Mindanao Peoples Caucus

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.

Concept »

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.

Area for content (brief description for the tab - youth)

CONFERENCE RESOLUTION

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE ON 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;

SIXTH, that we resolve to fully strengthen humanitarian assistance, promotion of human rights, international humanitarian law, and the United Nations General Principles on Internally Displaced (UNGPID), and to file formal complaints against perpetrators of human rights violations as we call for greater accountability in order to break the cycle of impunity and violence;

SEVENTH, because there is an urgent need to address gender-based violence and to involve more women in peace and security processes at all levels (barangay, municipal, provincial, regional, national), we call for the operationalizating of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1820 and 1325;

EIGHTH, that we support the call for the participation of an international guarantor (e.g., European Union, United Nations, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Association of South East Asian Nations, etc.) to ensure the successful implementation of all signed agreements;

NINTH, that we agree to send official letters to embassies of foreign governments in the Philippines asking them to pressure both the GRP and the MILF to resume peace talks;

TENTH, that we call for the genuine representation of Lumads in the peace talks and allow them to appoint their representative of their own choice in the government peace panel;

ELEVENTH, in order to implement our plans and sustain the coordination effort among ourselves, we hereby create a Steering Committee for the International Solidarity Conference on Mindanao , composed of the following:

Peacebuilders Community, Inc. ( U.S. )

Amnesty International (for Human Rights programs)

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice ( U.S. )

Asian Human Rights Commission

Mindanao Peoples Caucus

Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement

Mindanao Alliance for Peace

Civil Society Organizations-Forum for Peace

Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society-KRMC

Bai Cabaybay Abubakar (representing Moro women)

Timuay Melanio Ulama (representing Lumad peoples)

Mindanao Solidarity Network

Initiatives for International Dialogue

Bangsamoro Law Center

Waging Peace Philippines

Jayshree Boot ( U.K. )

TWELFTH, in the event that the third party facilitation efforts between the government and the MILF will not prosper, this conference will elevate the resolution of the Bangsamoro problem to the United Nations for their appropriate diplomatic action;

AND FINALLY, as we work in the spirit of solidarity, we also express our support and solidarity to the struggles of the peoples and nations in Aceh , Burma , East Timor, South Thailand, and Sri Lanka as we advance social justice and peace and the attainment of their aspirations and full freedoms.

DONE THIS 17th DAY OF MARCH 2009 at the Davao Convention and Trade Center , F. Torres Street, Davao City, PHILIPPINES.

Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain Download
Annex (Category A)
Annex (Category B)
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