Moro Conflict: Landlessness and Misdirected State Policies

by Eric Gutierrez

The conflict in the southern Philippines is becoming increasingly complex, and untangling the knots for a greater understanding of the problem is no easy task. Yet underlying all these manifestations of a complex conflict is a straightforward political-economic explanation. This study argues that the continuing war, the persistence of poverty and landlessness, and the emergence of "entrepreneurs in violence" are mere symptoms of something that has not yet been sufficiently addressed by a succession of Philippine governments or even by mainstream Moro revolutionary organizations: the highly skewed distribution of ownership and control over land resources in the southern Philippines. It contends that landlessness and the continuing weakness of state institutions in implementing agrarian reform and enforcing ancestral domain claims are fundamental issues whose resolution may well hold the key to establishing long-term peace in the southern Philippines. The policy propositions put forward here are broad outlines of possible options; actual forms of state policies may vary as long as the general principles underscored in this study are maintained. Whether these policy options are politically practical in the immediate context should be informed by further research on certain contentious issues identified in this study-how, for example, can autonomous social movements emerge in the context of the contemporary southern Philippines? The propositions offered here do not necessarily contradict other interpretations of the conflict in the southern Philippines and their corresponding policy prescriptions. Whether coming from the strictly "economic reform" perspective, the political-constitutional reform (federalist) framework-or, most radically, secession and the creation of a new Moro state-the propositions put forward in this study are likely to remain relevant.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Eric Gutierrez currently serves as Special Adviser for Institute Initiatives at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA.

As a journalist and commentator on religion, politics and culture, he has contributed to The Times of London, The Jerusalem Post, Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, nuestravoice.com, beliefnet.com and huffingtonpost.com.

He is also makes occasional appearances on public affairs radio programs for NPR, PRI and Air America. Gutierrez hosts a weekly segment on American politics and popular culture on Australian Talk Radio station FIVEaa.

He holds the Master of Divinity Degree (2005) from Harvard Divinity School as a Burton Fellow, and his undergraduate degrees are from Harvard College (1984) and the Université de Paris IV, La Sorbonne.

He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association.