Irene Santiago | |
---|---|
Peace Adviser to the Davao City Mayor | |
Mayor | Sara Z. Duterte–Carpio |
Personal details | |
Political party | Aksyon (1998) |
Occupation | Civil worker,government official |
Irene Morada Santiago is a peace negotiator from the Philippines. She is Chair Emerita and chief executive officer of the Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW). [1] Santiago has negotiated peace between Muslim separatists and the Philippines government. [2] [3]
She has spent 40 years advocating for the involvement of women in peace processes,serving as peace adviser to the mayor of Davao,executive director of the Mindanao Commission on Women,Inc. and campaign organizer for Women Seriously and Women's Peace Table Worldwide.
In 2020,Santiago was among the 10 finalists announced by the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) for the inaugural Women Building Peace Award. She was chosen from among over 150 nominations from 51 countries. She was cited as one of the first women in the world to be both a member of a peace negotiating panel and the chair of the panel implementing a major peace agreement. [4] Her Peace 911 Initiative significantly reduced violent conflict in Paquibato District,Davao City within nine months of being implemented and is now being replicated across the Philippines.
Santiago studied journalism at Columbia University,graduating in 1963. [5]
Santiago started working in peace negotiation in the 2000s when the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) wanted to separate from the rest of the Philippines. Santiago saw the crisis as "an opportunity to show that women,even though they are largely noncombatants,could be a vital part of any peace talks." [2] Santiago worked to make sure that women were heavily involved in the process and help create a lasting ceasefire,and also helped to transform MILF into a political party. [2]
In 2001,she was a co-founder of the MCW,which includes women leaders from all faiths in the Philippines,allowing them to influence public policy and opinion. [5]
In 2005,she was one of 1000 women who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. [5]
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is an Islamist group based in Mindanao,Philippines,which sought an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro region of Mindanao,the Sulu Archipelago,Palawan,Basilan,and other neighbouring islands. The armed wing of the group was the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF),although the name of its parent organization,the MILF,was often used to refer to the BIAF.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was an autonomous region of the Philippines,located in the Mindanao island group of the Philippines,that consisted of five predominantly Muslim provinces:Basilan,Lanao del Sur,Maguindanao,Sulu,and Tawi-Tawi. It was the only region that had its own government. The region's de facto seat of government was Cotabato City,although this self-governing city was outside its jurisdiction.
Buldon,officially the Municipality of Buldon,is a 4th class municipality in the province of Maguindanao del Norte,Philippines. According to the 2020 census,it has a population of 39,684 people.
The Moro National Liberation Front is a political organization in the Philippines that was founded in 1972. It started as a splinter group of the Muslim Independence Movement. The MNLF was the organization most active in the Moro conflict for about two decades beginning from the 1970s.
The Moro conflict was an insurgency in the Mindanao region of the Philippines which involved multiple armed groups. A decades-long peace process has resulted in various peace deals have been signed between the Philippine government and two major armed groups,the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),but other smaller armed groups continue to exist. In 2017,the peace council settled around 138 clan conflicts.
The 2008 Battle of North Cotabato was a military confrontation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and a rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) faction under the command of Umbra Kato in North Cotabato,a province of Mindanao,in the Philippines.
Conciliation Resources is an independent,global organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence and build peace,providing advice,support,and practical resources. It also takes the lessons learned to government decision-makers and others working to end the conflict to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide.
Formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines and the various armed groups involved in the Moro conflict began in 1976 when the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front first met to negotiate towards the 1976 Tripoli Agreement,and most recently reached a major milestone in the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) through a plebiscite in 2018,leading to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. However,conflicts with other smaller armed groups continue to exist.
The Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro is a preliminary peace agreement signed in the Malacañan Palace in Manila,Philippines on October 15,2012. The agreement calls for the creation of an autonomous political entity named Bangsamoro,replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which was described by Former President Benigno Aquino III as "a failed experiment".
An autonomous region of the Philippines is a first-level administrative division that has the authority to control a region's culture and economy. The Constitution of the Philippines allows for two autonomous regions:in the Cordilleras and in Muslim Mindanao. Currently,Bangsamoro,which largely consists of the Muslim-majority areas of Mindanao,is the only autonomous region in the country.
Miriam Coronel-Ferrer is a Filipino peace negotiator who was the chair of the peace panel of the government of the Philippines during the time of President Simeon Benigno Aquino III (2010–2016). On behalf of the government,Coronel-Ferrer signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. She is the first female chief negotiator in the world to sign a final peace accord with a rebel group.
Datucan M. Abas,better known by his nom de guerre of Mohagher Iqbal,is a Filipino politician and former rebel who is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He served as chair of the group's peace panel.
The 1976 Tripoli Agreement was signed on December 23,1976 in Tripoli,Libya by Carmelo Z. Barbero,representing the Government of the Philippines and Nur Misuari of the Moro National Liberation Front. The agreement defined autonomous administrative divisions for Muslims in the southern Philippines,the establishment of an autonomous government,judicial system for Sharia law and special security forces,and the observance of a ceasefire. The autonomous region was to have its own economic system,including an Islamic bank.
The Jeddah Accord was signed on January 3–4,1987 in Jeddah,Saudi Arabia by Aquilino Pimentel Jr.,representing the Government of the Philippines and Nur Misuari of the Moro National Liberation Front. The two panels agreed upon the continued discussion of the proposal of the grant of full autonomy to Mindanao,Basilan,Sulu,Tawi-Tawi and Palawan subject to democratic processes.
The 1996 Final Peace Agreement,also called the Jakarta Accord was signed on September 2,1996 in Manila,Philippines by Manuel Yan,representing the Government of the Philippines and Nur Misuari of the Moro National Liberation Front. The culmination of four years of peace talks,the agreement established mechanisms designed to bring about the full implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement.
Jesus "Jess" Gestuveo Dureza is a Filipino lawyer,consultant,journalist and politician from Davao City,Philippines. He was the adviser on the peace process to President Rodrigo Duterte from 2016 to 2018 and is the Founding Chairman of Advocacy MindaNow Foundation,a group advocating for peace in Mindanao. He has held various appointive positions in past administrations including the chairmanship of the Mindanao Development Authority,the chairmanship of the Government Peace Negotiating Panel for Talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,and Presidential Assistant for Mindanao. He is also a former Representative of the 1st District of Davao City in the Philippine House of Representatives.
The Battle of the Buliok Complex took place on 11 February 2003 in an area within the provinces of Maguindanao and Cotabato in Mindanao,Philippines. The 60-hectare complex,which stretches from Pikit,Cotabato to Pagalungan,Maguindanao,was a stronghold of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Accused by the Philippine government of harboring members of Pentagon,a notorious kidnap-for-ransom gang operating in Mindanao,the MILF was attacked in the Buliok complex by the Armed Forces of the Philippines under orders from then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The International Monitoring Team (IMT) was a monitoring team composed of 60 members headquartered in Cotabato City,Mindanao of the Philippines to monitor the implementation of peace between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and one of the largest rebels in the region,the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Moro conflict. The team is led by Malaysia,followed by Brunei Darussalam,Indonesia,Japan,Libya,Norway and subsequently the European Union.
Hajji Salik B. Abu more commonly known as Ghazali Jaafar was a Filipino militant and government official. He fought under the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He served as chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC),and the Speaker of the Parliament designate under the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA),the interim regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) was a proposed subdivision in the Philippines spanning portions of Mindanao and Palawan. Conceptualized during the peace talks between the government of the Philippines during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),the BJE was the proposed expanded successor to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).