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 Moro people or Bangsamoro people are the 13 Muslim-majority ethnolinguistic Austronesian groups of Mindanao,Sulu,and Palawan,native to the region known as the Bangsamoro. As Muslim-majority ethnic groups,they form the largest non-Christian population in the Philippines,and according the 2020 census conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority,they comprise about 6.4% of the country's total population,or 6.9 million people. However,the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) estimates that the population is closer to about 11% of the country's total population,or 10.7 million people,attributing the difference to a number of factors.
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 Moro National Liberation Front Executive Council of 15 is a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in which the group of 15 leaders forged a unity agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The agreement was signed in Kuala Lumpur and coincided with the Filipino President's visit. Muslimin Sema is the current chairman of the group. The government of the Philippines recognizes Sema along with Misuari as representatives of the MNLF despite the recognition of Nur Misuari as chairman by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,which the MNLF is an observer member to. Supposedly,Sema's group together with Habib Mudjahab Hashim's MNLF Islamic Command Council (ICC),somewhat agreed to reunite with the MNLF under Misuari.
Muslimin Gampong Sema,also known as Mus Sema,is a Filipino politician who is the current minister of labor and employment of the Bangsamoro autonomous region,Philippines since March 8,2022. He has also been the former mayor of Cotabato City and a member of the Moro National Liberation Front.
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.
Bangsamoro,officially the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,is an autonomous region in the Philippines,located in the southwestern portion of the island of Mindanao.
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".
Ahod Balawag Ebrahim,better known as Al Haj Murad Ebrahim,is a Moro Filipino politician and former rebel leader currently serving as the first chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) was the final peace agreement signed between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on March 27,2014 at the Malacañang Palace in Manila,which eventually led to the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (often referred to simply as the Bangsamoro,in January 2019.
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.
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.
The 2000 Philippine campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was a military campaign conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against a Muslim secessionist group that took place during the presidency of Joseph Estrada in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines. The campaign was waged "to weaken the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's capability to undermine the territorial integrity of the Philippines and inflict harm on both government personnel and civilians".
Camp Iranun is a Philippine Army military base located in Barira,Maguindanao del Norte,Philippines. It is named after the Iranun people,a Moro ethnic group native to the area encompassing the boundaries of Maguindanao del Norte,Maguindanao del Sur,Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces.
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 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).
Sheriff Manimbayan Abas is a Filipino lawyer who served as chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) from 2017 to 2022,overseeing the 2018 barangay elections,the 2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite,and the 2019 general election. Aged 38 at his appointment,he is the youngest person and the first Muslim to serve as COMELEC chairman.
MNLF (formerly)
MILF