Day 4 Assignment
(50% of the score will be added to your midterm exam)
Name: John Paul A. Calunod
Section: C
Date: 6/5/2020
Research: Terrorist groups/ terrorism in the Philippines.
1. Abu Sayyaf (20 points)
a) Who are they?
The Abu Sayyaf Group is an Islamic separatist organization in the Philippines
founded by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani in 1991. The ASG renewed its campaign to
establish an Islamic state in June 2017, when it gained control of parts of Marawi, a city
in the southern Philippines. It is regarded as the most dangerous militant group in the
Philippines.
b) Why are they protesting against the Philippine government?
The Abu Sayyaf Group seeks an independent Islamic state for the Filipino
Muslim minority, known as the Moro people, who live primarily in the Philippines’
Mindanao region. Heavily influenced by Al Qaeda in its early stages, the ASG started as
a splinter group of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and seeks an independent
Muslim state in the southern Philippines.
c) What is their mission?
The ASG aims to establish an independent Islamic state in the Mindanao region
for the Filipino minority known as the Moros. This goal is shaped by the historical
narrative of the “Bangsamoro” struggle, in which Filipino Muslims have long clashed with
the Spanish, American, and Filipino governments that they believe have sought to
oppress them.
The ASG also aims to expel the Christian settlers who migrated to Mindanao
from other regions in the Philippines such as Luzon and the Visayas.
d) Who or where do they get their funds?
The ASG has received money or training from other Islamist militant groups in
the past, including Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. Today, the ASG’s main source of
funding is criminal activity, to which the group increasingly turned after the decline of
funding from foreign sources in the mid-1990s. The ASG is best known for engaging in
kidnapping, demanding ransom from wealthy families and Western governments,
generating up to several million dollars per ransom. The ASG also finances itself through
blackmail, extortion, smuggling, and sales of marijuana.
2. MILF (20 points)
a. Who are they?
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is the largest militant organization in
the Philippines and seeks autonomy for Filipino Muslims. The MILF has a significant
history of terrorism and militancy. In 2014, the MILF concluded peace negotiations with
the Philippine government for an autonomous region in the southern Philippines, to be
called the Bangsamoro. The MILF is in the process of gradual disarmament.
b. Why are they protesting against the Philippine government?
It seeks an independent Islamic state or autonomous region for the Filipino
Muslim minority, known as the Moro people, who live primarily in the Philippines’
Mindanao region.
c. What is their mission?
The MILF is an Islamist organization with the goal of creating an independent,
Islamic state for Muslims in the country’s southern regions. Generally, the MILF seeks
meaningful self-determination for Filipino Muslims. In 2010, the group officially dropped
its demand for full independence in favor of regional autonomy.
d. Who or where do they get their funds?
Around the 1990s, the MILF received funding from Al Qaeda (AQ) and from
Mohammad Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law, who founded various
charities that funneled money to the MILF and similar groups. However, the MILF
primarily funds itself through extortion and also reportedly profits from marijuana
trafficking, although the organization denies engaging in illegal financing activities.
Further, the MILF collects alms – called “zakat” – from Muslims, sometimes in the
form of taxes within the zones that it controls. The MILF also reportedly receives money
from various Islamic states, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, and individuals in those
states. Other funding sources include money diverted from foreign Islamic
nongovernmental organizations and remittances from Moro members of the United
Overseas Bangsamoro.
3. MNLF (20 points)
a. Who are they?
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is an Islamic separatist organization
based in the southern Philippines that seeks autonomy for Filipino Muslims, called
Moros. The MNLF was established in 1972, and it led the Moro separatist movement
until the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine
government. Since 1996, the MNLF has been surpassed in strength and influence by its
rival group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which began its own peace talks
with the Philippine government. Today, the MNLF consists of many factions, some of
which support current negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF.
b. Why are they protesting against the Philippine government?
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is an Islamic separatist organization
based in the southern Philippines. Its stated purpose was to create an independent
Islamic state or autonomous region for the Filipino Muslim minority, known as the Moro
people, who live primarily in the Philippines’ Mindanao region. For about two decades
beginning in the 1970s, the MNLF was the leading organization in the Moro separatist
movement.
c. What is their mission?
The MNLF uses nationalist rhetoric to call for an independent state in the
Southern Philippines. Its 1974 manifesto discusses the Moro people as a nation based
more on a shared homeland in the southern Philippines and oppressed by the central
government, rather than a group characterized by a common religion. While the group
has not emphasized an Islamic agenda, the MNLF claims to represent Filipino Muslims.
It made a few references in its manifesto to defending Islam and has historically sought
Islamic supporters like the OIC. It enjoys the OIC’s official recognition.
d. Who or where do they get their funds?
From its beginnings in the 1970s, the MNLF received significant financial support
from foreign actors that backed the Moro separatist struggle, including Libya, Malaysia,
Saudi Arabia, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Foreign Islamic
government agencies, foundations, charities, and businesses also contributed funds to
the MNLF. Within the Philippines, the MNLF depended on zakat, or alms, that included
money and food.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the MNLF acquired its weapons from corrupt
government officers, the black market, looting after battles, and Libyan shipments. Many
MNLF members also relied on their own weapons. The MNLF’s arms have included
assault rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The MNLF has
also reportedly used landmines in the past, specifically against the Armed Forces of the
Philippines.
4. BIFF (20 points)
a. Who are they?
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), sometimes called the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), is an Islamic separatist organization
based in the southern Philippines. It seeks an independent Islamic state for the Filipino
Muslim minority, known as the Moro people, who live primarily in the Philippines’
Mindanao region. The BIFF was founded in 2010 by Ameril Umbra Kato as a splinter
group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It has attacked government forces
and civilian targets, especially to undermine peace talks between the MILF and the
Philippine government.
b. Why are they protesting against the Philippine government?
It seeks an independent Islamic state for the Filipino Muslim minority, known as
the Moro people, who live primarily in the Philippines’ Mindanao region.
c. What is their mission?
The BIFF is an Islamist organization that seeks to establish an independent
Islamic state in the southern Philippines for the Filipino Muslim minority, known as the
Moro people. The BIFF was formed as a splinter group of the MILF in response to the
latter’s acceptance of an autonomy arrangement rather than full independence during
negotiations with the government. BIFF espoused an extreme version of Islam and
admired Wahhabism.
d. Who or where do they get their funds?
According to the Philippine military, the BIFF funds itself through extortion. The
BIFF itself has claimed that it receives money and food donations from politicians,
businessmen, and community members, describing these donations as charity rather
than taxation. There is little additional information about the group’s financial sources.
5. NPA (20 points)
a. Who are they?
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) formed in 1968, and its
armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), was founded in 1969. Because the
CPP and NPA are so closely intertwined, they are often jointly referred to as the
CPP-NPA. The CPP-NPA has historically focused on building support among the
rural peasantry, although it has operated throughout the Philippines. While it
peaked in size and influence in the 1970s and 1980s, the CPP-NPA still engages
in significant levels of violence and is the world’s oldest existing Communist
insurgency.
b. Why are they protesting against the Philippine government?
The Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army (CPP-NPA)
seeks to overthrow the Philippine government in favor of a new state led by the
working class and to expel U.S. influence from the Philippines.
c. What is their mission?
The CPP-NPA seeks to overthrow the Philippine government in favor of a
new people’s democratic state led by the working class, and the group also
seeks to expel U.S. influence from the Philippines. Its other goals include
redistributing land to the landless poor and initiating a cultural revolution. The
CPP-NPA primarily models its armed struggle on China’s Maoist movement,
focusing especially on the idea of a protracted people’s war and mobilizing the
masses in rural areas.
d. Who or where do they get their funds?
From its 1969 establishment until the 1976 normalization of Philippine-
Chinese relations, the CPP-NPA received support, weapons, and funds from
China. Generally, the CPP-NPA has not received much financial support from
outside entities. It principally finances itself by collecting “revolutionary taxes,” a
form of extortion in which businesses submit payments to the CPP-NPA in
exchange for protection from CPP-NPA attacks. The CPP-NPA also sells
campaign permits to political candidates who wish to campaign in areas that the
group controls.
The CPP-NPA allegedly acquires its weapons—including pistols, assault
rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers—mainly from the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) through raids, battles, or illegal purchases. Political
candidates have also contributed small arms in lieu of funds for permission to
campaign in CPP-NPA-dominated areas. Additionally, the CPP-NPA produces its
own anti-tank mines.
6. The Battle in Marawi (100 points)
a. What happened?
Data intelligence gathered by the authorities stated that Isnilon Hapilon, the
leader of the ISIL-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group was scheduled to meet the militants of the
Maute group. An offensive attempt was then executed by the Philippine army to intercept
Hapilon and his men that quickly returned fire on the combined Army and police teams.
At this time it was an all-out war between the Maute and the Philippine army. The maute
group reportedly attacked Camp Ranao and occupied several buildings in the city,
including Marawi City Hall, Mindanao State University, a hospital and the city jail. They
also occupied the main street and burned down Saint Mary's Cathedral, Ninoy Aquino
School and Dansalan College, run by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. A
priest and several churchgoers were also taken hostage. After a 5-month long battle
following the deaths of Omar Maute and Isnilon Hapilon, President Duterte declared
Marawi liberated from terrorist influence.
b. What caused the siege?
On May 23, 2017, government forces clashed with armed fighters from two ISIL-
affiliated groups - Abu Sayyaf and the Maute. The siege was triggered when the military
tried to arrest top ISIL leader Isnilon Hapilon. This prompted attackers to fight back,
declaring the city a new caliphate of ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
group, also known as ISIS. They burned a Catholic church, the city jail and two schools
before occupying the main streets and major bridges of the city.
c. How and when did it end?
The capture of Marawi led to the longest siege by armed fighters in the
Philippines. On October 16, government troops stormed a hideout, killing both Hapilon
and Maute. The next day, Duterte declared the city "liberated" even as sporadic fighting
continued. On October 23, five months to the day from the start of the siege, Delfin
Lorenzana, Philippine defence minister, declared there were no more "militants" in
Marawi after troops overpowered the remaining fighters.
d. What are the effects of the battle?
In the early days of the siege, residents were advised to stay locked indoors until
troops arrived. But as the fighting continued, many fled for their lives. Over the past five
months, about 300,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes and stay in
temporary shelters outside the city. Many of the people in the evacuation camps were
poor even before the conflict started. With the city destroyed, residents are unable to
return home and continue to suffer from dehydration, infections and waterborne
diseases. Basic sanitation facilities, food and medical supplies are limited.
e. What have you learned from this crisis?
What I have learned from this crisis is that we can never really be complacent
because we may never know when a tragedy like in Marawi could happen. We should
always be careful and aware of our surroundings to protect ourselves from bad people. As I
was reflecting and organizing my thoughts from the Marawi crisis I realized a few things. I
realized that in this day and age, terrorists and armed militants are not the only bad guys to
look out for. There are many things that exists in this world that we may not be aware of that
is controlling or manipulating us just like what the terrorists had done. The terrorists may
hold us hostage and displace families from their homes but so do our hunger for money,
fame, pleasure and power. Let us be aware of these things to protect ourselves and the
ones we love. Everything is not what it seems to be and terrorists are not the only source of
terror.
