Bangsamoro peace process

Formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines and the various armed groups involved in the Moro conflict began in 1976 when the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front first met to negotiate towards the 1976 Tripoli Agreement, and most recently reached a major milestone in the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) through a plebiscite in 2018, leading to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. However, conflicts with other smaller armed groups continue to exist.

The peace process as outlined in the Comprehensive Agreement which led to the creation of the Bangsamoro involved two tracks - the political-legislative track and the normalization track. Under the political track, the government would work towards the creation of a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro, to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) created in 1989. Under the normalization track, the MILF would turn over their firearms to a third party, which would be selected by the rebels and the Philippine government. The MILF agreed to decommission its armed wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).

History of negotiations

Beginnings of the Moro conflict during the Marcos dictatorship

The rise of the Marcos dictatorship marked the beginnings of at least two long-running conflicts that continued to plague the Philippine government: the Moro conflict and the New People's Army conflict. In terms of the Moro conflict, many of the key events took place either during the latter part of Marcos' first or second constitutionally-allowed presidential terms, or during the time when he ruled under Martial Law. This included the beginning of the active phase of the Moro Conflict with the formation of separatist political movements, the formation and rise of the Moro National Liberation Front once peaceful political movements were banned under Martial Law, the signing of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement brokered by Muammar Gaddafi, the failure to create an autonomous region in for the Moros in Mindanao during the 1977 Southern Philippines autonomy plebiscite, and the resulting breakaway of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as a new armed group.

Beginning of the active phase of the Moro conflict

The active phase of the Moro conflict is attributed to news about the Jabidah massacre in March 1968 – towards the end of the first term of President Ferdinand Marcos.