Philippines Project
Overview
Nonviolent Peaceforce was invited to Mindanao by local organizations working for peace and justice. Some of the organizations are formally involved in monitoring the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). NP deploys internationals to work with local peacekeepers, contribute to their safety, help to maintain ceasefires and advance the peace process.
Nonviolent Peaceforce Philippines Project objectives include:
- Enhancing the work of local peace teams through its presence and by reporting to the outside world;
- Contributing to the maintenance of the ceasefire(s) and working to prevent new violence;
- Supporting human rights reporting mechanisms in remote conflict areas;
- Assisting and connecting local and international advocacy groups;
- Ensuring grassroots conflicts are resolved through dialogue at the local level and do not grow into larger crises.
NP International Civilian Peacekeepers (ICPs) and national staff consult with local partners in deciding priorities and activities as evolving situations demand. To ensure legitimacy and accountability of the NP project to local civil society, there is an Advisory Board of prominent peace activists.
Strategy
NP's strategy in Mindanao:
- To enhance the scope and quality of locally based people’s organizations and peace/human rights advocates.
- To reduce the incidence of violence in the vicinity of NP field sites through means of unarmed international civilian peacekeeping, thereby aiding in the maintenance of the ceasefire(s).
- To support human rights reporting mechanisms in remote conflict areas and assist/connect local and international advocacy groups that work for peace with justice by responding to people’s grievances.
- To localize grassroots conflicts so that they are resolved through dialogue at the lowest level and do not snowball into larger crises.
- To provide conscious international presence by deploying international civilian peacekeepers in vulnerable areas to associate with partners from local civil society.
- To offer protective accompaniment to individuals, groups or communities wedded to non-violent solutions but exposed to threats.
- To provide neutral spaces and facilitation services to local peacemakers who attempt to resolve traditional (Rido) and non-traditional disputes carrying the potential of violence.
- To facilitate mutual sharing, learning and training on nonviolent strategies with peacemakers and authorities dealing with the peace process.
- To monitor violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, reporting them to relevant national and international agencies upon the consent of survivors.
- To interposition international civilian peacekeepers along with local peace volunteers and ceasefire monitors to boost the sanctity of buffer zones and zones of peace.
Field News
Click on the more link to read more of the field report.
June 2011 Philippines Field Report
I. Highlights of the Month
Nonviolent Peaceforce’s (NP) Maguindanao Field team was asked by its local partner, Magungaya Mindanao Inc. (MMI), to provide an orientation of conflict prevention tools, such as Early Warning, Early Response mechanisms, as well as to share knowledge on Human Rights monitoring and documentation in a secluded community, Fukol. June is peak flooding time in the Philippines and this season happened to be one of the worst in decades, so the team set off on a lengthy ride to the community not knowing what to expect. Read more »
May 2011 Philippines Field Report
I. Highlights of the Month
A rido[1] in one barangay in Guindulungan, Maguindanao that has been sporadically erupting since the mid-1990s, was again an issue this month despite no recent hostilities. Rather, the MILF official, which has been posted between the two fighting parties since December 2010, decided to withdraw from the area following a period of calm. The immediate response by civilians, who feared renewed fighting, was to evacuate. The team was informed about the situation by a partner, Magungaya Mindanao, Inc. Read more »
October/November 2008
The security situation in conflict affected areas of Mindanao further destabilised in November with the pull out of International Monitoring Team (IMT) - especially of the Malaysian contingent - from the Philippines. Throughout the months of October and November 2008, sporadic fire fights continued in the conflict affected areas of Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the three base commanders of Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Most of the IDPs in the North Cotabato region managed to settle back in their respective barangays while the IDPs in the conflict affected areas of Maguindanao and Lanao provinces continued to stay in IDP camps. The IDPs in such areas were reluctant to go back as there were random mortar firing, aerial bombing and shelling incidents in their respective areas. Some parts of the island of Basilan also remained tense after the outbreak of small armed skirmishes between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the rebel forces of MILF.
September 2008
The armed hostilities continued in the conflict affected areas of Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the three base commanders of Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The AFP changed its tactics of military operation from aggressive assault to strategic targeting after the three base commanders of BIAF adapted guerrilla tactics of warfare. The fire fights have been going on for last 10 weeks but none of the parties so far has been able to achieve any concrete results although it has amplified the sufferings of many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). At present, more than two hundred thousand people have already been displaced and the number of IDPs continues to grow.
September 2008—Maguindanao Update
NP along with the International Monitoring Team and Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society visited Datu Saudi and Datu Piang, Maguindanao on 2nd of September 2008. The group was allowed to pass through the Salbo-Datu Piang road and managed to reach as far as Brgy. Duaminanga, of Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Along the way, the group noticed that main doors of most of the civilian houses on Salvo-Datu Piang road were opened including the front door of the office/house of Nonviolent Peaceforce in Brgy. Dapiawan, Datu Saudi, Maguindanao. The group observed that some of the houses in Brgy, Madia, Datu Saudi, Maguindanao were totally burned and destroyed .
August, 2008
The current impasse in the Peace Talks between the GRP and MILF on the Memorandum of Agreement – Ancestral Domain (MOA – AD) as well as the heavy ongoing fire fights between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and few base commands of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) resulted in the displacement of thousands of families and fuelled tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities in the conflict affected areas of Mindanao.
May-June, 2008
The latest round of negotiations between the Peace Panels of the Government Republic of Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Malaysia broke the deadlock on contentious issue of ancestral domain and finally managed to settle the issue which was lingering on for more than three years. Now both parties are gearing up to resume the formal peace talks after an impasse of almost two years which could finally set the path to the signing of the Formal Peace Agreement between the GRP and MILF.
April 2008
The stalled peace process between the GRP and MILF startled with the sudden decision of the Malaysian government to gradually pull out the Malaysian contingents from the International Monitoring Team (IMT). The Malaysian government as the main facilitators of the GRP- MILF peace process had been maintaining 41 IMT members from Malaysian Defense Forces and the rest of 19 IMT members have been from Brunei, Libya and Japan. Within two weeks after the announcement, the Malaysian government pulled out 29 of their IMT members including the head of the Mission of IMT in Mindanao.
March 2008
Other than maintaining back channel negotiations, there is no credible advancement or breakthrough between the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and MILF to announce an official date of the recommencement of the adjourned formal peace talks or executive level talks between the Peace Panel representatives of the both sides.
February 2008
The killing incident of eight villagers in Barangay Ipil, Maimbung Sulu by the Armed Forces of Philippines rocked the depleting, uncertain and vulnerable political and security structures of Mindanao.
January 2008
The initiation of backchannel negotiations between GRP and MILF keep the ray of hope intact after the annulment of Exploratory Talks on 15th- 16th December 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The MILF peace panel withdrew from the exploratory talks as the GRP added a phrase in their draft of resolving ancestral domain issue through constitutional process. According to MILF this phrase was not included in the draft that was submitted earlier and, above all, primarily both parties already agreed on consensus point’s agreement on the ancestral domain issue.
May 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007
In November 2005, NP’s IGC mandated the deployment of a team of 5 International Civilian Peacekeepers (ICPs) for a period of 18 months in Mindanao. In August 2006, NP’s Advance Team led by the designated Project Director Atif Hameed transformed the context of the project through detailed consultations in the Philippines. An Advisory Board of locals was initiated and six potential field sites were identified for setting up offices. Potential activities derived from NP’s mandate were also suggested for the Project. Since then, several important political developments have taken place in Mindanao that have a bearing upon NP’s work.
October-November 2007
The political atmosphere was dominated by incessant efforts from all the stakeholders to resume the formal peace talks between the government (GRP) and MILF and review the implementation of 1996 Peace agreement between GRP and MNLF. Other than brief skirmishes in some areas, the overall security situation in Mindanao remained calm and peaceful as compared to the previous months.
September 2007
A special meeting between the representatives of the GRP and MILF Peace Panels took place in Cyberjaya, Malaysia on September 27, 2007. During the meeting, the two parties expressed a common decision to move forward and reached a consensus in requesting the Malaysia, Brunie, Libya and Japan to extend the International Monitoring Team tour of duty for another 18 months till October of 2008. The special meeting took place after a call from the Malaysian government to start the resumption of talks as well as lobbying work in this regard was done by the non governmental organization.
August 2007
The political scenarios in some parts of Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) moved towards increased volatility with numerous armed clashes between Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the islands of Sulu and Basilan. With the lingering vulnerable situation in Basilan in the aftermath of the killing and mutilation of the dead bodies of Marines (AFP) and a Muslim Imam, the AFP and ASG entered into a number of armed clashes in MILF areas in Basilan as AFP continued its hunt to capture the culprits involved in the mutilations.
July 2007
The civil society organizations and ceasefire mechanism structure of Government Republic of Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have played a very instrumental and pivotal role in preventing a war like situation between the Armed Forces of Philippines and Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) of MILF. The fire fight took place between Marines and BIAF in Albaraka, Basilan when following a false lead Marines entered MILF area without prior coordination with Local Government Unit (LGU) and MILF to track down the kidnappers of Italian priest Father Bossi.
June 2007
MNLF and the Government of the Philippines (GRP) are scheduled to resume tripartite talks with the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Qatar in July. The talks between GRP and MILF were scheduled for after the elections, but mistrust arose with the sudden resignation of the Chair of the GRP Peace Panel. Given the parallel peace processes covering the same territories between MNLF and GRP on one hand and between MILF and GRP on the other, tensions are also observable between the two Moro organisations.
May 2007
Elections dominated the political space throughout the month. They were marked by several malpractices and were closely monitored by national and international observers. Many provinces of Mindanao in which NP has plans of working have been declared to have had “failed elections”. Re-elections in Lanao del Sur and Shariff Kabunsuan generated more polarisation of society and added fuel to existing ridos (clan conflicts). The results of Maguindanao are under dispute and people fear more violence.
April 2007
The situation became tense in the island of Sulu in the month of April. A 'mini war' broke out between the Philippine army and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that resulted in a number of casualties among the armed groups and civilians living close to the fighting areas. Hundreds of Tausug fled from their houses and sheltered in nearby IDP camps. Civil society organizations from Mindanao rushed to the IDP Camps to provide relief assistance and asked the armed groups to announce a ceasefire.
March 2007
The situation in Mindanao has become more tense over the last month. At the beginning of March one soldier and three members of MILF were killed in a clash between army and MILF in the Maguindanao area (close to Cotabato).
The Philippine government offered the Muslims in Mindanao the right of self-determination which was considered by political observes a possible break-through to revive the peace negotiations that have been stalled since September 2006.
February 2007
The situation in Mindanao has become more tense over the month of February with the negotiations between government and MILF still being on halt. (In March however there have been positive signals by the Philippine government that may move the peace process forward again.)
January 2007
The overall political situation in Mindanao is quite fluid and uncertain because of the following reasons: Impasse in the peace process between the government (GRP) and MILF although communication channels are open through backdoor diplomacy; issues related to the implementation of 1996 peace agreement between GRP and MNLF; upcoming congressional elections on May 14, 2007; the ongoing “war on terrorism” against Abu Sayyaf, Jammah Islami and New People's Army; and, small scale fight/skirmishes between paramilitaries/auxiliary groups and MILF on land issues in Midsayap/ North Cotabato.
Background
The conflict in Mindanao began when a massive resettlement program of Christians from the island of Luzon caused conflicts around land distribution with the predominantly Muslim population on Mindanao. The main guerrilla group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), signed a peace treaty with the Philippine government (GRP) in 1996.
A referendum asked the municipalities and provinces with significant Muslim populations in Mindanao if they wished to join an Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which had originated in 1990. Today, five provinces form the ARMM. They are Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao in Central Mindanao, and the islands Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in Western Mindanao. Since the municipalities of some of these regions are predominantly Christian, some of the cities are not in ARMM, including Cotabato City, which is the headquarters of the ARMM.
MNLF leaders joined the government structures in Mindanao, mainly in the ARMM. Twelve thousand MNLF soldiers were demobilized, with about 8,500 of them integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which had officially split off from the MNLF in 1984, continued the fighting. The GRP and MILF officially entered into peace talks in 1997. Ceasefire agreements and peace negotiations with the MILF broke down several times. The last two all-out wars happened in 2000 and in early 2003. In March 2003, peace talks were resumed.
Peace Talks
Peace talks between the Government of the Republic of Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic National Front (MILF) are facing a difficult task on the issue of ancestral domains. On the eve of the officially signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a Temporary Restraining Order and barred the GRP to affix its signature on MOA-AD. The cancellation of the ceremony led to the breakdown of the peace talks. A firefight erupted in August 2008 between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and three influential Base Commanders of the MILF. The GRP and MILF Peace talks were facilitated by the Malaysian who also led the International Monitoring Team. The Peace talks are suspended up to now although efforts are being made to resume. Since August 2008, firefights have been going on continuously, resulting in the displacements of thousands of families.
Violence in the South has been perpetrated by many more groups than MNLF and MILF, including other armed non-state actors (Pentagon in Central Mindanao, Abu Sayyaf, the South-East Asian Jemaah Islamiah etc.), Christian vigilante organizations, criminal gangs, and official and semi-official government agencies. Human rights organizations have counted large numbers of cases of extrajudicial killings in the Mindanao region of the Philippines. Family feuds with an ethos of revenge are also an important issue, especially in Muslim areas.
All together, between 600,000 and one million people have been internally displaced because of the conflicts, and 160,000 died (40,000 in the North, 120,000 in the South). Most of the internally displaced have now returned.
Outcome
In February 2010, swisspeace conducted an evaluation of the Nonviolent Peaceforce’s activities in the Mindanao province. Being the only international non-governmental organization working with and living in close proximity to the most conflict-affected population in Mindanao, NP was able to support and enhance local structures to achieve their goals as well as cross-community dialogue. NP accepted the offer in late 2009 by the conflict parties – the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – to join the civilian protection component of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) of the peace process. This is a direct expression and result of NP’s successful contributions to violence reduction and non-violence in the last two years. Read the results of this study in its entirety.
The work of NP was highlighted in two workshops in the Philippines in August 2009, during which key stakeholders in the Mindanao Peace Processes acknowledged that unarmed civilian peacekeeping is an improvement in monitoring and consolidating the ceasefire mechanism structures.
