|
The Philippines
International Alert in the
Philippines
We have been working in the Philippines since 1988, when we
jointly convened the first international Waging Peace conference, bringing together peace advocates from conflicting sides and
producing a comprehensive analysis of national problems. Since then the conference has become an annual event, whilst our work has evolved to cover three broad areas:
|
|
Supporting the peace process
between the GRP and the NDF – Alert has been working alongside local partners to investigate ways of advancing the development of peace discussions between the differing parties in the Philippines, hoping to establish meaningful discussions. |
| |
|
|
|
Promoting good
governance – Credible and accountable governance is central to achieving and sustaining peace in any violent conflict. Working with the government, oppostion groups, civil society, the police, military and academia, Alert has been addressing this critical issue. |
| |
|
|
Security Sector
Reform – Alert has been engaging with the police and military in the Philippines since 2002. Key actors in determining the success or failure of efforts to bring peace, we have established a targeted programme to encourage security sector reform. |
The Waging Peace Conferences gather together a wide range of stakeholders and international third-party facilitators working on the
various conflicts in South-East Asia to share analysis of the Philippines' conflicts. These conferences support our
aim to identify the underlying causes of the protracted conflicts and find
appropriate, locally-owned and sustainable ways to advance the peace process.
We have begun working to engage the private sector in a process that aims to
develop new relationships and structures to support economic growth, and have produced a report looking at the relationship between
Mindanao’s economy and the conflict there.
Click here to download the Mindanao economy report (this will open a new
window).
The conflict context
There has been conflict in the Philippines
for more than two centuries. The country
waged its first struggle for independence
against the Spanish at the turn of the
19th century, but political independence
from America was only achieved in 1946.
The number of communist militants
trebled during the guerrilla war against
Japanese occupation in World War II
which, in the 1950s, became a battle for
land and peasants’ rights. The New
People’s Army (the armed wing of the
Communist Party) emerged in the late
1960s and continued this struggle. In
1972, President Ferdinand Marcos
declared martial law. His dictatorship
lasted until a popular uprising forced him
into exile in 1986.
The longest running conflict is between
the government and the Moro National Liberation Front, |
|
and subsequently the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front, over
Mindanao, the second largest island of
the Philippines and the scene of class
and ethnic warfare for decades. The
other principal conflict is between the
government and the Communist Party
of the Philippines and the New People’s
Army represented in the negotiations by
the National Democratic Front (NDF).
Formal negotiations between the government
and the NDF have been suspended
since 2004. There are two main barriers
to the peace process: the ‘terror tag’
placed on the Communist Party by the US
and the EU, which the NDF believes is the
result of actions taken by the government;
and the unacceptable levels of violence
taking place even whilst formal negotiations
were ongoing. The seriously flawed
electoral process in 2004 also led to
bitterness and lack of confidence in the
political processes, and a brief period of
emergency was declared in February 2006
in response to alleged attempts at the
withdrawal of support from factions of
the military.
Although the December 2004 tsunamis did not directly affect the Philippines, the north east of the country suffered devastating typhoons and floods a few weeks beforehand. It is likely to face similar challenges to Sri Lanka around the dynamics between humanitarian aid and conflict. The armed struggles remain serious obstacles to sustainable development in the country. |
For more information,
contact Mais Yacoub
Back to top
Last updated: December 2006
|
