Philippine E-Journals

First Stages and Subtleties of the GPH-MILF Peace Negotiations

Tirmizy E. Abdullah

 

Abstract:

This paper investigates and narrates the development, dynamics, and gains of the two phases or stages of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) 1 and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace negotiations – the First Phase or Domestic Stage from 1997 to 2000; and the Second Phase or International Stage from 2001 up to the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) in 2012. It attempts to identify substantive agreements signed by both parties, events that served as determining factors of the peace negotiations, and recommends further studies within the discipline of history. Signed agreements and documents between the two parties are exhaustively used and analyzed in this paper. Hence, this study may seem “agreement-anddocument-based.” Furthermore, it is hoped that the research will serve as reference for future researchers who will conduct studies on the history of the said peace negotiations. The research data found in this study can serve as additional data to the growing collection of historiographical information on the on-going peace negotiations. These can contribute to the coherent understanding of the possible peace negotiations that might surface as formidable factors in the armed conflict in the Southern Philippines and might serve to understand the historical development of this important development of the peace negotiations.