in Illigan City. From Illigan as a central location of the Lanao provinces, the NP-P team commenced field operations to cover the areas of Lanao del Sur through Marawi and areas of Lanao Del Norte through Tubod/ Kauswagon. As the work has developed in Lanao, NP-P is now ready to set up extended field offices in Marawi town and Tubod/ Kauswagon town.

Program

• The NP-P Main office and its liaison office in Manila remained highly occupied throughout the period in establishing and consolidating new structures within NP Philippines and provided programmatic, administrative, strategic and security support to all the field sites. It engaged with all the key actors and stakeholders in the Mindanao peace process.
• The Incident Management Team headed by Country Director Atif Hameed worked around the clock on the ground in coordination with the NP International Crisis Management Team to secure the safe release of Umar Jaleel who had been kidnapped in mid February from the team house in Basilan. He was released at the beginning of June thanks to negotiation efforts of NP. NP-P was supported throughout this ordeal by civil society groups as well as the GRP and MILF and MNLF representatives and forces on the ground.
• NP-P teams maintained a proactive presence in the conflict affected areas in the Maguindanao and North Cotabato province. NP-P teams regularly monitored IDP camps in the critical areas and identified and addressed protection issues faced by some of the IDPs and surrounding communities. On the request of the communities in the isolated areas affected by regular shelling and bombings, NP-P informed the higher authorities about the precise location of the civilians in the communities where some of the shells fell close to the civilian locations and evacuated many trapped and injured civilians from such areas to the safer locations. NP-P teams on the ground, in coordination with the main office in Cotabato City, facilitated IDP camp leaders to shift one of the camps to a new location as requested by the IDPs and get it recognized by the service providers and local government authorities. NP-P networked with IDP camp leaders and arranged their meetings with relevant authorities. NP-P identified protection issues faced by the IDPs and reported needs of the IDPs to various service providers on a regular basis.
• During the height of the crisis in mid of 2009, there were critical situations when most of the national and international humanitarian agencies were denied access to the conflict areas. However, NP-P was accorded a green light to continue to maintain its presence inside the critical areas which showed acknowledgement of NP-P's work on the ground and its operational relationships with all the key actors.
• NP-P teams provided protective accompaniment to various local and international NGOs and the Health Department to visit critical locations and document the needs of the communities. NP-P teams in collaboration with the main office in Cotabato City organized protection meetings inside the critical areas which planned common strategies to support the initiatives of the local civil society organizations.
• NP-P teams in all their work locations of Central and Western Mindanao contributed to rumour control and prevention which helped to reduce fear among the civilians, especially the IDPs. NP-P teams provided regular updates to all the relevant national and international groups on the security situation in the conflict affected areas and also maintained regular contact with the all the key stakeholders in the Mindanao conflict.
• NP-P teams documented various cases of human rights violations. In some cases, NP-P teams accompanied families of victims and maintained presence in their respective areas.
• NP-P through its field sites and Main Office provided trainings in formal and informal settings to more than 170 community based human rights workers and helped them establish human rights monitoring clusters in conflict affected communities.
• NP-P continued to share relevant information and situation updates with various national and international actors and protection network members. With the reduction in violence after the issuance of SOMO and SOMA, NP-P launched an early warning and early response program along with its partners in the newly established field sites in the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte. NP-P and ICRC reached an informal agreement to meet on fortnightly basis to exchange security information and to identify human rights violation cases to complement each other's work.  
• In North Cotabato, NP-P has been working with a local partner group to establish a Zone of Peace on the border areas of Pikit and Aleosan. These border areas were seriously affected by the outbreak of armed hostilities in August 2008. Other than the armed conflict between the GRP and MILF, these areas are highly vulnerable to communal / ethnic violence. Having a Peace Zone would establish and maintain regular communication channels between the three communities of Christians, Muslims and indigenous people.
• The NP-P Lanao team built relationships with all the stakeholders in the Lanao areas and consolidated relationships with the civil society organizations and key networks. The Lanao region does not have much presence of international actors and its one of the new areas for NP-P to work.
• On the request of various international delegates based in Manila, NP-P organized multiple meetings among the I/NGOs, international governmental organisations and visiting delegates from various embassies and their headquarters to discuss and analyse the IDP and security situation in the conflict affected areas of Central Mindanao. The NP-P Main office organized regular meetings of like-minded CSOs (civil society organisations) to work out common strategies to address protection issues faced by the civilians in the conflict affected communities. The NP-P Main office was requested by all the INGOs to be the convenor of an umbrella of Philippine INGOs (PINGON) based in Central Mindanao. NP-P also supported the initiative to launch a Protection Working Group in Mindanao comprised of international organizations operating in Mindanao. As a key organization operating in the conflict affected areas of Mindanao and well connected at various levels, NP-P accepted the invitation to join the Mindanao Inter-Agency Standing Committee and INGO/IGO networks operating at the Manila level.
• On the request of international groups based in the Philippines, NP-P gave briefings to various visiting delegations from the headquarters of UNICEF and UNOCHA on the humanitarian and security situation in Mindanao and recommended both IGOs to deploy permanent international staff in Cotabato.
• NP-P offices in Cotabato and Manila directly engaged the Chairmen of the Peace Panels of the GRP and MILF and highlighted key protection issues faced by the communities on the ground. During the breakdown of the peace talks, NP-P strategically maintained dialogue with both the parties and other key national and international actors to restart the peace talks.
• NP-P, in partnership with local partners and the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process, organized two high level forums on "Civilian Peacekeeping" in Cotabato City and Manila which were attended by the key stakeholders and policy makers, including officials from Department of National Defense, Department of Foreign Affairs, MILF, Generals from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, OPAPP, leaders from the Civil Society, intelligentia and media. Both forums created higher levels of awareness of the strengths of unarmed civilian peacekeeping and all the participants acknowledged the work of NP in the Philippines. The key speakers in both the forums were the Executive Director of NP - Mel Duncan, Program Director of NP - Tim Wallis, Senior Advisor of NP - Rolf Carriere and Country Director of NP Philippines - Atif Hameed.

NP Philippines organized its Advisory Council Meeting (earlier: Advisory Board) which was attended by the Executive Director of NP as well. The Advisory Council members reviewed NP-P activities and appreciated NP-P's presence and work in the crisis times and made recommendations to further strengthen operational relationships between NP-P teams and local partners on the ground.