Publications

Recent developments in the Mindanao peace process serve as a reminder that the region remains volatile and fraught with unanticipated pitfalls. This disruption has created a critical juncture that offers two distinct paths. On the one hand, perhaps the path of least resistance, there is a return to violence and confrontation. The other path, which requires leadership on all sides, is to learn from mistakes and use them to chart a course of reconciliation that is transparent and takes into account the interests and grievances of all parties.

The latest scene in the drama began in early August with announcement that the long-anticipated signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) by the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would take place in Kuala Lumpur – but the government was not ready to sign the agreement. The day before the signing, the Philippine Supreme Court placed a temporary restraining order on the agreement, arguing that it was possibly unconstitutional – it would create a "sub-state" in Mindanao – and would lead to more sectarian violence rather than help solve the conflict.