MPC has been successful in positioning itself as a key player in the talks, having been officially recognized as an observer in the GRP-MILF peace talks, which is unprecedented in the series of talks conducted since 1976.
Bantay Ceasefire is a monitoring mechanism developed by MPC in 2003. Its volunteers do monitoring and field work to help deescalate violence and prevent conflict on the ground. in cooperation with the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) of the GRP and the MILF and with the International Monitoring Team.
Since its creation, part of MPC’s mission has been to provide support and advice to indigenous people living in areas affected by conflict stemming from contested ownership of ancestral domain. In helping to resolve conflict within the community, MPC members are not merely involved in public advocacy on question of relief and rehabilitation; rather, they have also been developing local peace agreements bringing military, church, local governments and communities themselves at the negotiating table.
Mindalinaw is an independent, non-partisan and inclusive radio programme on peace initiatives. It serves as an ordinary person’s forum. It is a combination of live and canned broadcasting that runs weekly for an hour in Cotabato, Maguindanao, Lanao and Sulu areas. Life Springs from a small cassette tape wherein the talks, commentaries, music, advertisements are pre-recorded.
In light of the raging crisis in Mindanao that has put the ongoing peace process in danger of caving in, it is imperative upon the youth to come together and collectively take action. The youth component of MPC takes an initiative to collaborate with other youth network that has also with the same inspiration towards peace and development in Mindanao.
WE, the local, national, and international participants to the first International Solidarity Conference on Mindanao (ISCM) – with the theme Building Bridges of Solidarity for the Bangsamoro Peoples' Struggle for Right to Self-Determination-- hereby reaffirm our unequivocal support and concern towards finding a viable political formula that will resolve the armed conflict in Mindanao and to work for the successful conclusion of the GRPMILF talks and the broader Mindanao peace process. We also adopt the following resolutions built on consensus and principles of democratic empowerment and governance:
FIRST, we hereby organize ourselves as the International Solidarity Conference on Mindanao which shall serve as an international working mechanism for solidarity and international cooperation that will support, accompany and monitor the conduct of the GRP-MILF peace talks from the negotiation stage, implementation of signed agreements including the signing of the Comprehensive Compact, and full implementation of the agreements that will include reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected communities,
SECOND, that we fully adopt the major recommendations and plan of actions agreed in the five (5) workshop groups that dealt with the critical issues of (1) internally displaced persons, (2) human rights,
(3) security in Mindanao, (4) international solidarity movement, and (5) media; as well as their subsequent implementation in Mindanao;
THIRD, that we earnestly call for both the GRP and the MILF to resume the formal peace negotiations at the soonest possible time and preferably with enhanced mechanism for participation of grassroots and international community; and to put a closure on the ancestral domain agenda as embodied in the MOA-AD;
FOURTH, that we call for the pull-out of military troops in conflict affected areas especially within civilian communities with the end in view of the safe return of IDPs back to their homes;
FIFTH, that we agree to design and implement a comprehensive information campaign for the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) in order promote better understanding and informed decision among the tri-peoples in Mindanao;
101 EAST - War in Mindanao - 18 September 08 - Part 1
On 101 East , we will look at why peace is once again failing in Mindanao, in the Philippines, what is at stake, and what can be done to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.
Brenda Alvarico, a Bantay Ceasefire volunteer from Midsayap, North Cotabato, narrates how she helps monitor the ceasefire on the ground. "I will go into the dangerous places even though I know I am entering the jaws of death because it's my only hope to highlight what is happening on the ground so that the government will know. I don't care if I die doing this. Death will be okay as long as I have done something to help my fellow people who are poor just like me. I do this because poor people like us mean nothing to those in power," Alvarico told Aljazeera.
Orlando de Guzman of Al Jazeera (English) reports on the renewed conflict in Central Mindanao. This documentary presents the impact of the policy of the government in recruiting and arming civilian militias.
When asked to describe these civilian militias, Atty. Mary Ann Arnado, secretary general of Mindanao Peoples Caucus, said in her interview: "They come by different names, but i think the very basic description here that is common to them is that they are civilians. They do not observe chain of command. They are not held accountable. And they are not also trained. Because of these characteristics, they are the ones who are really opening a lot of abuses and violence among the communities."
Narrative Report
