Peace Watch

Facilitating Peace in the Philippines

December 2003

A protester lets a white dove fly as other protesters display placards during a bayside protest in the shallow water off Manila Bay.

At the request of the administration, the Institute is helping to facilitate peace negotiations between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Muslim insurgent group operating in the southern island of Mindanao. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage announced in May that the Institute would be working with the government of Malaysia to facilitate negotiations between the two parties. The goal is to help bring an "equitable and durable peace agreement" to the decades-long conflict.

The Institute has assembled an advisory group of retired senior diplomats and a military officer to oversee the peacemaking effort, and will also draw upon the diverse expertise of its staff, many of whom were only recently engaged in projects that helped stabilize the Dayton Peace Accords in the Balkans. The Institute will be working in an unofficial capacity in collaboration with the government of Malaysia, which has the lead role in the mediation.

While Institute staff have frequently played consultative roles in peace processes around the world, the Philippine Facilitation Project marks one of the first times that the Institute itself has become an officially designated "on-the-ground" facilitator. "Entrusting us with this responsibility is a clear indication of the Institute's growing experience and credibility in conflict management," said Institute president Richard Solomon, a former U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, and chair of the advisory group for the facilitation.

The team of senior peacemakers includes Institute chairman Chester Crocker; former U.S. ambassadors to the Philippines Nicholas Platt, Richard Murphy, Frank Wisner, and Stephen Bosworth; retired Marine Corps general Anthony Zinni; and the Instititute's executive vice president Harriet Hentges. The project's executive director is Eugene Martin, a former deputy chief of mission in Manila.

Roots of the Conflict

The roots of the conflict between the Muslim "Moros" and Christian Filipinos go back to the era of Spanish colonization of the islands. The problem grew in intensity in recent decades as a growing influx of Filipinos migrated to Mindanao from northern islands in the archipelago, displacing the Muslim majority. The Muslim population owned land communally, and many had their patrimony sold from under them. A host of other social and cultural issues further heightened tensions between the Christian and Muslim communities. Armed insurrection began in the 1960s, with rebels demanding independence for the historically Muslim-controlled areas, and gathered force throughout the 1970 and 1980s. A 1996 peace agreement granted autonomy to the Muslim regions and was accepted by moderate elements within Mindanao. But the more militant MILF refused to relinquish the goal of independence, and has waged a guerrilla campaign ever since. Government and MILF combat has resulted in thousands of casualties.

America's interest in ending the Filipino conflict is both strategic and humanitarian. Impoverished and ungovernable, Mindanao has proved a haven for criminal gangs. More recently, it has become a training ground for Southeast Asian terrorist groups linked to al Qaeda, including the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamyah, the latter believed to be responsible for last October's deadly bombing in Bali. "Our security interest in this region is very clear," says Executive Director Martin. "We don't want Muslim Mindanao to become a terrorist sanctuary."

A Willingness To Make Peace

The Institute's Philippine advisory group met with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in New York City in September to brief her on the Institute's work. In mid-October, the Congressional Philippine–United States Friendship Caucus, co-chaired by Congressman Darrell Issa of California, hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill to inform members of Congress about the Institute's Philippine working group. Solomon, Zinni, and Martin discussed the Institute's work and the results of an initial visit by members of the advisory group to the Philippines in August.

"We were very much encouraged by what we learned during the August visit," said Zinni. "There is a foundation, a willingness to make peace." At the same time, he said, there is a concern that radical elements could infiltrate the MILF and undermine prospects for a peace agreement. "There is a battle going on for the soul of the MILF," he noted. "They are being pulled by extremists on the one hand and by promises the government [of the Philippines] is making to them on the other."

Solomon noted that the Institute's initiative has three components. "First, we're able to provide experience in mediation. We've proposed nine basic principles for a stable agreement, and we're in discussions with both parties to the conflict to get the principles accepted as the basis for negotiation. Second, the State Department has budgeted $30 million to support economic and social development projects in Mindanao once a peace agreement is signed. The Institute will be making recommendations to the State Department about how and when to use these resources. Third, various programs at the Institute, including its education, rule of law, and interfaith dialogue activity, will be incorporated into a post-agreement process to support a settlement."