New sources of instability have emerged and conflict is on the rebound years after the conclusion of peace negotiations and the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), according to a new conflict monitoring report.
Peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is under threat as a horizontal form of violence has increased in Maguindanao and in Lanao provinces, the heartland of the autonomous region in the southern island of Mindanao.
Last month, in a deadly clash in Lanao del Norte province, Islamist militants affiliated with the Middle East-based Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) killed six commandos from the Philippine Army’s elite Scout Ranger battalion.
Past Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first 100 days, the so-called independent and quasi-judicial Marawi Compensation Board seems to have been stuck somewhere between the imagination and amnesia. After five long years, the supposedly nine-member board has yet to be created, leaving tens of thousands of displaced Meranaw residents at risk and in dire living conditions.
What used to be the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines participated in its very first election on May 9, fielding candidates in key electoral battles in the newly created autonomous Bangsamoro region in the country’s south.