Summary
Highlights
The conflict in Mindanao has resulted in 150,000 deaths and 640 billion pesos in economic losses over four decades. Sultanates in Mindanao existed before Spanish colonization and resisted Spanish rule. Spain, however, included the Sulu Sultanate in territories ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War, leading to continued Muslim resistance under American rule. Key battles like Buda Ho and Bagsak resulted in thousands of Moro casualties.
Under American rule, Christian Filipinos were encouraged to settle in Mindanao, drastically reducing the Muslim population from 98% in 1905 to 20% by 2005, making the Moros a minority in their own homeland. The Jabidah Massacre, under the Marcos regime, involved the killing of Muslim trainees on Corregidor Island to cover up a failed military plot, igniting further rebellion.
The Jabidah Massacre led University Professor Nur Misuari to form the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1974. A major battle in Jolo in 1974 resulted in the burning of the city center and 20,000 deaths. In 1976, Misuari and Ferdinand Marcos signed the Tripoli Agreement, aiming to create an autonomous region, but it largely failed due to a lack of provincial support. A subsequent peace pact with the Ramos administration in 1996 made Misuari the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, but peace remained elusive, and his governance was plagued by corruption.
Misuari's failed leadership paved the way for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a breakaway group. Talks with the MILF collapsed under President Estrada, who declared an all-out war. Negotiations resumed under the Arroyo administration, where the MILF agreed to drop their fight for independence for full autonomy, but these talks also failed when an agreement for a sub-state was struck down by the Supreme Court. After 17 years, the MILF finally signed a peace deal with the Aquino administration in March 2014, aiming to create an autonomous region and involving the decommissioning of 10,000 to 15,000 MILF troops and their firearms, marking a significant step towards peace.