Western Mindanao: A region transformed

I’ve had the pleasure of spending the past two weeks traveling around Mindanao – to Cotabato City, to Zamboanga City and to Basilan. Regular readers of my column will know of Australia’s ongoing commitment to peace and stability in the southern Philippines, where we focus more than half of our annual development assistance on education, support to the peace process and humanitarian assistance.

I’ve now been in the Philippines over three years, and it has been heartening to see the positive change in Mindanao in that time. Over the past two weeks I noticed a tangible improvement in the mood everywhere I went – more peace and prosperity, less war and worry. This would have been a great achievement on its own but, coming on top of two years of the pandemic, it’s really quite incredible.

I always receive a warm welcome when I head down to Mindanao and meet a wonderful range of people. Everyone I speak to is a reminder that while we often talk about “programs” and “packages,” the most important thing is that everyday people’s lives are being improved by this work – and that makes everything we do so very worthwhile.

Three years on from the passage of the vote to establish the BARMM, Cotabato is a changed city. While there is still some fighting in the surrounding countryside, it’s clear that the vast majority of the population wants to move on to bigger and better things – a huge shopping mall under construction was the biggest sign of this attitude, but you can also see it in the now bustling streets, the busy shops, the new businesses opening. With three years left of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), Australia continues to support the implementation of the peace process, including the political and normalization tracks. I was particularly heartened by a meeting with the Independent Decommissioning Body, the organization charged with transitioning thousands of Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters to civilian life – the third phase of this work is currently under way, with 17,000 combatants now having been processed.

After Cotabato, I flew to Zamboanga City, another place that has changed greatly while I have been here. The sight of people enjoying the evening air along the boardwalk and around the historic Fort Pilar contrasts with my memories of the city a year ago under lockdown, and before that when there was a strong terrorism risk from the islands.

And the islands! From Zamboanga City we traveled with the support of the Philippine Navy to Sumisip, Basilan where, accompanied by Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process (and National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementor) Carlito Galvez Jr. and Governor Hadjiman S. Hataman-Saliman, I met with a group of former Abu Sayyaf combatants (known as ‘returnees’). This program has continued work started under the old ARMM government, which engaged local government units, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the community to find a way to bring fighters in from the outside. Australia has supported it since early 2019, and I’m now hoping we can replicate its success elsewhere. The changes it has made to the peace and well-being of the community and to the returnees’ lives have been transformative: the returnees have given up violence and received livelihoods training and education and gained a great feeling of safety. One man told us that one of the greatest benefits of the program had been for his daughter – he could now take her to school without worrying about a clash with the army.

Hearing that Australia’s support for peace and development in Mindanao has had a real impact on people’s lives is incredibly gratifying. I’m glad too that we are part of this national effort to make Mindanao a safer place to live for everyone. Alongside our development assistance, the Australian Defence Force provides training and support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Australian Federal Police works with the Philippine National Police on a range of endeavors – to address terrorism but also to counter the online sexual exploitation of children. We are committed to this work and here for the long haul – while I will be sad to finish my posting here later in the year, I’m glad to know our support, and our tradition of mateship and bayanihan, will continue on.

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Steven J. Robinson AO is Australian Ambassador to the Philippines.