Managing Intractable Identity Conflicts – A Concert of Measures in the Southern Philippines

The conflict between the Muslim separatist groups and the Philippine government has proven to be resistant to any kind of sustainable settlement or resolution. Several peace negotiations, which in the last four decades have led to specific agreements, all collapsed within a specific time frame. The regular outbreak of violence has hardened public opinion on both sides. The anti-Muslim sentiments are very deeply embedded in the society at large. The notion that the Philippine state is an occupying entity, which limits Muslims in their way of life, still persists in the mind of the Bangsamoro.