The past is always present: the Moros of Mindanao and the quest for peace

With a focus on the Philippines, this paper looks at the quest for peace and the impact of the past. It asks what the roots of conflict in Mindanao are, the American role in creating the problem, the role of counter-terrorism, and what the current prospects for peace are held with the present initiatives.

The author argues that conflict in Mindanao is rooted in history, particularly the Moro experience of colonial rule and minoritisation. Efforts in the past three decades to end Moro rebellion have failed because they did not address deep and legitimate Moro grievances. With the advent of 9/11 and the focus on Islamist terrorism, the Moros have suddenly found themselves the target of unprecedented international attention. On one hand, such attention has helped disseminate the just aspects of the Moro struggle. On the other, it has overwhelmingly highlighted terrorism as the crux of the Moro story. The focus on terrorism, particularly by the United States, implies a new misdiagnosis and mistreatment of the Moro problem.

The paper concludes that:

• it is imperative that the Moro story of minoritisation and historical injustice be highlighted, and that the Philippine government, Moro leaders, and interested outside actors tackle this problem more effectively through the peace process and the implementation of an agreement based on ancestral domain and self-determination
  
• the greatest shortcoming of the Philippine government is to deny Moro distinctiveness and historical grievances, while simultaneously imposing the centralised constitutional order that maintains Moro second class status and favors the narrow, entrenched interests of ruling individuals and families in Mindanao
  
• intra- Moro divisiveness, corruption, and violent competition are huge problems that Moro leaders must overcome - a unified Moro vision does not yet exist on how to structure, govern, and develop Moro territory - if they are unwilling to share power, they must look at a peaceful split of lands and the possibility of having not one, but two, Moro homelands
  
• central players in Mindanao peacemaking will be the government, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), other Moro leaders, and people on the ground who are familiar with the conflict - outsiders can also help however, U.S. counter-terrorism activities are likely to be more effective when strongly complemented with deep engagement.