PEACE PROCESS
Atty. Gettie Sandoval
August 10, 2019
● Peace is internal or external. Scholars define peace
as:
○ Narrow definition – lack of conflict
○ Wider definition – there is justice, fairness
and equality, coming from a collection of
many thoughts and ideas from many
people.
● Elements of conflict:
○ Incompatibility of interest – this is the
dissimilarity in thinking or understanding
of a single event or act
○ Single event or act that triggered a
conflict
○ At least 2 actors involved that have
adversarial interests
● 3 modes of addressing conflict:
○ Confrontation
○ 3rd party as a judge who will adjudicate
○ 3rd party as a mediator who will facilitate
● Peace process – series of actions whose end goal is
finding a solution to conflict and reconciliation
- It is geared to finding reconciliation, and a
long term process
○ It is either:
● Confidence-building measures - it is usually done
through the release of prisoners to show
confidence
● The three classifications of peace process:
○ Peace making – temporary measures to
decrease violence
■ Ex. Ceasefire, sit down,
reconciliation
○ Peace keeping – there is a temporary
group of people that makes sure that
those who agree to ceasefires keep to that
agreement. geared to protect civilians
from harmful effects of armed conflict.
■ Ex. Geneva Convention Common
Article 3, Protocol 2 Article 1 for
civilians
○ Peace building – happens throughout the
peace process
■ Before any agreements – conflict
should not even exist in the first
place. They are precautionary or
preventive measures
■ After agreement – involves
rebuilding
(classifications are not chronological)
● Purpose of ceasefire is not the recovery or resting
of troops, but for the affected communities to get
out.
Group Sharing
● Stressors:
These stressors can be further classified into:
a. internal
b. externa
● Two main armed conflicts in the PH:
○ CCP (Mao and Lenin)
- philosophy: armed struggle against the
ruling class, by surrounding the city from
the countryside, then guerilla warfare
towards the city.
- that’s why there are no urban based NPA
groups.
- This was exacerbated during the
declaration of martial law-- even the
church sided with the NPA.
- Militia provided armed NPA with food,
shelter (they were ready to take up arms
but not really part of the armed group).
- There is a presumption that NPA will
agree to whatever NDF agrees to.
○ Bangsamoro
- aim: self determination
- to address the injustice of displacement of
the Moros. they became the minority in
their own ancestral land due to
government’s relocation program and the
Moro’s lack of Torrens titles over their
lands.
- common religion, but different ethnicities
and beliefs.
- a generation of pain is sought to be
addressed by a set of documents. What is
the role of peace process in this situation
to address injustice?
● Both conflicts carry the characteristics to the
perceived or real causes brought to the
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 negotiation, exacerbated by everything else
happening to the country.
○ Is the government capable of addressing
these issues?
● North Cotabato case:
○ The SC said the President cannot promise
that there will be changes in the
Constitution.
○ Regarding the President’s powers, the SC
said he can enter peace agreements but
cannot enter stipulations where the
government will cede a portion of its
territory.
○ The petitioners in this case were those
who did not want to be part of the new
entity.
● RA 9851 IHL Law:
○ Understand what armed conflict means
○ Does it minimize the security stressors?
○ This law attempted to define armed
conflict and its elements
● Non international armed conflict is what occurs in
the Philippines…
August 17, 2019: History of CPP, MILF
R.A. 9851
● Also adopted IHL defining crimes against
humanity
○ Genocide
○ War crimes
○ Crimes against humanity
● Covers both armed conflict and non armed conflict
● Unlike the anti torture law, can be committed by
any persons
COMMUNIST INSURGENCY
Objective: state capture - overthrow government
1968-1973: Guerilla warfare - establish small groups
surrounding the urban city
1973: martial law increased the members because of
human rights abuses
- Militias
not necessarily armed
The ones that held the NPA members
1983: snap elections
- CPP boycotted snap elections
1986: EDSA revolution
- Cory entered into ceasefire with CPLA (cordillera
based NPas)
- Assasjnated CPLA leader by NPA comrades
- NPA did not like the ceasefire agreement
1998: RPLA (labor sectoral group with armedwing)
- Takes care of assassinating military officers etc

Armed conflict - this is the event that peace agreements MUSLIM INSURGENCY
want to address 1968: MNLF formed
● International 1983: Hashim broke away with MNLF and founded MILF
● Non international
○ State vs organized armed group JABIDAH MASSACRE
○ Organized armed group vs organized P.Marcos formed group with AFP to invade Sabah
armed group Recruited 200 men trained in tawi tawi then brought to
Corregidor
International humanitarian law - Operation Merdeca / Jabidah
● Geneva convention III They did not know the purpose why they were being
● Common article 3 trained
● Optional protocol II They thought they were being trained to fight the
communists
Armed conflict Some say they started complaining because:
● Political - who controls the government - They knew the purpose
● Non political - family issues / labor issues etc - Harsh training conditions
20 left Corregidor
Organized armed group Groups of 12 were asked to line up supposedly to leave by
● Leadership plane
● Territory - But they were gunned down
● Can protract war Survivor escaped swam into the river and was fished by
* some measure the intensity fishermen
- Wrote the names on the wall
Does the Geneva convention automatically applies to the Sham investigation - no one was held accountable
Ph?
● Theory 1 - automatic even if not ratified I. Peace Negotiations with MNLF
● Theory 2 - not automatic. There should be a local 1996 Tripoli Agreement
law 1989 Creation of ARMM
Ex. R.A. 9851 - translated the convention 1996 Final Peace Agreement
and adopted the optional protocol II 2001 Enhanced ARMM Law
definition of armed conflict
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MNLF - SUlu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi
MILF - Central Mindanao
- Marawi, an Cotabato
Moros - Identity
- Composed of Different Ethnicities (i.e. Tagalogs
composed of Batangueño and Bulaceño)
- All are muslim region
II. Peace Negotiations with MILF
1997 Start of Peace Negotiations
2008 Creating of MOA AD
2012 Framework of Bangsamoro Agreement
2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro
2018 - RA 11054 - Bangsamoro Organic Law
PROBLEM: Translating the peace agreements into law,
because the legislators are not the peace negotiators
Bangsamori Organc Law - not a sub-state unlike MOA AD
- ARMM Abolished
PROBLEM: Can a peace agreement address the injustice
done to the victims / other party
III. CPP-NPA-NDF Peace Negotiations
1987 Peace Negotiation Started
- Big 5 of the Negotiating Table
- No talk will happen if Joma Sison is not there
CAHRHIL in line of HUman Security Act
4 documents (only 1 signed, and that is CAHRHIL)
1. Human Rights
2. Socio-economic Returns
3. Constitutional and Political Reforms
4. End of Hostilities and Disposition of Arms
CAHRHRIL versus RA 9851 - Which prevails?
JASIG - signed to set immunities, so that they can go in and
ou of the country without fear of being arrested
What is CAHRHIL?
- Reiterates respect for HR and IHL
- Enumerated principles and prohibited acts against
civilians
- formulation of joint monitoring committee (but in
reality they haven’t investigated HR violations)
Confidence building before talks
ex. releasing of prisoners; de-listing of sison as terrorist by
US and EU
TIMELINE:
1. Cory - Mendiola Massacre
2. Estrada - VFA
3. GMA - delsting as terrorist
4. Duterte - the only time that the govt initiated the
termination of the talks
- Negotiations are usually stopped by NDF, never by
the Govt
August 24, 2019 - CLASS SUSPENDED
August 31, 2019: Chapter 2 & 3
States are encouraged to sit down when:
1. They know they cannot win, and
2. There is a crediclcrediible mechanism
Intrastate conflict preferred over internal conflict
- Main objective of peace agreements is to stop
violence
- Security issues involve reduction of violence
Three boundaries of peace agreements
1. Definition of conflict and peace
a. The parties should recognize the issue
2. Time frame
a. You cannot put a time frame on when the
arguments will end
b. Issues may crop up during the course of
the negotiation
c. Just because the agreement was signed
way back in 2990s doesn’t mean that they
are in any way less valid
3. Whether agreements are documented
Stages or classification
1. Pre negotiation or prepre negotiation
a. agreement to agree or meet
b. may not form part of final agreement
c. sometimes you have to go back here if the
talks collapse to start building confidence
again
d. agenda must be agreed upon first before
meeting (this is the pre-pre nego)
2. Framework or substantive
3. Implementing
September 5, 2019: Chapter 5
Peace agreements end violent conflict by designing
frameworks to accommodate competing demands.
Framework proposed by Bell: Hybrid Self-Determination,
composed of:
● State Redefinition - articulates a new relationship
between the State and the people
○ Redefinition is reflected in constitutional
language and in the inclusion of new
principles to guide institutional decision
making.
● Disaggregation of Power - reconfiguration of the
state’s institutional formations, in an attempt to
effect the redefinition.
○ Examples: territorial subdivision,
consociational government, robust human
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 rights machinery, and new forms of
governance.
● Dislocation of Power - blurs the concept of
sovereignty
○ Two devices:
■ Multi-nationalism
■ International supervision
○ Methods include: cross border
governance, devolution of all powers, dual
citizenship, postponed referenda on
secession.

September 14, 2019

BANGSAMORO ARMED CONFLICT

1. Political Offense Doctrine - charge the people with
rebellion and not with solidary cases (murder,
torture, etc) because rebellion is bailable

September 21, 2019