STORIES OF PEACEBUILDING

PEACEBUILDING: Its Contextual Application Base on Experiences

[This program is undertaken under the Peacebuilding and Development Program of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society headed by Mike G. Kulat as Project Coordinator]


I – Background:

The Mindanao land had been marred by war and armed conflict since the arrival of the Spaniards, Japanese and American invaders and colonial forces starting in 1521 as well as the succeeding administrations under the Philippine Government.

Pages of history books are not sufficient in the transcriptions of long sufferings and agonies of its people who were directly affected by this wars and conflicts.

In contemporary eras, during the ILAGA turmoil in the late 60s, followed by the Martial Law disarray, both governmental and non-governmental records varies from one hundred sixty thousand (160, 000) to two hundred forty thousand (240, 000) lives were either lost or died, maimed and or missing as a consequence of armed confrontations, massacres, tortures and summary killings. Moreover, there was no record of exact figure of displacements; however we can safely conclude that 90% of the Native Inhabitants of Mindanao had a taste of abandoning their homelands including some Settlers in the epicenters and immediate peripheries of war areas.

These conflicts dragged on to wars between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1973 that lasted until late 1976 when the MNLF signed the Tripoli Agreement that lead to the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement after twenty years (September 2, 1996).

The struggle of the Bangsamoro for freedom and right to self-determination was continued on by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that sow wider armed confrontations and more serious impacts on the lives of the civilians. Notable among these wars were the 1997 MALMAR war, the 2000 all-Out War of ERAP administration that displaced more than 740,000 individuals and the 2003 “Buliok War or All-Out Military Offensive’ of the Arroyo Administration that displaced more than 203,000 civilians and the death of one hundred seventeen (117) mostly children, women and elders in different evacuation centers. The account of deaths of non-combatants in evacuation center had been recorded coming from the municipalities of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao province, excluding those in Lanao and Zamboanga del Sur provinces where the war escalated.

In all of the above miseries, notwithstanding unaccounted damages to billions and billions of properties every time war erupts. More importantly, these wars happened despite of the 1996 GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement and the emplacement of the Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities signed between the GRP and MILF Representatives on July 18, 1997 at Cagayan de Oro City.

As a result of these unending wars, countless efforts on the ground had been initiated by both governmental and non-governmental agencies, international, national and local entities in order to appease the sad plight of the civilians. They endeavored in terms of peace and development programs in conflict-affected areas.

These gave birth to the flooding of peace and development theories, frameworks and strategies mostly patterned from outside settings and from different parts of the world and or designed by people outside of conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. More often, as a consequence, it did not cater to the needs and problem of the people rather add confusion to the already messy situation. Of course, we admit that different endeavors had their short term impact; nevertheless, it brings about demobilization and reintegration of communities’ own systems rather than strengthening and harnessing values, cultures and indigenous systems of the affected communities.

The efforts, social and physical assistance, peace and developmental works usually had been confined at the war epicenters. Unknown to the many is the continuing sufferings of great numbers of IDPs out side of war epicenters or as peripheral effects of war. This was the situation in the remote villages or communities in the boundaries of North Cotabato and Bukidnon provinces. That aside from being neglected of social and physical reconstruction, they are sustaining every big wars between Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) into tribal or ethnic conflicts especially between the Maguindanaon and the Menuvo tribes in the area.

It is at this juncture, the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) ventured to start a Peacebuilding program that the communities could proudly call their own. It is a daring step but other says, “there is no harm in trying.”

[First of a Series]