The Philippines

The Government of the Philippines is involved in multiple non-international armed conflicts (NIACs).

The government is engaged in a NIAC against the New People’s Army (NPA). This rebel group is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines and has been militarily active in the country since its inception in 1969. Although it operates in the whole country, its activities are concentrated predominantly in Mindanao. International Crisis Group, ‘The Communist Insurgency in the Philippines: Tactics and Talks’, Asia Report no 202, 14 February 2011. The Philippines government and the NPA have been attempting to hold peace talks for decades. In August 2016, the talks resumed in Oslo, Norway. However, following a series of armed confrontations and mutual accusations between the parties, at the beginning of 2017 they were informally suspended.

The Government of the Philippines is also involved in multiple NIACs in Mindanao against at least the Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Maute Group and the Abu Sayyaf Group. The Muslim-majority Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has been affected by one of the longest armed conflicts, which has been ongoing since the 1970s. Unlike the rest of the Philippines, the island of Mindanao has a large Muslim population. Tensions related to religion, unequal distribution of resources and abuses of power against the minorities led to the outbreak of armed struggles aimed at obtaining the independence of Mindanao. See S. D. Russell and T. Rey, ‘Conflict Transformation Efforts in the Southern Philippines’, in C. Carter (ed), Conflict Resolution and Peace Education: Transformations Across Disciplines, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, p 157; C. A. Crocker, F. E. Hampson and P. Aall (eds), Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 2004, p 59.