In 1976, the Philippine government and the MNLF had agreed to submit the proposal of regional autonomy for thirteen provinces in the southern Philippines to a plebiscite. However, then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos implemented the agreement by creating two autonomous regions consisting of ten provinces. This led to the collapse of the peace pact and the resumption of hostilities between the MNLF and Philippine government forces. A year after Marcos was ousted from power during the People Power Revolution, the government under Corazon Aquino signed the 1987 Jeddah Accord in Saudi Arabia with the MNLF, agreeing to hold further discussions on the proposal for autonomy to the entirety of Mindanao and not just the thirteen provinces stated in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement. In 1989, however, an act establishing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was passed. The MNLF demanded that the thirteen Tripoli Agreement provinces be included in the ARMM, but the government refused; eight of those provinces, due to continuous Resettlement Policy all throughout silence of Peace Process were now predominantly Christian populated. Shortly thereafter, the government held a plebiscite in the thirteen provinces. Four provinces; Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-tawi voted to be included in the ARMM. The MNLF boycotted the plebiscite and refused to recognize the ARMM.
The agreement
Background
In the early 1990s, the Organization of Islamic Conference expanded its Quadripartite Ministerial Commission, which had been facilitating peace talks between the Philippine Government and the MNLF. The Ministerial Committee of Six, as it was now called, included the new members represented by Indonesia and Bangladesh, as well as the four members of the original ministerial commission, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Somalia. Indonesia became the committee chair mediating the talks between the Philippine government and the MNLF. When an interim ceasefire agreement was signed in 1993, Indonesia as a member of ASEAN became responsible for implementing the ceasefire and provided personnel as ceasefire monitors. Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos encouraged the participation of Indonesia and the OIC; further peace talks were held and representatives from both parties met in Jakarta. Indonesia facilitated the Jakarta Agreement in 1996, which was supposed to lead to the full implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement.
Phases of implementation
The 1996 Final Peace Agreement divided the mechanism for implementation of the 1976 Tripoli agreement into two phases:
Phase I – Three years were allotted for the establishment of the Special Zone of Peace and Development, the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development and the Consultative Assembly. At this point, the agreement enabled qualified MNLF members to enter the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. The Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development was dominated by the MNLF. Misuari then ran unopposed as governor of the ARMM.
Phase II – This aspect involved the repeal or amendment of Republic Act No. 6734, otherwise known as the Organic Act which established the ARMM, through Congressional action and the subsequent submission of the amended law to the people of the affected areas via plebiscite. This was to be done within two years from the establishment of the SPCPD.
