USAID/OTI Philippines Program Summary: November 2000
In the fall of 1996,
after years of
negotiations, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the largest Muslim rebel group at the time, signed a peace agreement ending hostilities. The peace agreement emphasized economic development for the Muslims of Mindanao.
| 9/97 |
3/01 |
$2,033,000 |
$1,533,151 |
OTI's program in Mindanao began in 1997 to encourage the Philippine government's investment in neglected, Muslim areas and to reintegrate ex-combatants from the MNLF back into local communities. The initial phase, which ran through March 1999, provided 4,000 ex-combatants and their families with agricultural livelihood assistance and literacy training.
Phase two of OTI's program, which will run through March 2001, is helping ex-combatant villages become more productive and self-sufficient. Assistance in this phase comes in the form of post-harvest machinery, such as rice threshers and equipment for village-based infrastructure projects. As of June 2000, more than 9,000 ex-combatants and 14,393 families have benefited from this program.
OTI developed the program jointly with the GRP's Department of Agriculture and the MNLF villages and the cooperatives they have formed. After OTI provided $500,000 as leverage capital to draw in other resources, both partners recognized its potential value and contributed as well. The GRP contribution now accounts for between 30 percent and 50 percent of program funding, with village groups contributing another 20 percent. In November 1999, OTI finalized negotiations to establish a special Village Partnership Fund whereby the government agreed to provide $575,000 to Mindanao farmers for agricultural machinery.
 |
| SWIFT sites with DA-SWIFT Village Partnership |
In the spring of 2000, OTI was forced to respond to changing circumstances in Mindanao when fighting was renewed between the GRP and a second Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which had never finalized peace negotiations with the government. The violence was exacerbated by the kidnapping of foreign tourists by a fringe Islamic terrorist group and a series of bombings within civilian centers across Mindanao and Manila. These events contributed to a breakdown in trust, and an increase in tension, between Christian and Muslim populations in Mindanao.
In June, OTI began providing special reconciliation grants to civil society groups that promote tolerance, understanding, and the use of negotiations to resolve conflict. Special public service announcements, directed toward both civilians and government decision-makers, are being created with similar aims.
Grants from OTI are enabling civil society organizations to participate in East Timor's burgeoning democratic society. OTI is supporting groups throughout East Timor (with a focus on those outside Dili) engaged in civic education, human rights, women's rights and leadership, and peace and reconciliation.
Despite the difficult security environment in Mindanao, evidence indicates that the majority of MNLF ex-combatants are not only holding firm in their commitment to the 1996 peace agreement, but they are also serving as a peace buffer between MILF and GRP forces. Several villages have been spared fighting due to arrangements brokered by former MNLF commanders; one village successfully deterred the entry of MILF forces by posting a sign identifying the community's USAID-GRP project. MNLF ex-commanders in North Cotabato have joined government efforts to track MILF movements, and the government has chosen others to serve as mediators.
OTI plans to phase out its program in Mindanao in early 2001. Until then, OTI is working to ensure that MNLF community relationships forged with local, provincial, and national governments will be sustained.
OTI partners in Mindanao include the USAID Mission, the Government of the Philippines' Department of Agriculture, UNDP, FAO, Development Alternatives International, the World Bank Social Fund, Catholic Relief Services, the Canadian government, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Warriors Turned Peace Leaders:
Mayor Elvino Balicao of Wao and MNLF State Chairman Abdul Jabbah Narrah used to command opposing forces. Now they are signatories to an OTI grant to construct a 6 kilometer farm-to-market road linking 120 former MNLF combatant families to the growing agricultural market in Wao Municipality.
The road symbolizes more than transport--it is a foundation for lasting peace. At the signing ceremony, Narrah stated, "Today we have built a bond of peace, one built on the principle of peaceful co-existence among Filipinos, regardless of religion or creed." To make this project happen, OTI leveraged a $3,500 fuel investment for the local government's heavy road equipment into a $23,000 all-weather road project. The mayor's office and the community will work together and provide matching funds. |
|
