Abstract
Carolyn Arguillas discusses how civic actors have responded to the pendulum swings between war and peace in Mindanao. Among other things they have made calls for peace in the face of re-escalating conflict and initiated new forums for peacebuilding. Some were able to engage with the peace panels and local monitoring teams formed as part of Arroyo’s peace efforts, but there is more work to be done to be able to influence national level politics.