Secessionist Movements and Peace Negotiations in the Southern Philippines:1968-2014
Date Issued
2016
Date
2016
Author(s)
Wu, Jhe-Yu
Abstract
Since the tenure of Ferdinand Marcos, the President of the Philippines, there has been secessionist movements in the southern part of the country where the Moros (Muslims) are self-determined and attempt to break away from the ruling Manila government in order to establish an Islamic state “Bangsamoro” in their ancestral lands. This thesis finds out the reasons of religious and ethnic conflicts between the Muslims and Christians in the Philippines. The study adopts “the logic of two-level games” by Robert Putnam (1988) as the research structure to explain the key reason for the outbreak of the secessionist movements and why the Philippines government and the leader of the secessionist movements could not reach a consensus in peace negotiation or carry out the mutually-agreed peace agreement. Therefore, the secessionist movements are yet to be resolved. The research found that the key reason for the outbreak of the secessionist movements is that both President Ferdinand Marcos and the leader of the secessionist movements opted for violent measures because of the fear that their internal governance power would decline. Despite the fact that most Philippines Presidents who succeeded Ferdinand Marcos wanted to achieve peace, the Philippines government faced many domestic limitations due to the historical factors of the Philippines and the negative effects brought by authoritarian rule. On the premise that power consolidation is a priority, it is difficult to propose or undertake solutions that are accepted by all the Moros. Therefore, the Moros still insist on being military independent, which, to a great extent, has slowed the peace process in the southern Philippines.
Subjects
Benigno Aquino III
Fidel Ramos
Libya
OIC
Sabah
Separatism
Sulu
SDGs
Type
thesis