Can Muslim Mindanao achieve peace?: studying the complications of greed and grievances

A decade after the historic peace deal (CAB) in 2014 between the Philippine government and the largest Muslim separatist group in Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and almost 500 billion pesos of annual block grant poured into the region, armed conflict among splinter groups remains. Based on the ‘Greed’ and ‘Grievance’ theory, this study examines why armed conflict persists in Muslim Mindanao despite the conclusion of a peace deal between the two sides. It is argued that while there are multiple actors of conflict, the political economy of war has served to perpetuate “greed” amongst a few, resulting in the splintering of the MILF and perpetuation of the conflict with the Philippine government despite its efforts to address the Bangsamoro people’s “grievances.”