Power from the Iceberg: Imagining Peace in Mindanao beyond the Agreement on Paper

Abstract

The following is a reconstruction and expansion of a fifteen-minute presentation made in Davao City, Philippines, last 1–2 December 2011. The occasion was a roundtable discussion entitled “Undercurrents: Imagining a Post-Peace Agreement Period in Mindanao,” which was organized by the University of the Philippines Mindanao and its partners in peacebuilding research, Hiroshima University, Japan, and the South-South Network for Non-State Armed Group Engagement (SSN). Incorporated in this update are responses to some comments made during the open forum. With the publication of the other papers, some redundancy might show up; but hopefully, because of such reemphasis, a fuller and more nuanced set of viewpoints and opinions will emerge to advance and implement the terms of peace in Mindanao long after the ink on the agreement documents has dried up.