What is the full form of MILF

MILF: Moro Islamic Liberation Front

MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In Mindanao, Philippines, there is an organization known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that wants the Moro people to have their own autonomous area free from the control of the national government. The Bangsamoro area of Mindanao, Palawan, Basilan, the Sulu Archipelago and other nearby islands also have the group's presence.

Although the MILF, the name of the group's parent organization, was sometimes used to refer to the BIAF, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) were the group's armed wing.

History

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was secretly founded in 1969 by Moro students attending the University of the Philippines, Egypt, and the Middle East who wished to establish an independent Muslim republic in the southern Philippines in the wake of the Jabidah massacre in 1968. Libya's Muammar Gadaffi backed the MNLF with funding in the form of weapons and instruction for Moro youths. [5][6] The MNLF participated in terrorist acts and murders to further their objectives. To quell the uprising, Manila's administration dispatched troops to the southern Philippines. The 1976 MNLF-GRPH Tripoli Agreement was signed after negotiations between both the Philippine government & MNLF leader Nur Misuari were mediated by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The MNLF approved the Philippine government's proposal of semi-autonomy over the disputed regions. During the organization's early existence, certain members who were headquartered in the sleepy Italian town of Portofino assisted in giving it a solid foundation.

Because of the major rupture caused by the adoption of this agreement, Hashim Salamat & 57 other MNLF commanders formed a breakaway organization in 1977. The initial name of the group was "The New Leadership." Salamat transferred his new organization to Cairo, Egypt, then to Lahore, Pakistan, in which it conducted diplomatic operations after Misuari ejected him in December 1977. This group was formally founded as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 1984. (MILF). Following the MILF's formation, Muammar Gaddafi had become a steadfast supporter of the group.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was established on November 6, 1990, as a result of the MNLF accepted the Philippine government's proposal of semi-autonomy of the regions in question in January 1987. However, the MILF rebuffed this offer and carried on with its insurgent activities. The Manila government and the MILF agreed to a general ceasefire of hostilities in July 1997; however, the Philippine Army, then led by President Joseph Estrada, revoked this pact in 2000. In reaction, the MILF vowed to wage jihad against the ruling class, its allies, and its constituents. During President Gloria Arroyo, the administration reached a ceasefire with the MILF and reopened negotiations for peace.

In January 2005, the MILF ambushed government soldiers in Maguindanao, killing at least 23 people despite peace talks and the ceasefire agreement. Days of the battle between the combined forces of the MILF & Abu Sayyaf required government troops to involve.

The 2003 Davao Airport explosion, which is something the Philippine government attributed to MILF members, sparked concern that the peace talks would fail to end the conflict in Mindanao if the MILF was incapable of reining in its operators. Although Jemaah Islamiyah is thought to have given the MILF access to training centers in areas under their control, the terrorist organization has denied any affiliations with the MILF. The MILF has continued to deny any ties to Al-Qaeda, but it has acknowledged sending 600 or so volunteers to the organization's training facilities in Afghanistan and also that Osama Bin Laden forwarded the money to the Philippines, even though it hasn't acknowledged directly receiving any of that money.

Combat between the MILF & armed civilian volunteers who were working with the Philippine Army and were sponsored by Maguindanao province governor Andal Ampatuan was recorded from June 28 to July 6, 2006. Fighting broke out when Ampatuan accused the MILF of carrying out a bombing on his convoy on June 23 that left five members of his crew dead. The MILF denied being behind the attack, but Ampatuan deployed law enforcement and community volunteers to apprehend MILF members who were involved. The subsequent violence, which was concluded by a ceasefire agreement reached on July 10 and 11, was said to have uprooted 4,000 families.

After the Supreme Court's ruling in Sema vs. COMELEC denied a preliminary agreement that would have extended the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, negotiations between the MILF and the government came to an end in 2008. The MILF dropped its demands for separation from the Philippines in 2011, claiming instead that they would seek substate status, compared to a U.S. state, as opposed to independence.

Struggles

Agreement Memorandum on Ancestral Domain

On August 4, 2008, the Supreme Court of the Philippines prevented the government and the MILF from signing the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which would have also ended all legal disputes and begun formal negotiations leading to the creation and ultimately signing of a Final Comprehensive Compact. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's proposed increased boundaries were a point of contention in the peace deal, but the court agreed with the southern provincial administrations' claims. The MOA-AD might have given the Moro people the power to organize the police force and govern natural resources, giving them authority over the area under the guise of human rights.

On July 27, 2008, in Malaysia, the MOA-AD was signed by the former governor and chair of the peace panel Rodolfo Garcia, Presidential Counselor on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon, and MILF mediation panel chair Mohagher Iqbal. The agreement was supposed to be formally signed on August 5 but the executive department was prevented from doing so by a Supreme Court order. Security, relief, and rehabilitation were the next three agenda items under the GRP-MILF agreement from 2001, and the MOA-AD came before the discussion of the political settlement.

The public was urged by the Young Moro Professionals Network (YMPN) to "open your hearts to the Moro grievance" and not to be afraid of the MOA-AD. In a letter dated August 21, 2009, the YMPN stated:

We shake hands with both Christian and Muslim neighbors during these trying times in the cause of harmony, acceptance, and justice. The democratic & fair resolution of the problem is something we are dedicated to. The MOA-AD should not be feared. Awaken your hearts to the Moro grievance, people of the nation.

Government representatives accused a number of MILF leaders of starting an offensive campaign during the following month. In response to the claim, Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna promptly ordered the deployment of ten battalions, totaling 6,000 soldiers, into Mindanao by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Over 600,000 people were displaced by the unrest, and about 300 people died.

Following a series of divided votes, the court, on October 14, 2008, declared the MOA-AD of the 2001 Tripoli Agreement of Peace between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines as well as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to be "contrary to law and the Constitution." According to Conchita Carpio-Morales' decision, the Presidential Counselor on the Peace Process gravely abused his discretion by forgoing the necessary consultation process. The covert method used to create the MOA-AD violates the law, goes beyond its scope, and amounts to a capricious, tyrannical, arbitrary, and autocratic use of legal authority. It exemplifies a flagrant disregard for positive responsibility and a virtual reluctance to carry out the mandated duty.

A move for reconsideration was filed by civil society organizations like the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society. The MOA-AD between both the Philippine government as well as the MILF was, however, ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court on October 14, which was upheld on November 21.

Irish priest Father Michael Sinnott was abducted in the Philippines on October 14, 2009, & MILF members promised to aid in his release. They also requested permission to send roughly 100 of their fighters to the area where Sinnott is thought to be detained. However, the Philippine government rejected this.

Peace Talks

The MILF and President Benigno Aquino reached a peace agreement on October 7, 2012, and President Aquino declared that "This accord lays the road for a final and sustainable peace in Mindanao." Ghazali Jaafar, the MILF's vice-chair, said: "We are overjoyed. The president is appreciated for this." On October 15, 2012, the agreement was finalized. By formally proposing an autonomous zone in Mindanao, it seeks to open the path for long-lasting peace between both parties. According to the plan, this semi-independent Muslim region would have sharia law exclusively for Muslims, budgetary autonomy, a more equitable sharing of earnings from the exploitation of its own abundant resources, and its own police. In return, the MILF would indeed be willing to put an end to military movements against the state in favor of autonomy and concede the national government's continued responsibility over foreign and domestic policy. The region would also be renamed Bangsamoro, just after the Moro people, as part of the autonomy accord that will be gradually implemented.

On July 13, 2013, after six days of negotiations, the chief peace mediator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer stated that the administration was pretty hopeful for a swift final deal. She uttered: "This signing shows that all parties are genuinely dedicated to bringing the peace talks to a successful conclusion. Nobody wants this to fail to materialize."

Pact for Peace

A peace accord was reached in Kuala Lumpur on January 24, 2014, by MILF head negotiator Mohagher Iqbal and negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferrer of the Philippine government. The accord would allow for the passing of a measure by the Philippine Congress that would establish the new autonomous Bangsamoro Muslim region. By 2016, the government hoped to establish the region.

According to the agreement, the MILF would deactivate its rebel troops in exchange for Muslim self-rule in some areas of the southern Philippines. The MILF as well as the Philippine government would choose a third party to whom the MILF forces would hand over their weapons. The Philippine military would decrease troop numbers and aid in disbanding, and a local police department would be established.

The law's signing by President Rodrigo Duterte was a crucial step in putting a stop to a Muslim uprising in the south of the predominantly Catholic Philippines. The Department of the Presidential Counselor on the Peace Process noted that "8,879 from the 12,000 MILF fighters were disbanded from the final quarter of 2019" in an early January 2020 announcement, exceeding its aim for the deactivation of MILF fighters. To safeguard some portions of the Bangsamoro region till an elected parliament is established in 2022, some veteran rebel fighters have enlisted in the police and military.