Page 4 - Empowerment and Protection - The Philippines

led to the ongoing drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which aims to describe a vision, identity and formation process for the proposed Moro homeland, to be known as the Bangsamoro. The Bangsamoro would supplant the ARMM
and be enabled with greater socio-economic
and political powers than any of the previous frameworks. A plebiscite will be held in the region to ratify the BBL once it is passed through Congress.
While it is hoped that the development of the
BBL will address many of the demands for greater self-governance and autonomy of the Moros, many feel that it does not comprehensively address
the concerns of IPs in the proposed Bangsamoro territory, most of whom allege to have been largely excluded from the peace process. As a result, IPs fear that they will continue to face displacement, killings, and the subversion of their rights to their ancestral domains and lands.
NPA experienced a similar ideological splintering, which diminished its support base. The Mindanao region remained a theatre of dissident operations, split among the NPA in the northeast sections of the island, the MILF in the south-central region, and the MNLF in the southwestern peninsula of Zamboanga down to the southern island provinces closest to Malaysia.
It is estimated that the Moro conlict has cost the government at least 100 billion pesos (US $2.3m) since 1970. It has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and displaced over 2 million, some repeatedly.3 Meanwhile, decades of violent conlict have also undermined economic development
and left millions in poverty. The lack of economic opportunity and legal protection for women
and children has spawned widespread human traficking. Despite the constant state of insecurity brought by conlict, the region’s oppressed populations exhibit an admirable level of resiliency and perseverance.
A promise as yet unfulilled
In 1986, the People Power-EDSA Revolutiona toppled the Marcos dictatorship in a near-bloodless, civilian-led uprising. The newly established democracy led by President Corazon C. Aquino enshrined its vision for the future in a revised 1987 national constitution that sought to ensure greater freedoms, representation and parity for all. It provided openings for greater civil participation in governance, enhanced guarantees for human rights and dignity, and recognised a national identity.
In an eventual peace deal with the MNLF, it also established the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as an acknowledgment of Muslim Mindanao’s desire for self-governance. However, more than a quarter century since,
the Philippines has yet to consistently and comprehensively live up to the spirit and intent of this landmark agreement. Entering the millennia, the country has had a second president overthrown, a former president investigated and arrested for plunder, its electoral process cast into doubt, a chief justice impeached and its legislature embroiled in corruption and inancial scandals.
On the other hand, this history of repression and resistance generated strong popular advocacy
a The revolution is named for the main thoroughfare in Manila, the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, which was the site of the main protests that ended the Marcos regime.
PEOPLE KILLED IN MINDANAO CONFLICT
100-150 THOUSAND
(PLOUGHSHARES 2014)
PRIMARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT (% NET)
88% IN 2009
(WORLD BANK 2014C)
ESTIMATED DISPLACED PEOPLE
2 MILLION SINCE MINDANAO CONFLICT (PLOUGHSHARES 2014)
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
14.9% IN 2012
(WORLD BANK 2014B)
and a rich civil society, which has nurtured Mindanao’s tri-people perspective, advocating equal rights and respect for settlers, the Moros, and IPs. Furthermore, the country has high hopes for the end to a 16-year peace negotiation process between the Philippine government and the MILF, which seeks comprehensive and equitable resolutions to key issues.4 The peace process has
This history of repression
and resistance generated strong popular advocacy and a rich civil society.
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