The Moro Problem

In our class last July 19 2010, we discussed about Ms. Christine’s own paper on the Moro Islamic Conflict in Mindanao. I was relieved to know that the outline and contents of her paper were somewhat similar with the contents of the term paper I submitted that day. During the discussion I was able to learn additional facts such as: rumors that the third party facilitator will no longer be Malaysia but Indonesia, mainly because Malaysia’s main interest was to claim Sabbah as their territories, peace in Mindanao was just their secondary interest. Another interesting fact was that, one of the few correct things that President Estrada did in his administration was to wage war against the rebel groups in Mindanao unlike President Arroyo’s administration where in she only did a never-ending negotiation thus led to nothing. Lastly this conflict is not only a domestic problem because it transcends to the international sphere, which may lead to further conflicts such as: Philippines versus Malaysia (If our country chooses to fight for Sabbah) if that happens, USA will back us up while occupying the South China sea which may lead to a China-US conflict.