The initiation of backchannel negotiations between GRP and MILF keep the ray of hope intact after the annulment of Exploratory Talks on 15th- 16th December 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The MILF peace panel withdrew from the exploratory talks as the GRP added a phrase in their draft of resolving ancestral domain issue through constitutional process. According to MILF this phrase was not included in the draft that was submitted earlier and, above all, primarily both parties already agreed on consensus point’s agreement on the ancestral domain issue. The cancellation of the exploratory talks which were cementing the ground for official formal talks between both parties consequently resurfaced a bleak and grim situation in the ongoing peace process and created further stress and confusion among the key stakeholders. The Malaysian government which is brokering the peace talks between GRP and MILF as a third party and the Malaysian led International Monitoring team (IMT) categorically showing its resentment in the delays in the peace talks and indirectly warned both parties of withdrawing as a third party if both GRP and MILF are unable to reach agreement before the end of 2008.

The follow up tripartite meeting between GRP-OIC-MNLF which was scheduled on 14th of January 2008 was called off because the OIC representatives failed to show up in Manila. Earlier during the tripartite meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in November 2008, both parties formulated five committees comprised of representatives from both sides to meet and analyze their respective committee tasks in the context of the full implementation of the GRP-MNLF 1996 Final Peace Agreement. All the five committees held their respective meetings in the Indonesian embassy in Manila in the month of December 2007. MNLF is passing through organizational crisis as some of the factions of MNLF which are part of the government in Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) raised their concerns over MNLF Chairman’s decision to include non MNLF members in the five review committees. There are unconfirmed reports of mainstream MNLF started recruiting new members in Sulu to serve in the combatant units. There are high rumours that some elements are planning to exile Founder Chairman of MNLF Prof. Nur Misauri to Libya.

The civil society organizations (CSOs) in Mindanao which are contributing immensely to not letting the peace process slip into disarray and revert back to full scale armed clashes between GRP - MILF and GRP – MNLF, started a campaign of reaching out to the masses through organizing large peace rallies in all the key cities of Mindanao in urging all the parties “to consolidate the gains of the peace process.” Other than peace rallies, proactive civil society organizations are organizing forums and seminars to build further confidence and trust among the stakeholders in the peace process’s and providing extra solutions to all the parties to come out of the present quagmire.

Another significant development took place in the month of December 2008 when the son of Libyan President Moammar al-Gadaffi visited the Philippines to organize a common meeting between the leaderships of MILF and MNLF to pave the way for more unified MORO stand. The meeting took place in Manila but had not the anticipated results as the key leaders both from MNLF and MILF did not show up. The Philippine government extended the Congress Award to the young Qadafi as a tribute for his contributions in the Mindanao Peace Process. Libya has their representatives in the International Monitoring Team which is led by Malaysia to monitor the ceasefire agreement between GRP and MILF.

The politically volatile situation in Mindanao became more grim security-wise with the announcement of Balikatan exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S Marines in Lanoa Del Sur and Lanao Del Norte. Baliktan exercises mean “Shoulder to Shoulder”, and is a joint military exercise under the Visiting Forces Agreement between the governments of Philippine and the United States of America. The Balikatan exercises are conducted to train both Filipino and American soldiers in the operational collaboration which later follows with the humanitarian face of the Balikatan exercises like repairing and building bridges, schools and hospitals, etc. The local MILF commanders in Lanao areas made serious statements of not allowing the AFP and US Marines to conduct the Balikatan exercises on Feb. 18 2008. Besides this, there have been a series of protest demonstrations by the people against upcoming Balikatan exercises in Lanao del Sur/Norte. The local communities, especially the Moro ones take such exercises as a medium to infiltrate not inside Moro areas but also to change the mindsets of the Moro people. Because of such matters and local people’s experiences over the history, many local people are not comfortable with the presence of US soldiers in Mindanao. In the previous Balikatan exercises, local people complained that such exercises violated their basic fundamental human rights and it affected their livelihood as much agrarian land was destroyed. At the same time, there are groups of people and local authorities who fully support the Balikatan exercises and US Marines presence in Mindanao. The leadership of Moro Islamic Liberation Front recently stated that they have nothing against them and urged the Philippine government to coordinate with the MILF leadership in advance for the efficient flow of coordination and activities.

The municipality of Datu Paing witnessed armed clashes between the local paramilitaries (supported by local government units) and the local MILF. The clashes tool place in the barangays of Pandi, Damabalas and Balanaken which resulted in the displacement of civilians. The timely intervention of the GRP MILF ceasefire structure, local civil society organizations and Nonviolent Peaceforce helped to prevent the crisis from escalating into a bigger disaster. In Balanaken, a new Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Post (JCMP) was created and NP was invited to be part of the JCMP post along with the representatives of GRP, MILF and Bantay Ceasefire (local monitoring group).

Sulu faced continuous instability because of some armed clashes among the local groups, and because of the introduction of an Identification Card system in one of the Municipality of Sulu. The local government units along with AFP introduced the card system to differentiate between law abiding citizens and terrorist or lawless groups. The local communities and the rest of the population of Sulu raised their voices against the ID system as ID cards are signed by the AFP commander and the local government unit, saying that it reflected more of a colonial structure.

NP’s Work

NP Sulu Team
The NP Sulu team maintained a random presence in Sulu during the months of December and January. During the time ICPs were not present in the Sulu office but the NP local staff kept the office open, providing regular updates to the main office and participating in some of the meetings as representatives of NP. Also the Project Director along with one of the ICPs from the Sulu team spent time in Sulu, and carried out important activities to continue the flow of work. In the last week of January 2008, the Sulu team was reshuffled and one of the Sulu team ICPs was brought to Central Mindanao team and a new ICP joined the Sulu team. At present, the Sulu team is comprised of two ICPs, two full time local staff and one local staff on part time basis. From the last week of January, the Sulu team is maintaining full time presence in Sulu and is quite active along with the local partners to support their initiatives for peace in Sulu.

The Sulu team along with the Project Director held a series of meetings with the partner civil society organizations and evaluated the programmatic collaboration between NP and its partners in Sulu. During the meetings, the NP team and the partners identified the gaps which needed further improvement from both sides. The team in collaboration with the partners chalked out the issues and local areas to concentrate in next few months, and designed a collaborative strategy. The issues stressed were dealing with the human rights situation, consolidating the role of local CSOs, the IDPs situation and the Early Warning and Early Response system (EWER) through community intervention.

The team was asked to support local groups in the documentation of human rights cases and NP was asked it it could put up a desk for the human rights cases. Local partners requested NP to extend support to them in the follow up cases of human rights abuses.

The Project Director along with the ICP provided initial orientation to our CSOs partners on EWER through community intervention and in later sessions NP partners identified the initial municipalities to commence with the first phase of the EWER.

The team on the invitation of the local partners participated as an observer in an awareness forum on human rights issue dealing with the Human Security Act/Anti Terrorism Bill. Later on, the NP team met the participants of the forum who registered their concerns against the Human Security Act and categorically requested NP to provide extended support to HR groups in documentation and follow up cases of human rights abuses.

On the invitation from the office of the Governor of Sulu, NP along with local CSOs participated in a discussion forum with the Secretary of Defense on security issues faced by the residents of Sulu. Later NP team participated in a civil society forum on GRP- OIC-MNLF tripartite talks. The updates were provided to CSOs on the status of the tripartite talks and the challenges being faced by the parties.

The Sulu team continued communication links with the key contacts in the island of Basilan. The security situation became tense in Basilan at the sudden outbreak of armed clash between AFP Marines and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the third week of December which resulted in the killing of two civilians, displacement of local people and blazing of some houses. The NP team provided regular updates to the GRP MILF ceasefire structure and the other key organizations working for peace and security in Mindanao. The situation was controlled because of the timely intervention of the key authorities and civil society groups.

Central Mindanao Team (CMT)
NP CMT remained intensively occupied throughout the months of December and January.

The security situation became tense in the Datu Piang area after a series of armed clashes between the paramilitaries supported by local government units and one of the strongest commanders of MILF. The clashes started in one area and later as it was about to be settled, armed skirmishes happened in other nearby areas. One of the MILF commanders along with his full combatant force moved very near to the town of Datu Piang which created panic situation not only among the residents but as well among the paramilitaries, local government unit of Datu Piang, Armed Forces of Philippines and the Ceasefire Mechanism Structure. The armed clashes in Datu Piang caused some injuries on both sides, forced the people in more than 5 barangays to evacuate from their houses and some houses and shops were put on fire.

On the invitation of GRP MILF CCCH, the NP CMT along with CBCS and IMT monitored the situation in one of the areas which was the initial flash point from where the clashes started between the paramilitary groups and the MILF commander. The regular visit and visibility of NP along with other groups gradually normalized the security situation in that area.

The NP project director, Communication officer and CMT were invited by the GRP MILF CCCH to join the convoy along with IMT and Bantay Ceasefire to negotiate between the Mayor of Datu Piang and One of the MILF Commanders. NP Team joined also the convoy that met the AFP commander, the MILF commander and the Mayor. The shuttle diplomacy bore desired results as the MILF commander announced to vacate the occupied areas on the condition of setting up a committee between the local government unit and MILF to sort out all the outstanding issues regarding disbanding of the private armies, the barangay captains to stay unarmed in their respective barangays, and the paramilitaries to be disarmed. The committee was set up and all the parties decided to put up a new JCMP (Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Post) in the Brgy. Balanaken. The mediators invited the NP Project Director to place NP international staff in the newly created JCMP along with other monitors. NP decided to be part of the JCMP on a random basis till the security situation gets back to the normal. NP was accorded the mandate to focus on the protection issues of the civilians and the safe return of IDPs back to their houses. Former JCMP’s in other areas were composed only of GRP-CCCH, MILF-CCCH, IMT, and Bantay Ceasefire. The NP team initially maintained full time presence in the newly created JCMP post and later kept on with random presence till the security situation was normalized and the IDPs got back to their houses. Now the team is visiting the JCMP on an alternate days basis to maintain visibility and conscious international presence. During the full time presence in the JCMP, the NP team along with the other monitors conducted several foot patrols in the inside critical areas where there were no road tracks.

Later, NP team participated as an Observer in the first LGU and MILF committee meeting which was held as a first step to resolve all the outstanding issues between both the parties. The meeting was chaired by the GRP CCCH and other participants were from MILF CCCH, AFP representatives, representatives of Mayor’s office and the barangay captains of affected areas.

The NP team continued monitoring the situation in the other areas of Datu Saudi & Datu Piang and helped the ceasefire structure in controlling the rumors. There were few other firing incidents in the vicinity of the NP area which created panic among the resident. The continuous presence of the NP team pacified the situation.

In pursuance of continuous efforts to implement NP mandate of empowering local communities and local CSOs, NP together with the CBCS identified some key persons within the TIYAKAP (local monitors) who could be prepared/trained as Early Warning early Response monitors within their barangays while at the same time collaborative efforts were continued to identify other potential monitors in other barangays.

The CMT along with the main office and the Chairperson of CBCS organized one day training on EWER through community intervention. The Project Director along with the Communication Officer, CMT ICPs and CBCS Chairman imparted training to 28 local peace monitors on the EWER. The training took place in the NP CMT premises. The 28 local peace monitors of EWER are initially divided into two zones of datu piang municipality. The EWER team will work along with the NP CMT in observing civilian protection and other human rights issues in their respective barangays.

The CMT and the Communication officer along with the representative of Bantay Ceasefire visited the municipality of Midsayap to pay a courtesy visit to the office of Mayor and met the community leaders who were requesting NP to visit their areas. The community leaders registered some of their security related concerns to NP. NP on the consent of the community leaders shared such concerns with the authorities of Ceasefire mechanism structure.

NP local partners organized a series of trainings in the CMT premises. CBCS twice held workshops to train grass roots peace advocates on monitoring the situation in their area. Uniphyl organized two community meetings in NP premises to raise awareness among local communities. Later, Balay Rehabilitation Center in coordination with Unyphil organized two meetings in NP premises on Human Rights and conflict management. The participants of the last two meeting came over from all over Mindanao.

On the request of World Food Program, the CMT accompanied the World Food Program staff in their IDP validation exercise led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Datu Piang Municipality. The ICRC team along with the head of the mission visited NP CMT to know more about the security and IDPs situation in the area.

The leader of the new incoming team of International Monitoring Team (IMT) Site 1 visited NP CMT on a familiarization tour to further explore collaborative relationship at the field site level. The team leader confirmed his commitment to work in close coordination with NP. During the course of month, the IMT team site 1 and CMT shared relevant information with respect to peace and security in the area.

NP team maintained regular contacts with the different key commanders of AFP and MILF. NP project director and communication officer accompanied the CMT in some of the important meetings with the key commanders.

Cotabato Main Office (CMO)
The CMO remained occupied in a multiple range of activities throughout the months of December and January. The CMO provided logistical and on the ground support to both field sites in order to ensure the continuity of work and to consolidate the programmatic relationships with the key partner and authorities in Mindanao.

The CMO further consolidated its working relationships with the key authorities in the peace process, especially the GRP MILF Ceasefire Mechanism. The communication officer regularly informed the GRP MILF CCCH and IMT on NP activities on the ground and linked up the field sites with key units of the GRP MILF and IMT in the ceasefire mechanism structure. The Project Director and the Communication officer held meetings with the Chairmen and heads of the Ceasefire structure. The heads of GRP MILF secretariat requested NP CMO on various occasions to verify certain information and vise versa. The Project Director along with the Communication officer and ICPs met the Chairmen of GRP MILF CCCH and new head of the mission of International Monitoring Team 4 on a joint invitation extended by all of them. The Project Director on the request of GRP MILF and IMT shared in a joint session about “NP as an International Organization, its composition, mission, authority and operational activities in Mindanao relative to the ongoing GRP-MILF ceasefire agreement and peace negotiations”. In essence, NP Mindanao Philippines project secured more recognition, acceptance and support as the top officials of the Ceasefire Committee in Mindanao recognized NP as a genuine grass roots based civilian peace-keeping organization and appreciated NP programme activities to strengthen the peace process in Mindanao, especially refining ‘Early Warning and Early Response’ System in vulnerable areas close to NP field sites. The officials categorically endorsed NP to link up the community based Early Warning and Early Response System with the monitoring posts of Ceasefire Mechanism structure. The officials and NP project agreed to maintain regular communication and collaboration at the headquarters and the field sites level.

As a corollary, the Joint CCCH (GRP-MILF-IMT) invited NP to visit along with the Monitoring Teams to one of the ongoing conflict affected areas in Datu Piang and requested NP to ‘observe’ the situation of the civilians at the grassroots level along with NP partner organizations, and to observe the return of IDPs back to their villages. Later, NP CMO & CMT were invited to join a delegation comprised of GRP MILF CCCH and IMT head of the mission to diffuse tension between paramilitaries and one of the key MILF commander. All the parties invited NP to join the newly created JCMP (details are mentioned in the CMT section).

The CMO communicated with the Chairman of mainstream MNLF who invited the project Director to visit him in the location where he is under house arrest. The Chairman gave a supportive letter to NP to have a meeting with the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Conference. NP CMO is coordinating with the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process to finalize a meeting with the Chairman of MNLF.

NP CMO visited both field sites, especially CMT, on several occasions to extend support to the teams on the ground, as resource persons in trainings on EWER through community intervention and provided advices to the teams on daily basis and linked up the teams with the key resources from partners and authorities.

NP CMO organized a four day review/retreat meeting of the project in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro city in Mindanao. The project team decided to invite the local staff from the field in the meeting which later on proved to be the right decision as it helped the local staff to know more about NP as an organization, their respective roles and responsibilities and it gave them more confidence to work in the field. The contributions from the local staff in the meeting helped in drafting plans and programmatic activities for the next few months. Various issues, programmatic activities and future plans were discussed in the meeting. The Project Director conducted intensive sessions on EWER through community intervention and the project team devised initial strategies to commence with the EWER activities on the ground. In the end of the meeting, both field sites and main office staff were involved to evaluate their activities of the last six months under the given framework.

The Project Director and Communication Officer held series of meetings with the leadership of key partner organizations like Mindanao People’s Caucus (MPC), Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil society CBCS) and Institute of Autonomy and Governance (IAG). They updated them on NP activities and shared the EWER program and sought their inputs on the structural and programmatic development of EWER.

The Project Director and Communication Officer participated in one of the biggest peace rallies in the city of Cotabato organized by CBCS “to consolidate the gains of the peace process” and later attended the press conference organized by the CBCS. The Communication Officer and the new ICP participated in an exclusive think tank round table conference organized by IAG “GRP MILF Peace Process at the Cross Roads: Exploring Diverse Paths”. The Project Director, Communication Officer and the new ICP participated in another Civil Society Forum organized by the CBCS, MPC and Institute of Bangsamoro Studies on “MILF Meeting with Non Moro NGOs”. More than 35 I/NGOs and IOs participated in the Forum. The Communication Officer made valuable inputs in the forum.

The Project Director in consultation with the Programme Director and Programme Officer identified two new ICPs from Sri Lanka and Austria and invited them to join the project. The ICP from Sri Lanka joined the project on 11th of Jan 2008, to replace two staff who left in December and January for health reasons. The Project Director and Communication Officer provided orientation to the new ICP about the conflict situation in Mindanao, project dynamics and activities, and the role of new ICP. The new ICP is assigned to the NP Sulu field site where the Sulu team is giving him further orientation about Sulu.

The Project Director in coordination with NP Brussels office wrote various project concepts and proposals for different donors.

The Project Director visited Manila and held meetings with the Ambassador and senior diplomats of several countries and international organisations.

NP CMO further consolidated the Security/Protection Network both at the Mindanao and Philippines level and kept on providing relevant situation updates to key organizations, groups and embassies.