The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s biggest rebel group, on September 8 agreed on a draft law that allows the establishment of an autonomous Muslim region in the south of the country after a recent meeting in Manila.
The move has helped solve differences regarding the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which threatened efforts to end the MILF’s decades-old rebellion in the south.
President Benigno Aquino III will submit the draft law to the Congress on September 10.
In March 2014, the Philippine Government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, under which the two sides agreed to discuss the establishment of an autonomous Muslim region by mid-2016, when the six-year presidency of Benigno Aquino ends.
In return, the 12,000-member MILF will disarm and help the government improve the lives of Filipino Muslims, who are among the poorest and most marginalised in the mainly Catholic nation of 100 million.
Muslim rebels have been battling for independence or autonomy in the southern islands since the 1970s, with the conflict claiming tens of thousands of lives.-VNA
The move has helped solve differences regarding the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which threatened efforts to end the MILF’s decades-old rebellion in the south.
President Benigno Aquino III will submit the draft law to the Congress on September 10.
In March 2014, the Philippine Government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, under which the two sides agreed to discuss the establishment of an autonomous Muslim region by mid-2016, when the six-year presidency of Benigno Aquino ends.
In return, the 12,000-member MILF will disarm and help the government improve the lives of Filipino Muslims, who are among the poorest and most marginalised in the mainly Catholic nation of 100 million.
Muslim rebels have been battling for independence or autonomy in the southern islands since the 1970s, with the conflict claiming tens of thousands of lives.-VNA
