Filipino Civil Society and its Efforts to Bring about Peace on Mindanao

I am writing from the Philippines, where I spent the past week meeting with representatives of the vibrant civil society sector to discuss the potential for programming related to youth and conflict mitigation on the island of Mindanao. On the surface, the Philippines is perhaps the most accessible country in Southeast Asia. In a country of more than 7,000 islands and numerous languages, English is the common language and there is a fondness for anything from the United States– from fast food to malls to jeeps refashioned as the uniquely Filipino form of mass transport known as the “jeepney.” Yet, I discovered that everything in the Philippines is more complicated than it first appears.

One aspect of my work has been to learn about the conflict and peacebuilding efforts on Mindanao. While the Mindanao conflict is often portrayed as religious in nature, the divisions between the Christian majority and the Moro (Muslim) minority are only one aspect of a very complex situation that also includes tensions between various factions of the Moro community that favor different levels of autonomy as well as clashes between powerful clans.

Underlying the situation is conflict over mining and logging rights, particularly on the ancestral domain of the indigenous Lumad people. The various dimensions of the Mindanao conflict and numerous potential spoilers make it a negotiator’s nightmare to help resolve, yet the formal peace process is back on track after being derailed by a 2008 “Memorandum of Understanding” that was declared unconstitutional, and there is guarded optimism that progress can be made under the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Civil society in the Philippines includes various well-established organizations working on a multitude of issues that affect Filipino society. In meeting with local groups addressing youth and peacebuilding issues on Mindanao, I was impressed by their sophistication. Many have been around for a decade or more and have managed to secure funding not just from donors, but from local businesses and government agencies as well. One group organized its members – many from poor communities in rural Mindanao – to collect rice for even needier children at a Lumad school, and another secured funding from Jollibee, known as the Filipino McDonald’s. They have also remained mission driven rather than trying to be all things to all donors. For example, one group focused exclusively on ceasefire monitoring while another focused on working with the Lumads to protect the environment on their ancestral domain. During my discussions, civil society leaders expressed an interest in several IREX models related to youth and technology and youth conflict resolution . I look forward to finding opportunities to work with them on future programs.