Real topic thats swept under the radar, much like the papua conflict. 
I'm taking a grass-root stance on this geopolitical anomaly rather than thinking I'm a separatist or over nationalistic.
But there is a sad historical fact and current internal displacement on the philippine islands specifically the southern island, Mindanao, with increasing anxiety agitation levels being pushed and fueled by, foreign big business, corrupt oligarchical and fiduciary systems, centralised military and paramilitary presence, imperialist and neocolonialist influences. 
This isn't just about assertion of the right to self-determination of IP (Indigenous peoples), however, it is more so a human right issue connected to land, (there is so much to say about the corruption in filipino politics, with embezzlement schemes, smuggling, tax fraud/evasion and other white collar crimes played out within the sphere of government), however the atrocity in todays Philippines is a sincere concern to the functioning of my peoples ancestral and humanitarian claims. I can skip rhetoric talk about the layers of unconsenting authoritarianism conflict and paternalistic rule of a series of american-spanish owners, and simply call the situational experience as "400 years in a convent, followed by 50 years in a brothel"- a bold pronouncement it may be but not nearly a relatively new euphemism for the metaphor/analogy that is modernisation vs westernisation. Fuck all that, facts are, there are no development done to show that the subjugation of the moros in the south even exist, and is kept to a local level because the mainstream media is owned by the same people that are suppressing these peoples. The same media cronies that are tied to the current order of politics, by blood or marriage AND religion. It goes, if CNN is not running report for a revolution, that revolution is authentic.
The conflict in Mindanao is the second oldest internal conflict in the world - (of course, after the conflict between North and South Sudan dating back to the 10th century between the strife between Egyptians and Nubians in pharaonic times.) This is why, the island is called the new promised land.
My reaction to those in arms, resisting central control, particularly in Mindanao, is backed up by my belief that there isn't any rule of law, that can justify the literal rape of the lands, the women and their daughters. 
And, the amount of extortion and exploitation of Lumad domains accelerated by large-scale plantations mining and logging concessions, contributes to the cycle of violence and displacement - Plundering and land grabbing, a trade, and mercenary mercantile tradition hallmarked by our foreign megalomaniac warlords who fronted democracy in the P.I, but had closed meetings to sabotage the loyalty of the subjugate- worsening to the plight of the destitute, is the unbelievable stalemate congruently precedent..."Corruption is the number one industry in the Philippines" Smh. We are considered as a society, in which nepotism, bribery, gift giving and exchange of favours are the rule NOT the exception. Fucking subservience.
Every president from Quezon to Marcos, have practiced and improvised the dark art corruption to outdo each other towards the preservation of Philippine colonialism (mainly to eradicate the muslim and highlander natives). Due to patronage politics adopted by these pseudo-elitists , including chief executives, who are always after the presentation of the status quo , to buy more time to make more money and to lengthen and strengthen their political base, they tolerate corrupt practices of the governing officials, in the barrios, provinces, cities and towns. On particular instances, the governors and mayors operate with impunity to build-up private armies with looted people's taxes to purchase heavy weaponry from so-called rebel armies. I sympathise for my Southern compatriots, because they have been outcasted and deliberately labeled terrorists to the state. The Manila, and Capital state at that. There is an emotional and even psychological aspect to the scorn of Philippines development, and the slow pace which the government has responded to land tenure requested by the southerners; a process which is difficult to factor into an overall story, but which is no less important for that. The roots of the armed struggle in Southern Philippines, have been the clash of interests and other natural resources, and the identity issues emerged from the de-facto second class stasis of much of the moro population. Guerrilla resistance is fought backwards and forward against the different ethnolinguistic tribes of Mindanao, with the blood thirsty, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police and centralised militarization perpetuating, asserting and poking at the autonomous region with the main aim of policing and surveying them, vis-a-vis politics mainly concerned with pacification and criminalization of revolutionaries and other millenarian organization, and, 
The challenge by the NPA (New Peoples Army)- sprang out of spontaneous rage by farmers in the 70s - has not met with a peaceful dialogue of the potential peace dividends, and is rather uncompromisable. Reasons why? Maybe because Estrada claimed 'an all-out war' policy on Mindanao, declaring martial law, maybe, because Marcos pulverized an uprising truce between the Muslims and Christians, maybe because, Arroyo made job security a scarcity because she left behind a budget defecit of $3 billion dollar, increasing poverty, conversely maybe its because Aquinos regime and human rights violation in the name of super-profits for the ruling class and US imperialism was it, and Americans, don't know, its your tax dollars that fund the crimes they commit, 
but the most probable reasons of why they are killing and marginalizing the Lumads is that the ancestral homelands of the Lumads sits on top of one of the richest deposits of gold and natural resources in the world.
You can ascertain the thought, that American dominance has easily been able to assert itself in large part by direct intervention through the shoulder-to-shoulder military exercises, which impose firm control over the AFP, who keep Mindanao within the compass of the psywar against terrorism. The same AFP who indiscriminately open fire in peaceful protests.
Over the years maintaing a virtual occupation through its military activities and operations have left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. Carried out in the framework of the US led global 'war on terror' , these military operations are met with skepticism by many Moro civil society groups who see them as a pretext for continued warfare against the minority muslim population. 
The indigenous civilians are forced to evacuate their homelands, with their very livelihood being threatened by militarization, with hundreds of thousands seeking refuge in emergency shelters, often overcrowded camps without access to clean water and education opportunities -- the tribal people in the Philippines are continually attacked by private army of logging companies, which in a campaign of terror, has killed, tormented, illegally arrested and massacred villagers and assassinated their leaders who spoke up of a uprising, who were usually the educators of those leading fights involving logging or mining,
They live in complete fear, fleeing everything they know at the hands of shadow paramilitary groups. Conditions are due to subsequent policies including the postwar counter-insurgency campaign, forcibly making the Lumads to take sides between government forces and the NPA, for asylum seeking purposes, even to the extent of torturing, the Lumads, (which is an umbrella term for all indigenous peoples) in admitting they were communist rebels. In 2007 after more than 30 years of preparations, the United Nations adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with 144 countries in favor, the Philippines included. There were four countries that opposed the declaration: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The opposition was not surprising because the four countries were, well go figure. The recurrent fighting and displacement in Mindanao has overstretched the capacities and financial means, of regional, provincial, and municipal authorities. International assistance has significantly diminished, leaving most relief work to national NGO's. The conflict situation has further limited humanitarian access; with a UN travel ban for Sulu and Basilan provinces that has been in place intermittently for almost a decade, limiting the access of humanitarian organisations to displaced populations. This is because the government wants a no holds bar control over the sector, to guard multinational business interests and infrastructure. Clashes between government forces and NPA have often led to protection concerns for the displaced population, the government force even targets Lumad schools, raiding and shutting down the schools, failing to make distinction between combatants and civilians, suspecting them all as threats and supporters of insurgents. Education and participation, are two basic rights of children. How else can future reconstruction be established. Lumads have been deprived of basic social services, like education but various Lumad communities have established alternative indigenous schools and programs to provide education for their children, but even these schools are not safe from the harrasements, 1000s of Lumad schools have been threatened and been violently attacked.
What probably hurts the most, is the treatment of my sisters, young women and children in displaced communities are easily vulnerable to human trafficking. Conflict-prone areas, such as the provinces of muslim mindanao are major sources of trafficked victims. Predatory traffickers, look at them as a “resource” for capital generation, through recruitment to work as domestic helpers or worse, as sex slaves. With the presidential election coming up, the circus fiasco has me questioning will the chauvinistic reign of Benigno Aquino III as he steps down from office, make the political spectra primarily focused on Mindanao? I live to see the day, when the insurmountable score of military battalions concentrated in the South are withdrawn and our nations growth depends on solidarity in its people and not in the decree of cabalistic and institutional ritual. It is only but right for Aquino III to take with him, when he steps down, his legacy of failure to suppress the Moro people’s armed resistance.
All the US-Aquino regime has accomplished through its OPB is unleash a counter-revolutionary offensive of massive proportions against the revolutionary movement and the Filipino people, desperately aiming to once and for all defeat the people's revolutionary struggle.

Basically, with the grave crises plaguing the political and economic spheres of the nation, which is aggravated by a system that relies heavily on debt from the crumbling economy of imperialist US, the people cannot hope for any form of mitigation from the severe poverty in the next few years, but we can hope for the further advance of the people’s democratic revolution and the eventual establishment of socialism.