The situation of Philippine Muslims

Even before the dramatic events surrounding the assassination of Philippine opposition leader Senator Benigno Aquino in August 1983, and the ensuing political crisis, it was clear to observers of the Philippine's political scene that destabilizing influences were operating on the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos and that groups both within the regime and in opposition to it were man‐oeuvering for positions in a post‐Marcos society. With this in mind, in November 1983 a group of specialists from the Philippines, australia and North America met in Canberra, Australia to review the current political and economic situation and speculate on various aspects of ‘the Philippines after Marcos’.1 This article is an abbreviated and slightly modified version of a paper which the author contributed to that conference.