Peacemaking in the Philippines: Shaking it all up FEW more intractable conflicts exist in Asia than the one in Mindanao, the southernmost region of the Philippines. Home to most of the country's Muslims, over 5% of the population, the area resisted absorption either by colonial rulers from Spain and America or by successive post-independence governments in Manila. In the early 1970s claims to self-rule in Mindanao boiled over into an armed insurgency that has claimed the lives of perhaps 120,000 and displaced 2m more. To add to the violent brew, a decade ago there was an upsurge in activity by Islamist terrorist outfits such as Abu Sayyaf, with links to al-Qaeda, and Jemaah Islamiah, based in Indonesia. Clan feuds, known locally as rido, also continue to be bloody. The Philippine government, with much help from the Americans, has fought a largely successful counterinsurgency against Abu Sayyaf and its like, yet attempts to resolve the main conflict with local separatist groups have come and gone. In 1990 the government agreed to the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), whereby four provinces with Muslim-majority populations voted in plebiscites for a degree of self-rule. This, however, failed to satisfy the aspirations of the main separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF - the insurgency is so old that its acronym predates embarrassment). Philippine presidents have since tried to bring them to heel using strategies of all-out war (Joseph Estrada in the late 1990s) and negotiations (Gloria Arroyo). In 2008 a peace deal was nearly signed, but at the last minute the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, sparking more violence. Now, however, peace talks are moving ahead once again. A cautious optimism exists on all sides that this time the outcome may be different. The president, Benigno Aquino, has vowed that bringing peace to the region will be a priority of his six-year administration. All sides, it seems, are willing to be more flexible, and they are also pioneering some new approaches to peacemaking. For a start, today's government appears to be learning from the mistakes of the past, says Michael Alar, who worked with the Philippine government on the aborted 2008 peace deal and who is now with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD), a conflict-resolution group. The 2008 deal foundered on objections from mayors and governors in Mindanao, both Muslim and Catholic, who feared that they would be included in an enlarged ARMM sub-state, to be called Bangsamoro, against their will and without being consulted. The Supreme Court sided with them, accusing the government of being "furtive" in its negotiations with the MILF and of being "whimsical" and "despotic" in committing to the deal. This time round, Mr Alar says, the government is being "more open and careful," taking pains to consult more widely in Mindanao and to keep people informed of the negotiations, chaired by the Malaysian government in Kuala Lumpur. For example, a ten-point agreement signed by the government and the MILF on April 24th was quickly made public. This agreement states that both parties agree that the "status quo is unacceptable," and that they "will work for a new autonomous entity in place of the ARMM." One of the five members of the MILF negotiating panel, Abhoud Syed Lingga, says that his comrades are willing to be more helpful. He acknowledges the anxieties of those who may find themselves within a Bangsamoro state if outvoted in a local plebiscite. The MILF promises to respect the freedom to worship of the many Christians in Mindanao, and proposes that ethnic minorities should have seats reserved for them in the legislative assembly of the proposed new state. There is also an "international contact group" to support the peace talks. Although such groups are quite common, this one is unique in that it consists both of countries (Britain, Japan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia) and international NGOs (the Asia Foundation, CHD, Conciliation Resources and Muhammadiyah, a Muslim NGO). With luck, a hybrid contact group should find it easier to analyse local complexities and feed that understanding into the negotiations. The group will also monitor any agreement and its implementation. The British, in particular, have been active in sharing their familiarity with conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. MILF negotiators have been taken to Belfast to meet Catholic and Protestant leaders. There remains a long way to go. But if this round of talks fails, it will not be for want of effort or fresh thinking.