Mindanao War Of The 70’s

Tuesday, 08 November 2011 03:38

Written by Tony La Viña

As the drums of war beat, in the aftermath of the Basilan massacre of soldiers of the Republic, I think it is good to remember what happen in the 1970s when war broke out in the island of Mindanao. This column is still part of the series on Mindanao that I started two months ago. It is intended mainly for non-Mindanawans and for those who are not familiar with the island’s history of conflict.

The mobilization of the Moro insurgents started in the early 70’s. The winds of war had been blowing in Mindanao for sometime when the Moro youth got inflamed by the news about the Jabidah massacre. Under the rubric of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Moro insurgents staged sporadic attacks against government troops. But these were at first low intensity until Marcos declared martial law in September 21, 1972. He centralized power in Manila and assumed authoritarian powers. With the centralized control over law enforcement, Marcos then proceeded to dislodge well entrenched local power structures by disbanding private armies. In doing so, Moro and non-Moro politicians alike were deprived access to the largesse of their local offices; thus, further fanning the flames of discontent and separatism.

In the middle part of the 1970’s, the final breakout erupted in Lanao when separatist rebels initiated simultaneous assaults at Camp Amai-Pakpak in Marawi City and a Philippine Constabulary detachment near Pantar Bridge on October 1, 1972. Despite stiff resistance, the marines succeeded in retaking Pantar Bridge. By November a total war was being waged by the MNLF, starting in Jolo and spreading in different provinces of Mindanao. By the mid-1970s, the AFP has deployed close to 75% of its forces and a considerable amount of war materiel in its attempt to quell the rebellion. Violent clashes between the insurgents and government forces led to an estimated 50,000 casualties and hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians. In the armed confrontations, the fledgling Philippine air force played a critical role by providing air cover to ground troops, bombarding enemy concentrations and interdicting enemy reinforcements and supplies. With this the insurgents were forced to shift their tactics by resorting to guerrilla warfare, sabotage, limited attacks, and harassment. The war was gory and brutal, not to mention costly. Based on President Marcos’ estimates, about 11,000 soldiers got killed during the first eight years of the war. The war raged on and the AFP launched major offensives after another in the MNLF strongholds resulting in countless casualties on both sides.

In the mid-70’s the war reached a political and military stalemate. Marcos had to employ a different tack aside from military offensives since the war was proving to be very costly; besides the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was threatening an oil embargo. The calls for a peaceful solution to the conflict from different quarters, including the Organization of Islamic Conference, became more strident. Marcos decided to call for a ceasefire and opened the doors to negotiations. To win the goodwill of the Islamic states, Marcos then launched a diplomatic offensive by opening embassies in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and upgrading 13 others. He sent First Lady Imelda Marcos to the Middle East as a special emissary for some high level diplomatic contacts. Under pressure from the OIC, the MNLF dropped its demand for secession and acquiesced to a political autonomy. They also acceded to the OIC’s demand to go to the negotiating table and sue for peace. Thereafter, the First Lady met Muammar Gaddafi of Libya who hosted the peace negotiations resulting in the signing of the Tripoli Agreement in 1976.

Why the Tripoli Agreement did not lead to peace is another story. The final installment of this series will reflect on the reasons why so far our peace agreements with the Moro revolutionary groups have not been successful.

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