Separatism and Terrorism in the Philippines

Shafira Rizki Aulia

Introduction
Separatism and terrorism have been a major concern in the security issue of sovereign
states. The extant threat of extremism to the security of the people is real, that it could endanger
the sovereignty of a nation state. Some are in the form of domestic ethnonationalist and religious
militant group whose activities pose significant challenges to the internal stability of several
countries. Therefore, suppressing the operations of separatism and terrorism are considered as high
level issue in national security.

Southeast Asia (SEA) is a region on alert of the growing threat by separatist and terrorist
activities. SEA itself has a heterogenous culture, ethnicity and religions, but it is also important to
realize that managing diversity is not an easy task, especially for the governments. Conflicts are
easily triggered by the unwillingness of Southeast Asian governments to recognize the rights of
minority self-determination, and the problems of marginalization. As a result, fueled by the
influence of radicalism which predominantly in the form of militant extremism, the conflicts
transformed into the act of insurgency. Various movements of either separatist or terrorist groups
are still on the move, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, and the worst case, the Philippines.i For
instance, there is The Free Papua Movement in Indonesia, Patani United Liberation Organization
(PULO) and Patani National Liberation Front (PNLF) in Thailand, also Moro National Liberation
Front (MNLF) operates in the Philippines.

The Philippines has been considered as “safe heaven” for groups of separatist and terrorist.
A report from The Global Terrorism Index, terrorism in the Philipines ranked 10th among 163
countries most affected by terrorism.ii The government of the Philippines has fought militant
internal security challenges for a long time, varying from a communist insurgency, ethnoreligious
separatism and Islamic extremism. Moreover, the terrorist and separatist group in the Philippines
not only has posed as an imminent threat to the governments of the Philippines, but also to the
neighbouring states such as Indonesia and Malaysia. The groups frequently operate by hijacking
ships in Philippines waters, kidnapping people then demanding ransom to the governments.
The Emergence of separatism and terrorism In The Philippines
Separatist, or which commonly known as the movement of separatism, is an action of
political alienation, which is caused by the unwillingness to feel as an integral part of the
community or of the state to which it belongs by some some group of people.iii This group mostly
are the minority of people who share the same language, culture, or religion, who desire to separate
itself from the majority. On the other hand, terrorism is the use of force or violence with the
intention to obtain a political or social objective through the spread of fears and terror, also the
intimidation of a large audience by individuals or subnational groups. They are pressuring the
governments to concede to the demands of the terrorism.iv The acts of terrorism must have a
political motive, either is based on the values of particular religion such as Islamic militant group,
or a political ideology.

Separatist movement use their common identity as a powerful force to gain the support of
their people. However, in the process of fulfilling their aspirations, the separatist movement could
turn into a violent movement which led to a collective actions of terrorism.v As an illustration, Abu
Sayyaf Group (ASG) was a part of a separatist movement in the Philippines, then became a terrorist
group due to its disappointment with the agreement between its former group, Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) and the government of the Philippines. With more radical ideology,
ASG decided to separate itself from MNLF, stood on its own by the ASG, hence began conducting
violent activity and causing terrors.

Historically, the cause of separatist movement in the Philippines was the marginalization
of Bangsamoro in Mindanao by the government of the Philippines. Most of the Moros are Muslim
who live precariously below the poverty line. Such conditions are different from how people live
in the central administration of Manila, which is dominated by Christians and has the support of
Ferdinand Marcos.vi By those reasons, the Moros of Mindanao has started the acts of insurgency
to separate itself from the Philippines. The first separatist movement then emerged as Moro
National Liberation Front, which also caused the emergence of another group of separatism and
terrorism; the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and ASG.
Separatist groups in the Philippines

a. MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front)

MNLF is a separatist movement which was established by Nur Misuari in 1971. The
purpose of its movement was self-determination, to gain the sovereignty of Bangsamoro republic,
especially in the area of Mindanao.vii MNLF’s operation centered in Jolo city, Sulu island, and
mostly conduct its operation in the Basilan and Zamboanga city. The MNLF has an estimated
armed strength of approximately 10000 to 14500.

The formation of MNLF at first was due to the grievance of Moro Muslim towards the
government of the Philippines. The Moros were excluded politically, as well as socially. The
lagging development of Mindanao also inevitably caused economic and social problems. The
situation was exacerbated by the ‘martial law’ policy, which gave an absolute power to the
legitimate ruler at that time, Ferdinand Marcos.viii The people of Moro further were excluded from
political rights and discriminated by the state policy of transmigration, an attempt to alter
demographic balance in the southern provinces of the Philippines.ix Due to the ingrained sense of
oppression, MNLF then started to be in insurrection against the Philippines government,
demanding sovereignty for the Moros through the outbreak of armed conflict in 1972.x

In the development of conflict resolution between the MNLF and the Philippines
government, several peaceful agreement was made. The creation of Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 1986, marked the beginning of peaceful settlement between the
two parties. ARMM consisted of four provinces; Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Lanao del
Sur. Subsequently, Nur Misuari was mandated as the leader of ARMM territories by the 1996
accord.xi Nevertheless, the peaceful situation did no last long. The Philippines government
persistently interfered in the management of ARRM. Additionally, there was a problem of
corruption and fiscal mismanagement which also caused the outbreak of the insurgency remained.
Since the Philippines government has failed to live up to the terms of the agreement, the
disagreement in the internal MNLF led to the emergence of another factions.xii

b. MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front)

MILF is the largest separatist movement against the government of the Philippines, with
total forces ranged from 80.000 to 100.000 people.xiii Before, MILF was a part of MNLF, but then
separated itself with its own political objectives, which is the creation of an Islamic state for the
Moros. In 1984, Salamat Hashim, formed MILF under the Islamic ideology which also makes
Islamic values as fundamental in the struggle of independence. Even both MNLF and MILF were
fighting for the Moros, what makes their movements differ was MNLF used their nationalism and
common identitiy as ‘Bangsamoro’, while MILF emphasized more on the identitiy of ‘Muslim’
Moros.xiv MILF mainly operates in Maguindanao city and Mindanao island,

To get its objective, MILF operates more aggressively than MNLF through the
dissemination of Islamic values and radicalism, using the rage as a Muslim to recruit as well as to
gain support from the masses. That way, MILF could have control on the Moros by political
ideology.xv Moreover, MILF was suspected to have a strong link with Jemaah Islamiyah.xvi

Since 1997, there has been series of negotiation between MILF and the Phillipines
government. One of the success was the decision of Mindanao as a special region for Moro
Muslim, but under the constitution of the Philippines. However, the agreement was revoked
because it was considered illegal by the jurisdiction of the Phillipines. Later, in its development,
MILF has finally reached an agreement with the Philippines government under the presidency of
Benigno Aquino III, which said that an otonomous region of the Moro Muslim will be formed
under the authority of Bangsamoro.xvii

Terrorist group in the Philippines

a. ASG (The Abu Sayyaf Group)

Although ASG is not as large as MILF, ASG is the most radical terrorist group in the
Philippines who had links with Al-Qaeda. ASG was also a part of MNLF, which separated itself
due to its disagreement with the formation of ARMM. Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani formed ASG
in 1991 to create a religiously pure theocratic state of Islamic Mindanao, to the extent of
eradicating any form of Christianinty in the area.xviii ASG operates in Sulu, Zamboanga, Basilan
Island, with 400 people as its followers.xix

The terrorism that mostly conducted by ASG are kindappings and killings. One famous
case of ASG terror was the abduction of three American citizens in 2001, made them as hostages,
and ended up killing one of them.xx Other than that, ASG was accused to be involved in “Bojinka
Operation”, an international terrorist network which targeting western people, particularly
American citizens.xxi

b. NPA (The New People’s Army)

NPA is a communist-terrorist insurgency under the Communist Party of the Philippines

(CPP) which was established in 1969 by Jose Maria Sison. Total number of NPA members ranged
from 5000-25000 since the beginning of its establishment. NPA mainly operates in various parts
of the Philippines, such as Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Manila to enforce the socialist values
of Mao in the political and economic sectors of the Philippines through violence.xxii The target for
NPA terrorism activity is mostly American citizen, especially the American security forces in the
Philippines. One of the casualty that brought by NPA was the attack towards the American
embassy and the attack on American forces who were at that time, was patrolizing the area. The
total victims were 19 people.xxiii

Not to mention, NPA’s political power is considerably significant. Through its political
arm, CPP and National Front Democratic Party (NDP), NPA leveraging its power by political
diplomacy such as gathering masses for Maoism ideology reorientation, and having political
representation in a national election.xxiv Moreover, NPA is connected with international
communism network and other kind of organizations and civil society movements such as
International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS). Therefore, NPA’s operations are funded by
international networks and its political connections.xxv

The government of Philippines’ approach

There were two ways that the governments of the Philippines took to deal with separatism
and terrorism. Firstly, diplomatic way was chosen as a peaceful way to surpress the separatist
movement through negotiations and agreements. By the year 1972, Ferdinan Marcos, as the
legitimate ruler of the Philippines, could not surpress the separatist group, which was getting
stronger under the flag of MNLF, considering that any further conflict with MNLF only caused a
huge cost. Thus, the government fought them through agreements; the formation of Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), cease fire agreement (under the presidency of Fidel V.
Ramos in 1997), Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), and Framework
Agreement of the Bangsamoro (FAB).xxvi Secondly, the government became more repressive when
it came to dealing with terrorism. The peaceful settlement sometimes did not work effectively to
build peace in Mindanao. Hence, the government used the state’s intelligence agencies as well as
the deployment of army and navy to combat terrorism activities in the Philippines.

Conclusion

The Philippines, one of the country in Southeast Asia region, has been fighting separatism
and terrorism for a long time. The Muslim Moros —the majority of Muslim who lives in southern
Philippines—, were marginalized by the government of the Philippines. They were alienated and
deprived from political, economic, and social rights, thus inevitably made them to live in poverty
and discrimination. Hence, the insurgency movements grew among the Moros, demanding
sovereignty and the creation of Islamic state.

The movement began with the formation of MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front), a
group of separatist who demanded sovereignty for the Moros. From MNLF, the dissident faction
grew into separatist and terrorist groups. Firstly, there is MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front),
another separatist movement in the Philippines. Differ from the MNLF, MILF were fighting the
rights of Moro Muslim, demanding an establishment of Islamic state. Secondly, the ASG (The Abu
Sayyaf Group), with more radical ideology and had turned itself into a terrorist group.

Another key point to remember, there is also a terrorist group with a more political power,
even internationally. NPA (The New People’s Army) is a terrorist group which has been supported
by international communism network, and has a political objective which is to bring socialism into
the basic politics of the Philippines. But unlike ASG, NPA mostly target American citizens and
American military forces, who they tought as an obstacles of their operation to fulfill their
aspirations.

To anticipate the movement of separatism and terrorism, the government of the Philippines
has taken two different measures. Firstly, the government has used diplomatic ways to deal with
separatis, through political campaigns and agreements, while for dealing with terrorism, the
government used a more repressive way through military approach.
i
Bruce Vaughn, Emma Chanlett-Avery, Richard Cronin, Mark Manyin, Larry Niksch, 2005, Terrorism in Southeast
Asia, Congressional Research Service, p. 3.
ii
CNN Philippines, Philippines climbs to 10th spot in Global Terrorism Index, 2018,
<https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/12/20/philippines-global-terrorism-index-10th.html> [accessed 1 October
2019]
iii
Najmul Abedin, ‘The Politics of Separatism Some Reflections And Questions’, The Round Table, , Vol. 31, 1989,
pp. 223-236.
iv
Todd Sandler, ‘The analytical study of terrorism: Taking stock’, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 51(2), 2013, pp.
257–271.
v
Reinares Fernando, ‘Nationalist separatism and terrorism in comparative perspective’ from Root Causes of
Terrorism: Myths, Reality and Ways Forward, Routledge, 2004, p.120.
vi
Peter Chalk, Angel Rabasa, William Rosenau, and Leanne Piggott, The Evolving Terrorist Threat to Southeast
Asia: A Net Assessment, RAND Corporation, 2009, pp. 33-34.
vii
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit.
viii
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit., p. 33.
ix
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit.
x
Thomas M. McKenna, 1998, Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern Philippines, Los Angeles:
University of California Press, p. 156-157.
xi
BBC, Guide to the Philippines conflict, 2012, <www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-17038> [accessed 1 October 2019]
xii
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit., pp. 34-35.
xiii
Seksan Khruakham and Joongyeup Lee, , ‘Terrorism and other determinants of fear of crime in the Philippines’,
International Journal of Political Science & Management, vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, p. 3.
xiv
BBC, Loc. cit.
xv
Vaughn, Chanlett-Avery, Cronin, et. al., Op. cit., p. 21.
xvi
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit.
xvii
BBC, Loc. Cit.
xviii
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit., pp. 49-56.
xix
Khruakham and Lee, Op. cit., p. 2.
xx
Vaughn, Chanlett-Avery, Cronin, et. al., Op. cit., p. 20.
xxi
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit.
xxii
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit.
xxiii
Khruakham and Lee, Op. cit.
xxiv
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit., p. 57.
xxv
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit.
xxvi
Chalk, Rabasa, Rosenau, and Piggott, Op. cit., pp. 34-36.