Joint Communique

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Country/entity: Philippines
Mindanao
Region: Asia and Pacific
Agreement name: Joint Communique
Date: 20 Jan 2000
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Intrastate/intrastate conflict
Philippine Insurgencies (1968 - )
The Maoist Insurgencies (1968 - )

Philippines-NDF

The Philippines have been defined by a series of center-periphery and often ideologically Maoist, separatist insurgencies. The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), began its war against the central Philippine government in 1968 through their armed wing – the New People’s Army (NPA). Further legitimacy was gained through the establishment of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in 1973. Grievances were predominantly opposed to the corruption and repression under the authoritarian Marcos regime.

Philippines-Cordillera

With the overthrow of Marcos’ regime in 1986, the CPP factionalized further to take on more localized characteristics. The Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) broke away from the NDF in 1986 to focus on the protection of the Cordilleran people and land in northern Luzon. Hostilities were formally ended in July 2011, with an agreement signed between the central government, the CPLA and the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA) that allowed for the absorption of CPLA fighters into the Philippine Army and the re-working of the CBA-CPLA into a socio-development organisation.

Philippines-RPM-P

Meanwhile, purge among the CPP in the early 1990s, encouraged the formation of a parallel party, the Revolutionary Workers Party (RPM-P). Their armed wing, the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) which had carried out a number of assassinations during the 1980s at the bequest of the CPP, followed suit and allied themselves with the RPM-P in 1997 forming the (RPM-P-RPA-ABB). Severely weakened by the split with the CPP and with the arrest of several key figures, the RPM-P-RPA-ABB signed a peace agreement in December 2000, which encouraged the RPM-P’s branch in Mindanao to break away in 2001.

The CPP-NPA has only participated in intermittent talks with the government. Talks halted in 2004 when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration sought closer ties with the U.S. in the war on terror and added the CPP-NPA to the list of terrorist organisations, renewing violence. Following the launch of a counter-insurgency by the Philippine government, negotiations have been further delayed due to suspected internal differences between the CPP ‘old guard’ and younger members.

The Moro Insurgency (1968 - )

Philippines-Mindanao

The Moro Insurgency began in 1968, in Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago after the killing of Moro Commandos, the so-called Jabidah Massacre, by the Philippine Army following a plot to invade Sabah province in Malaysia. The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) captured a swath of territory in the mid-1970s. In an attempt to stem the violence, the constitution was reformed and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created 1990 granting a devolution of power to the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. Following the establishment of the ARMM, the MNLF splintered into a range of smaller groups including Islamic factions such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayef Goup (ASG). The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was signed in 2014.
Stage: Pre-negotiation/process
Conflict nature: Government/territory
Peace process: Philippines - Mindanao process
Parties: USec. Orlando V. Soriano, GRP Peace Negotiating Panel Chairman;
Aleem Abdulazis Mimbantas, MILF Peace Negotiating Panel Chairman
Third parties: -
Description: Joint Communique by the GRP and MILF Peace Panels that informs on the 1ft Formal Meeting, held on January 19-20, 2000, in which the Panels approved the notation of previous Agreements, adoption and approval of the proposed talking point of the GRP-MILF peace talks, and confidence-building measures and proposals to strengthen existing Agreements, primarily Immunity and Security Guarantees, a Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws, and for the CCCH to hasten the implementation of 12/1/2000 Agreement to Cease Hostilities along the National Highway and the 2/9/1999 Agreement to Hold the Ceremony of the Formal Peace Talks. Additionally, the Panels tasked the Technical Committees to cluster the nine (9) talking points and to create Technical Working groups of both Parties in order to discuss their talking points and then submit the output for approval by the Peace Panels.

Agreement document: PH_000120_Joint Communique.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF

Groups

Children/youth: No specific mention.
Disabled persons: No specific mention.
Elderly/age: No specific mention.
Migrant workers: No specific mention.
Racial/ethnic/national group: No specific mention.
Religious groups: No specific mention.
Indigenous people: No specific mention.
Other groups: No specific mention.
Refugees/displaced persons: No specific mention.
Social class: No specific mention.

Gender

Women, girls and gender: No specific mention.
Men and boys: No specific mention.
LGBTI: No specific mention.
Family: No specific mention.

State definition

Nature of state (general): No specific mention.
State configuration: No specific mention.
Self determination: No specific mention.
Referendum: No specific mention.
State symbols: No specific mention.
Independence/secession: No specific mention.
Accession/unification: No specific mention.
Border delimitation: No specific mention.
Cross-border provision: No specific mention.

Governance

Political institutions (new or reformed): No specific mention.
Elections: No specific mention.
Electoral commission: No specific mention.
Political parties reform: No specific mention.
Civil society: No specific mention.
Traditional/religious leaders: No specific mention.
Public administration: No specific mention.
Constitution: No specific mention.

Power sharing

Political power sharing: No specific mention.
Territorial power sharing: No specific mention.
Economic power sharing: No specific mention.
Military power sharing: No specific mention.

Human rights and equality

Human rights/RoL general: 3. Adoption of confidence-building measures and proposals to strengthen all existing Agreements: b. Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws.

[...] At said meeting, the MILF Panel furnished the GRP Panel for discussion and comment proposed drafts, to with: b.) "Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws."
Bill of rights/similar: No specific mention.
Treaty incorporation: No specific mention.
Civil and political rights: No specific mention.
Socio-economic rights: No specific mention.

Rights related issues

Citizenship: No specific mention.
Democracy: No specific mention.
Detention procedures: No specific mention.
Media and communication: No specific mention.
Mobility/access: No specific mention.
Protection measures: No specific mention.
Other: 3. Adoption of confidence-building measures and proposals to strengthen all existing Agreements: b. Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws.

[...] At said meeting, the MILF Panel furnished the GRP Panel for discussion and comment proposed drafts, to wit: b.) "Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws."

Rights institutions

NHRI: No specific mention.
Regional or international human rights institutions: No specific mention.

Justice sector reform

Criminal justice and emergency law: No specific mention.
State of emergency provisions: No specific mention.
Judiciary and courts: No specific mention.
Prisons and detention: No specific mention.
Traditional Laws: No specific mention.

Socio-economic reconstruction

Development or socio-economic reconstruction: No specific mention.
National economic plan: No specific mention.
Natural resources: No specific mention.
International funds: No specific mention.
Business: No specific mention.
Taxation: No specific mention.
Banks: No specific mention.

Land, property and environment

Land reform/rights: No specific mention.
Pastoralist/nomadism rights: No specific mention.
Cultural heritage: No specific mention.
Environment: No specific mention.
Water or riparian rights or access: No specific mention.

Security sector

Security Guarantees: 3. 3. Adoption of confidence-building measures and proposals to strengthen all existing Agreements: a. Immunity and Security Guarantees
Ceasefire: Security sector→Ceasefire→Ceasefire provision
3. 3. Adoption of confidence-building measures and proposals to strengthen all existing Agreements: c. Tasking the Coordinating Committees on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) to hasten the implementation of the GRp-MILF Agreements on September 2, 1999 and January 12, 2000.

Also, both GRP and MILF Panels disposed the following business: b.) Tasked the Coordinating Committees on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) to hasten the implementation of the GRP-MILF Agreement on September 2, 1999 and January 12, 2000;
Police: No specific mention.
Armed forces: No specific mention.
DDR: No specific mention.
Intelligence services: No specific mention.
Parastatal/rebel and opposition group forces: No specific mention.
Withdrawal of foreign forces: No specific mention.
Corruption: No specific mention.
Crime/organised crime: No specific mention.
Drugs: No specific mention.
Terrorism: No specific mention.

Transitional justice

Transitional justice general: No specific mention.
Amnesty/pardon: No specific mention.
Courts: No specific mention.
Mechanism: No specific mention.
Prisoner release: No specific mention.
Vetting: No specific mention.
Victims: No specific mention.
Missing persons: No specific mention.
Reparations: No specific mention.
Reconciliation: No specific mention.

Implementation

UN signatory: No specific mention.
Other international signatory: No specific mention.
Referendum for agreement: No specific mention.
International mission/force/similar: No specific mention.
Enforcement mechanism: No specific mention.
Related cases: No specific mention.
Source: GRP-MILF Peace Process: Compilation of Signed Agreements & other related Documents (1997-2010); (MILF Peace Panel/Asia Foundation, 2010), p. 81.

JOINT COMMUNIQUE

The ORP and MILF Peace Panels conducted their 1st Formal Meeting on January 19-20, 2000, at the Da'wah Center, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

The following Agenda for the meeting, as prepared and submitted by GRP-MILF Technical Committees, was aprroved by both panels:

1. Notation of previous Agreements;

2. Adoption and approval of the proposed talking point of the GRP-MILF peace talks as submitted by the MILF Technical Committee on January 7, 1997 and elaborated on February 25, 1997;

3. Adoption of confidence-building measures and proposals to strengthen all existing Agreements:

a. Immunity nnd Security Guarantees

b. Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws

c. Tasking the Coordinating Committees on Cessation of Hostililies (CCCH) to hasten the implementation of the GRP-MILF Agreements on September 2, 1999 and January 12, 2000;

4. Adoption of proposed agenda, schcdule and venue of next meeting.

At said meeting, the MlLF Panel furnished the GRP Panel for dicussion and comment proposed drafts, to wit:

a.) "GRP-MILF Comprehensive Agreement on the Security and Immunity Guarantees";

and

b.) "Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws

Also, both GRP and MILF Panels disposed the following business:

a.) Admitted and noted all previous agreements entered into by the duly authorized representives of the GRP and the MILF;

b.) Tasked the Coordinating Committees on Cessation or Hostilities (CCCH) to hasten the implementetion of the GRP-MILF Agreement on September 2, 1999 and January 12, 2000;

and,

c.) Tasked their Technical Committees to cluster the nine (9) talking points and to create the Technical Working Groups of both Parties in order to discuss their talking points, the output of which is to be submitted to the Panels' Technical Committees which shall, in turn, reconcile the same for the approval of the Peace Panels.

The Panels Technical Committees shall meet on February 1-8, 2000 in Cotobalo City.

The 2nd Formal Meeting of the GRP-MILF Peace Talks shall be on February 21-22, 2000 at a venue to be determined and agreed upon by lhe Chairmen of both Panels

Done this 20th day of January 2000 at the Da'wah Center, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

FOR THE GRP:

USEC ORLANDO V SORIANO

Chairman

GRP Peace Negotiating Panel

FOR THE MILF:

ALEEM ABDULAZIS MIMBANTAS