The Moro conflict was an insurgency in the Mindanao region in southern Philippines which involved multiple armed groups. A decades-long peace process has resulted in peace deals between the Philippine government and two major armed groups, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but other smaller armed groups continue to exist. In 2017, the peace council settled around 138 clan conflicts.
The root cause of the Moro conflict is associated in a long history of resistance by the Moro people against foreign rule, for centuries the region was under the control of the Spanish Empire. The U.S. had a brief war with Spain in 1898 which ended in the transfer of the Philippines to the United States, and this led to American occupation until 1946.
During the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, political tensions and open hostilities developed between the government and Moro rebel groups. The Moro insurgency was triggered by the Jabidah massacre on March 18, 1968, during which 60 Filipino Muslim commandos on a planned operation to reclaim the eastern part of the Malaysian state of Sabah were killed. To conserve the secrecy of the operation, the Malaysian government supported and funded the rebels which devastated the southern Philippines, until support ceased in 2001.
Various organizations pushing for Moro self-determination, either through autonomy or independence, were almost immediately formed in response. Although these generally did not last long until University of the Philippines professor Nur Misuari established the Moro National Liberation Front, an armed insurgent group committed to establishing an independent Mindanao, in 1972. In the following years, the MNLF splintered into several different groups including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front founded by Hashim Salamat in 1977, which sought to establish an Islamic state within the Philippines. In 1991, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani gathered radical members of the old MNLF who wanted to resume armed struggle and established the Abu Sayyaf (ASG). When the MILF modified its demands from independence to autonomy, a faction led by Ameril Umbra Kato disagreed, eventually forming the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in 2008.
Casualty statistics vary for the conflict, though the conservative estimates of the Uppsala Conflict Data Program indicate that at least 6,015 people were killed in armed conflict between the government and ASG, BIFF, MILF, MNLF between 1989 and 2012.
Historical antecedents (16th century - 1946)
The Moro people have had a history of resistance against foreign rule for more than 400 years. During the Spanish–Moro conflict, Spain repeatedly tried to conquer the Moro Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of Maguindanao, and the Confederation of sultanates in Lanao like what it did with the former Muslim Rajahnate of Maynila (As the Rajah of Manila, Rajah Matanda was a grandson of the Sultan of Brunei, "Sultan Bolkiah" and a Princess of Sulu "Dayang-dayang Laila Machanai"). Although Spain succeeded in supplanting Islam in Manila and Mindoro, they failed against the Muslims in the South. The armed struggle against the Spanish, Americans, Japanese, and Christian Filipinos is considered by current Moro Muslim leaders to be part of a four-century-long "national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro (Moro Nation).
The foundations of the modern conflict can be traced to the Spanish and American wars against the Moros. Following the Spanish–American War in 1898, another conflict sparked in the southern Philippines between the revolutionary Muslims in the Philippines and the United States military that took place between 1899 and 1913. On August 14, 1898, after defeating Spanish forces, the United States claimed the Philippines as its territory under the Treaty of Paris of 1898, establishing a military government under General Wesley Merritt as Military Governor. Filipinos immediately opposed foreign rule by the United States.
American forces took control from the Spanish government in Jolo on May 18, 1899, and at Zamboanga in December 1899. Brigadier General John C. Bates was sent to negotiate a treaty with the Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II. Kiram was disappointed by the American takeover, as he expected to regain sovereignty after the defeat of Spanish forces in the archipelago. Bates' main goal was to guarantee Moro neutrality in the Philippine–American War, and to establish order in the southern Philippines. After some negotiation, the Bates Treaty was signed, which was based on an earlier Spanish treaty. The Bates Treaty did ensure the neutrality of the Muslims in the south, but it was actually set up to buy time for the Americans until the war in the north ended. On March 20, 1900, Bates was replaced by Brigadier General William August Kobbé and the District of Mindanao-Jolo was upgraded to a full department. American forces in Mindanao were reinforced and hostilities with the Moro people lessened, although there are accounts of Americans and other civilians being attacked and slain by Moros.
The American invasion began in 1904 and ended at the term of Major General John J. Pershing, the third and final military governor of Moro Province, although major resistance continued in Mount Bagsak and Bud Dajo in Jolo; in the latter, the United States military killed hundreds of Moro in the Moro Crater massacre. After the war, in 1915, the Americans imposed the Carpenter Treaty on Sulu.
Repeated rebellions by the Moros against American rule continued to break out even after the main Moro Rebellion ended, right up to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. During the Japanese invasion, the Moros waged an insurgency against the Japanese on Mindanao and Sulu until Japan surrendered in 1945. Moro Juramentados attacked the Spanish, Americans, Philippine Constabulary, and the Japanese.
Philippine administrations after World War II (1946–1968)
The American colonial government and subsequently the Philippine government pursued a policy of intra-ethnic migration by resettling significant numbers of Christian Filipino settlers from the Visayas and Luzon onto tracts of land in Mindanao, beginning in the 1920s. This policy allowed Christian Filipinos to outnumber both the Moro and Lumad populations by the 1970s, which was a contributing factor in aggravating grievances between the Moro and Filipino Christian settlers as disputes over land increased. Another grievance by the Moro people is the extraction of Mindanao's natural resources by the central government whilst many Moros continued to live in poverty.
Moro Muslims and Lumads were largely supplanted during the Spanish and American colonization programs, with Christian Filipino settlers eventually taking control of key areas along newly built roads and disrupting traditional Moro administrative structures and control over resources. The Americans preferred Christians to become administrators of newly defined townships instead of Lumad and Moro, with environmental degradation resulting from unsustainable population growth (due to the influx of settler migrants) and timber logging.
Ferdinand Marcos administration (1965–1986)
Jabidah massacre
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. A senate exposé based on the testimony of an alleged survivor claimed that at least 11 Filipino Muslim military trainees had been killed in Corregidor by soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The trainees had been brought to the island of Corregidor to form a secret commando unit called "Jabidah," which would infiltrate, destabilize, and take over Sabah for the Sulu Sultan who previously owned it. The trainees eventually rejected their mission, for reasons that are still debated by historians today. A survivor, Jibin Arula, said that whatever the reasons behind their objections, all of the recruits aside from him were killed, and he escaped only by pretending to be dead.
The news created unrest among Filipino Muslims, especially among students. Both Muslim intellectuals and common people suddenly became politicized, discrediting the idea of finding integration and accommodation with the rest of the country, and creating a sense of marginalization.
Early separatist movements
Various organizations pushing for Moro self rule, either through autonomy or independence, were soon formed. Lanao del Sur congressman Haroun al-Rashid Lucman called for Congress to begin proceedings to impeach President Marcos, and ended up establishing the Bangsamoro Liberation Organization (BMLO) in frustration after the impeachment effort couldn't gather enough congressional support. Cotabato Governor Datu Udtog Matalam established the Muslim Independence Movement (MIM), which openly called for the secession of the region to create a Muslim state, although it only lasted until Matalam negotiated with Marcos and accepted a post in the administration cabinet.
Religious violence in Mindanao (1970-1972)
Between 1970 and 1972, Muslim and Christians attacked and massacred each other. These violent sectarian attacks were mostly carried out by the Ilaga, members of the Cotabato Blackshirts and Moro "Barracudas".
The Ilaga launched a series of 21 massacres, killing 518 and injuring 184. Most of whom were targeted against Moro muslims. Ilaga atrocities also included the Manili massacre in 1971. Which resulted in the deaths of 70 Moro muslims inside a mosque and nearby a school in North Cotabato.
Moro muslims retaliated against the massacres, killing and injuring 1,238 members of the Ilaga by the end of 1972.
As a result of the violence. An estimated 1,400-4,000 were killed and thousands were wounded, including the deaths of more than 500 Muslims.
Datu Udtog Matalam, the founder of the Muslim Independence Movement (MIM), refused to describe massacres and atrocities responsible by Moro muslims.
The Moro National Liberation Front (1972)
On October 21, 1972, University of the Philippines professor Nur Misuari formed the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which sought the establishment of a Moro republic through the force of arms, attracting many members who broke away from the MIM.
According to the official line of the MNLF, it was founded on an ideology of egalitarianism, and is thus intended as a secular movement, unlike the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which would later splinter from its ranks in 1978.
From its beginnings in October 1972, the MNLF has had alternating periods of conflict and relative peace with Philippine government forces, until a 1996 Final Peace Agreement during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos - although at least one major encounter - the Zamboanga City crisis of September 9 to 28, 2013 - took place after this agreement.
The Siege of Jolo
During one of the fiercest battles of the insurgency in 1974, Jolo was extensively damaged and news of the tragedy galvanized other Muslims around the world to pay greater attention to the conflict. Many civilians were supposedly killed when the Armed Forces razed much of Jolo municipality to the ground in a scorched-earth tactic.
The Malisbong massacre
On September 24, 1974, the Philippine Army killed at least 1,000 Moro civilians who were praying in a mosque in what is known as the Malisbong massacre.
The Tripoli Agreement
Two years later, the Philippine government and the MNLF signed the Tripoli Agreement, declaring a ceasefire on both sides. The agreement provided that Mindanao would remain a part of the Philippines, but that 13 of its provinces would be governed by an autonomous government for the Bangsamoro people. President Marcos later reneged on the agreement, and violence ensued.
The Communist Party of the Philippines maintained a liaison officer in Tripoli with the MNLF.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (1977)
In 1977, Sheikh Salamat Hashim established the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a splinter group of the MNLF seeking to establish an Islamic state. Conflicts between these rebel groups and the Armed Forces of the Philippines continued until the end of President Marcos' regime. From 1972 to 1980, at least 50,000 people were killed in the conflict, one million people were internally displaced, and more than 100,000 Philippine Muslims fled by boat to Malaysia.
Silsilah Dialogue Movement (1984)
In 1984, Italian Catholic priest Fr Sebastiano D’Ambra began a movement called the Silsilah Dialogue Movement focused on formation of people from different religions to encourage understanding and inter-religious dialogue in Mindanao. Over time, Fr D’Ambra realised that besides strengthening interreligious ties, the Catholic community also needed a better grounding in the faith, founding the Emmaus Dialogue Movement to address this challenge.
Corazon Aquino and Ramos administrations (1986–1998)
Negotiations after the People Power Revolution
Soon after becoming President of the Philippines as a result of the civilian-led People Power Revolution, Corazon Aquino arranged a meeting with the MNLF chairman Nur Misuari and several MNLF rebel groups in Sulu, which paved the way for a series of negotiations.
Creation of the ARMM
In 1989, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created under Republic Act No. 6734 or the ARMM Organic Act, pursuant to the 1987 Constitution.
Under the Presidency of Fidel V. Ramos, several negotiations and peace talks were held and the ARMM solidified and was to have its own geopolitical system.
On 9–11 December 1997 the MNLF brought the pagan indigenous Lumad leader Mai Tuan to Tehran to attend the eight OIC Islamic Summit Conference.
In 1991, Abdurajak Janjalani, a former teacher who had studied Islam in the Middle East, formed the Abu Sayyaf Group after reportedly meeting Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Janjalani recruited former members of the MNLF for the more radical and theocratic Abu Sayyaf.
Estrada administration (1998–2001)
Estrada's "All Out War" policy
During his term, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada declared an "all-out war" against the MILF on March 21, 2000, although a series of negotiations for cessation of hostilities were held. Apparently, several conflicts in and around Mindanao erupted and clashes between the Philippine military and the rebel groups resulted in substantial loss of life.