Moro Separatist Movement under Marcos regime in the Philippines

The Moro separatist movement in the Philippines is one of the typical cases of crisis of nation-building in multi-ethnic countries. This study explains the dynamics of Moro separatist movement from the perspective of interrelation model between the state and minority ethnic community. Moro is not a single ethnic group, but is consisted of the 13 cultural-linguistic groups who are concentrated in western and southern Mindanao island, the Sulu Archipelago, and coastal areas of southern Palawan. They can be defined as a religious minority group who embrace Islam in a Catholic-dominant Philippine society. Moros struggles against the dominant Christian group have a long history since the early Spanish Era. This conflict can be explained in terms of cultural, socio-economic tensions between Moro and Christians. The fluctuation of the separatist movement, however, has been more related with political factors than cultural and economic factors. In 1972 the radical Moro National Liberation Front(MNLF) launched an armed struggle against Philippine government when President Marcos declared a repressive authoritarian rule. However, the breakdown of Marcos"s authoritarian regime and democratization in the Philippine politics since 1986 has weakened the armed struggle by the Moro separatists. The leadership of MNFL, which has led a radical line of Moro separatism, has faced serious factional conflicts and disruptions. Although the basic factors of ethnic conflicts in multi-ethnic countries can be cultural and economic tensions between dominant ethnic groups and minority communities, the dynamics of separatist movement can be explained more appropriately by political factors such as the state"s ethnic policy and repressive capacity, and the cohesion and leadership of minority community