Conflict in Mindanao
The Origin of Conflict in Mindanao and the Role of the Moro National Liberation Front
Ever since the Philippines were first colonized by Spain over 400 years ago, the Manila government has struggled to mesh the Muslim population of Mindanao with the rest of the predominantly Catholic nation. The large number of violent separatist groups operating in Mindanao has been the primary factor in the long raging conflict. The leading revolutionary group, who also facilitated the creation of splinter groups, is the Moro National Liberation Front, or the MNLF as it is commonly called. Two of the more notorious of these splinter groups are the radically violent Abu Sayyaf, and another particularly aggressive group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF. These Muslim factions have proven to be extremely hardy, after 300 years of testing the Spanish and United States mettle. Throughout their respective articles, "The Continuation of Civil Unrest and Poverty in Mindanao" and "Peace and Conflict in the Southern Philippines: Why the 1996 Peace Agreement is Fragile", Ringuet and Bertrand analyze similar concepts as they examine the deep rooted aggressions of the Mindanao based revolutionary groups. Although there are numerous reasons for this tension, the ones that are most responsible are the many internal conflicts that the Philippines have suffered. The declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 greatly exacerbated these issues. Marcos believed that if his military was not dealing with external threats, it should be used to work on the interior problems of the developing country. Marcos used this philosophy to keep himself in power, after his constitutional term ended. The Armed Forces of the Philippines became a dominant and corrupt force. This conflict has left approximately 120,000 dead since the 1970's, and greatly stunted the economic growth of one of the country's poorest areas. An estimated 700,000 people have been displaced during the
Ever since the Philippines were first colonized by Spain over 400 years ago, the Manila government has struggled to mesh the Muslim population of Mindanao with the rest of the predominantly Catholic nation. The large number of violent separatist groups operating in Mindanao has been the primary factor in the long raging conflict. The leading revolutionary group, who also facilitated the creation of splinter groups, is the Moro National Liberation Front, or the MNLF as it is commonly called. Two of the more notorious of these splinter groups are the radically violent Abu Sayyaf, and another particularly aggressive group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF. These Muslim factions have proven to be extremely hardy, after 300 years of testing the Spanish and United States mettle. Throughout their respective articles, "The Continuation of Civil Unrest and Poverty in Mindanao" and "Peace and Conflict in the Southern Philippines: Why the 1996 Peace Agreement is Fragile", Ringuet and Bertrand analyze similar concepts as they examine the deep rooted aggressions of the Mindanao based revolutionary groups. Although there are numerous reasons for this tension, the ones that are most responsible are the many internal conflicts that the Philippines have suffered. The declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 greatly exacerbated these issues. Marcos believed that if his military was not dealing with external threats, it should be used to work on the interior problems of the developing country. Marcos used this philosophy to keep himself in power, after his constitutional term ended. The Armed Forces of the Philippines became a dominant and corrupt force. This conflict has left approximately 120,000 dead since the 1970's, and greatly stunted the economic growth of one of the country's poorest areas. An estimated 700,000 people have been displaced during the