The War in Afghanistan and its Implications in the Philippines (tags)
For the Alliance-Philippines, the escalating US-War in Afghanistan has a very special implication to the revolutionary movement in the Philippines. It is not only because there are 5 million Muslims in the Philippines, but also because there is an existing civil war in the Philippines centered in the 2nd largest island of Mindanao. It also indirectly affects the Filipino community abroad as in North America specially here in the United States. The existing civil war between the MILF with the Philippine government and the NPA has dragged on for more than 37 years. It just intensifies in varying degrees in between negotiations; ceasefires and changes in the US supported regimes. The civil war that started when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972 has claimed more than 30,000 lives, and at present affected more than 2 million people and 650,000 refugees in Mindanao.