THE TERRITORIAL DISPUTE FOR MUSLIM MINDANAO AND ITS EFFECT ON SOCIETY
CHAPTER I
A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is a rebel group that was founded by Nur Misuari in 1969. The MNLF struggled against the Philippine Government to achieve independence of the Bangsamoro Land . The MNLF-GPH Peace Process is ongoing since the 1976 and both parties are working together to negotiate the terms and conditions of the legal framework and implementation of genuine autonomy as a peaceful path towards independence. As defined by the MNLF, the territory of Bangsamoro Land covers Sulu, Mindanao, Palawan, and Sabah.
MNLF is internationally recognized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC, formerly the Organization of the Islamic Conference) and its Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States . Since 1977, the MNLF has been an observer member of the OIC. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, and has membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Philippine Government also requested similar recognition as observer member but was denied by the OIC. On 30 January 2012, MNLF became an observer member of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Cooperation , as approved during the 7th PUIC global session held in Palembang, Indonesia.
The founder and leader of the MNLF is Prof. Dr. Nur Misuari. Based on almost all official communications of the Organization of Islamic Conference and the Republic of the Philippines, Nur Misuari is addressed as the Chieftain of the Bangsamoro, Founder of the MNLF, Chairman of the MNLF, Leader of the MNLF, and Commander-in-Chief of the MNLF.
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Misuari is the only person in the Bangsamoro Land who is distinguished as a certified United Nations Peace Prize Awardee; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nominee; Awardee of Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize. He is one of the few individuals that have acquired an international reputation on account of their major contribution to the promotion of peace, democracy and human rights.
Despite the final peace agreement, Misuari was charged of rebellion over an alleged attack on a Philippine military camp in Sulu in 2001, which he and the MNLF denied. Nur Misuari became a political prisoner on charges of rebellion from 2001-2009 during the regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Court acquitted him in 2009 because the prosecution was unable to produce sufficient evidence.
There is no exact record as to when the MNLF was founded.[20] However, the MNLF have traditionally been celebrating its anniversary every 18 March, a date that coincides with the commemoration of the Jabidah Massacre.
According to the official MNLF blog-site, “in 18 March 1968, between 14 to 68 Filipino Muslim military trainees were massacred in Corregidor by soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under its Commander in Chief President Ferdinand Marcos. It was popularly called the Jabidah Massacre. The impact was an outrage among the Muslims in Mindanao especially those who are from Sulu where these military trainees were recruited. Not taking this lightly, Nur Misuari, a University of the Philippines professor rose to become the leader of this outraged group and he founded the Moro National Liberation Front in 1969. After a few months of setting up the organization, the MNLF officially proclaimed itself a political party in 1970. After recruiting sufficient number of freedom fighters, the MNLF launched a protracted armed struggle.”
B. INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC
With the ongoing conflict in Mindanao, the researchers would like to know the effects of this civil war to our society. The aim of this project is to have a better understanding of the different sociological problem due to the conflict that is currently on going. This topic focuses on the macro level of what is happening in Mindanao and how such affects the structure of the whole nation and its function to it, though faced with a great number of inabilities. Moreover, the research will measure its cultural impact in our society.
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C. HISTORY OF HOW IT STARTED
* 1976 Tripoli Agreement during Pres. Ferdinand Marcos
* 1989 ARMM Organic Act during Pres. Corazon Aquino
* 1994 Joint Ceasefire Ground Rules during Pres. Fidel Ramos
* 1996 Final peace agreement during Pres. Fidel Ramos
* In 23 February 2011 the MNLF-GRPH-OIC had a fourth tri-partite talks in Jeddah. The Joint Communique after the talks indicate that three groups of experts from MNLF-GRPH-OIC-IDB will be formed: to formulate the Terms of Reference of the Bangsamoro Development Assistance Fund by 30 May 2011, to act as Tripartite Implementation Monitoring Committee by 30 April 2011, to formulate the Mineral Sharing agreement by 30 April 2011. They set a timetable and deadline to present the result to OIC Peace Committee for Southern Philippines Chairman in Kazakhstan in June 2011. They did not meet the deadline because the topic is too complicated and the debates went on and on without a resolution.
* After almost a year of stalemate, in 1 March 2012, there was a MNLF-GPH High-Level Talks in Bandung Indonesia to discuss the three pending items enumerated 23 February 2011 the MNLF-GRPH-OIC had a fourth tri-partite talks in Jeddah. On the second day of the talks, the MNLF walked-out and unilaterally decided to suspend its participation in the peace process talks and activities with the GPH. The date 2 March 2012 marks the day when MNLF unilaterally suspends its participation in the Peace Talks with the GPH.
* In 8 October 2012, the MNLF confirmed Nur Misuari’s filing of candidacy for ARMM Regional Governor for the 2013 elections.
* In 10 October 2012, the MNLF reiterated their position on the suspension of MNLF participation in the talks with the GPH, enumerating the demands before they go back to the negotiating table.
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* In 14 October 2012, the MNLF confirms alliance with Mindanao Independence Movement that will be formally announced in the MNLF Summit in 21 October 2012 Sunday, starting 8AM to be held in Davao Crocodile Park, Riverfront Corporate City, Diversion Highway, Maa, Davao City.
* In the middle of January 2013, the MNLF moved a large troop to attempt to negotiate the release of kidnap victims. The negotiation went bad, resulting in MNLF launching an immediate citizen’s arrest against Abu Sayaff Group operating in Patikul Sulu. This MNLF combat operation is still ongoing.
* In 21 January 2013, at the 8th Session of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Cooperation, the MNLF renewed “its support for the peace agreement signed between the Philippine Government and the MNLF and call for immediate and complete execution of the terms of the agreement.” The PUIC responded by urging “member States as well as charity institutions in the Islamic world to increase the volume of its humanitarian assistance for Muslims in South Philippines in order to accelerate economic and social development”.
* In 6–7 February 2013, the MNLF attended the 12th Session of the organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Cairo, Egypt. The communiqué of the OIC’s 12th Session reiterates the need to resolve the issue of Muslims in Southern Philippines promptly; and urges the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MNLF to continue their efforts in order to find solution to pending issues, consistent with the 1976 Tripoli Agreement and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA), related to the autonomous region, revenue sharing, definition of strategic minerals, and the transitional mechanisms.
D. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
The study on “The Territorial Dispute for Muslim Mindanao and its Effect on Society” aims to give awareness of the past and ongoing events regarding that of Muslim Mindanao. With the present-day events happening to that of Muslim Mindanao and the society, the researchers also aim to make out what and how these current and previous events can and have effect on society. The researchers have then collected, constructed, and classified information that will provide a deeper and larger view on the incidents that have happened and those which are yet to come. The main objective of the study is to deduce what may and may not happen with the changings brought by the disputes for Muslim Mindanao, not only to its surrounding neighboring municipals and cities, but also on how it affects the psychological thinking of those involve and not involve. Thus, the researchers shall provide different approaches where there will be information that does not only concentrate in a small community, but also to the bigger whole of society itself.
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E. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The researchers have inferred that the rudimentary significance of this study is to further broaden the perspectives and test the beliefs and values of the different divisions of our society with such accord to the aforementioned topic. The study will not only enhance the knowledge of those who shall take time in this, it will also boost the involvement of a lot of Filipinos with regards the on and off territorial disputes for Muslim Mindanao. Moreover, this will also enrich the sensitivity of the general public with such regard to our fluctuating hold of peace between the two major religious sectors in the country, namely Roman Catholicism and Islamism. Additionally, this can also be a catalyst for further studies that shall focus on the same topic; tackling more specific aspects of the situation and having a first-hand experience on the said issue.
CHAPTER II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
MAIN PROBLEM:
1. The Territorial Dispute for Muslim Mindanao and its Effect on Society.
SPECIFIC PROBLEMS:
1. The continual faction between the National Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Form (MILF);
2. Discrimination between and amongst the two major religions in the Philippines;
3. Onset failures of both groups with complying with proposed agreements; and
4. The quest for self-rule after people expressing indignation with regards the treatment of the government towards the Muslim community and classifying them as a minority for both social and economic matters.
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the researchers provide methods and approaches on how information was gathered and collected. This chapter also exhibits how the study first began, how each method was conducted, and how the information became a reliable piece of data.
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At the beginning of the study, the researchers gathered to discuss how the work will be distributed and agreed upon the decision that two of every researcher must collaborate the work in order to lessen the difficulty. The division then causes the researchers to be divided into three parts: The fact finders, the interviewers, and the wordsmiths. Afterwards, researchers in the fact finders commence the research on the background of the study, details, previous and current issues, and an overview of the study. The researchers provided the foundation of the study and enabled other researchers to proceed with the given task at hand. The interviewers, on the other hand, administered with written surveys, personal interviews and such. To gather specific respondents, the researchers employed the power of social media and questioned the public who among are willing to undergo several surveys to be conducted. With the willing approval of these respondents, the different surveys were administered and allowed the researchers to gather more information that not only contained viable data but also a deep insight and analysis on the study. Upon the gathered data, the wordsmiths or also known as editors executed the necessary proofreading, intricate details, and such to the data collected. The editors provided other information that was deemed important by the researchers and have then completed the study.
CHAPTER IV. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Based on the nature of the study, the researchers can begin with saying that the main theory our research is all about is the CONFLICT THEORY. As defined, the conflict theory scrutinizes social life and emphasizes the interest of each class.
Additionally, the “conflict theory emphasizes the role of coercion and power in producing social order. This perspective is derived from the works of Karl Marx, who saw society as fragmented into groups that compete for social and economic resources. Social order is maintained by domination, with power in the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources. When consensus exists, it is attributable to people being united around common interests, often in opposition to other groups. According to conflict theory, inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society’s resources actively defend their advantages. The masses are not bound to society by their shared values, but by coercion at the hands of those in power. This perspective emphasizes social control, not consensus and conformity. Groups and individuals advance their own interests, struggling over control of societal resources. Those with the most resources exercise power over others with inequality and power struggles resulting. There is great attention paid to class, race, and gender in this perspective because they are seen as the grounds of the most pertinent and enduring struggles in society. ” (Anderson, M.L. and Taylor, H.F., 2009. Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth).
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Moreover, to further justify this account, the researchers can then therefore dissect the situation and from there, develop a series of agents and an opposition with regards the groups involved in this turmoil. The dominating group is the government and Roman Catholicism while the opposing group is the Moro-Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and rebel citizens. Both are climbing the ladder for command and order, under their own predetermined set of ideals and norms.
Nevertheless, the researchers are circumnavigating the aforementioned theory and will base further findings with such for it deems appropriate and falls under the category of such theory.
CHAPTER V. CONCPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CHAPTER VI. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Explicating the above mentioned statement, both the MNLF and MILF has been stimulating a string of uprisings. Moreover, the review of the literature for this research focuses on the origin and disparities of Muslim Mindanao and the Philippine government throughout the previous and recent years, how it has affected the psychological aspects of society, how all the conflicts occurring affect other Muslim Mindanao citizens and its surrounding. The review tackles on several works of people who support and deems these conflicts as “reflections of recurring call for the fulfillment of the right to self-determination of the Muslim population in the Philippines in order to obtain sustainable peace.” (H. Osaka, 2008).
McKenna (2000) states that with the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935, government policy toward Philippine Muslims shifted significantly. The Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes was abolished in 1936 and with it the presumption that Muslims should be governed any differently or afforded more protections, than any other citizens of the Commonwealth. This change in attitude was accompanied by a new policy priority: the economic development of Mindanao for the benefit of the nation, especially by means of Christian migration into traditionally Muslim regions.
Osaka (2008), identifies that the problem which causes the repeated conflict against the MNLF is due to the 2005 PHDR that declared martial law on 21 September 1972 by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos which was a triggering event of the contemporary Moro armed struggle simply because the Moro have lost parts of its land and resents the loss, including lands that were not of used. Another cause to these is due to the fact that Christian settlers have expanded land and taken the good side of the territory. This began arguments between them and the Christian settlers.
Tan (2008) identifies the inability of the State through the government and its agencies to adequately or substantially meet the basic and ideal needs of the Muslim Community, the obvious trend on the part of the Muslim Community to seek ultimate satisfaction of their aspirations from within their own societies, the exploitation of the Mindanao conflict for a long time by external vested interests for reasons not necessarily for the good or benefit of the marginalized sectors or government, and the failure of civil society particularly the dominant Christian sector to really remove the lingering anti-Muslim bias in historical consciousness.
Campo and Judd (2005) emphasis that although religious differences have partly shaped the conflict, the roots of the conflict have been the clash of interests in land and other natural resources, and the identity issues emerging from the de facto second class status of much of the Moro population.
Victor (2005) the colonial policies from the Spaniards to the Americans have dispossessed Muslims and other indigenous people of over 80 percent of Mindanao’s open land, thus, colonial policy has sown the seed of legal and social injustice which led to bloody and deadly conflicts over agricultural land between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao, obscuring the historical truth that colonialism was one of the root cause of these conflicts.
As seen, many have concluded that due to unfulfilled agreements, promises, and responsibilities, have led to one of Philippines unending conflicts. Though all works were written in different locations and of different timeline, there remains that one fact that territorial disputes and broken peace agreements had cause uproar to Muslims and this social crisis can only be expected to deteriorate even more if no action is taken upon. Military forces may end the disputes due to its upper hand in weapons and such, but “it may lose permanently the enduring peace it seeks” (Tan, 2008) The conflict in terms of its territory is precisely because government and those in power have not taken much into account what exactly the Muslims are requesting and because of the inability of the government to fulfill agreements which were agreed upon, the natural instinct of is to be heard be way of force.
“The peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF will continue and eventually deal with the existing legal structures brought about by the agreements with the MNLF” (Osaka, 2008).
“Among the special considerations for this constitutional arrangement are upholding national unity and territorial integrity, securing the blessings of cultural diversity and lasting peace, and taking account of the history and realities of Mindanao.” (Santos, Jr., 2008).
Ultimately, the correlation and conjunction of these researches further solidify the fluctuating crisis happening in Mindanao and its colossal effect on our society.
SOURCES:
1. http://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section2/2008/12/mindanao-conflict-in-search-of-peace-and-human-rights.html
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3. http://asiasociety.org/countries/conflicts/origins-muslim-separatist-movement-philippines
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5. http://www.iiipeace.org/Philippines%20Causes%20of%20Conflict%20between%20Christians%20and%20Muslims.htm
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