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PHILIPPINES-MUSLIM-PEACE-POLITICS
Philippines’ Duterte urges peace in unveiling Muslim autonomy law
MANILA, Aug 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Rodrigo Duterte unveiled a law on
Monday granting greater autonomy to the Philippines’ Muslim south, as he
expressed hope the measure will at last end decades of bloody separatist
conflict.
He delivered his words after handing a symbolic copy of the new law,
which he signed last month, to the leader of the country’s largest Muslim
rebel group.
It was the culmination of a ceremony at the presidential palace in Manila
marking the passage of legislation that is a key step to ending one of Asia’s
longest and deadliest conflicts.
The measure has been a crucial missing element to a languishing peace
pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which, along with other
groups, has waged a rebellion that has claimed about 150,000 lives in the
Mindanao region since the 1970s.
“I hope (the law) will finally end the decades-old conflict that is
rooted in the Bangsamoro’s fight for self-determination and the recognition
of their unique identity,” Duterte said, referencing the region where much of
the conflict has raged.
“May this serve as the final trajectory for the attainment of genuine
peace, stability (and) good governance in Muslim Mindanao,” he added. “Let us
work together as we continue the healing and reconciliation process.”
The law enforces a historic but fragile 2014 peace deal where the MILF
vowed to give up its quest for an independent homeland and lay down its
fighters’ weapons in return for self-rule.
Both sides believe creating the area will head off the lure of violent
extremism and draw investments to a region where brutal poverty and perennial
bloodshed has spawned radical armed groups.
The initial peace accord was signed under Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno
Aquino, but Congress then refused to pass the supporting law.
Rebel factions and jihadists began pledging allegiance to the Islamic
State group soon afterwards and last year attacked the southern city of
Marawi sparking a five-month battle that killed 1,200 people and levelled
much of the town.
Muslim rebels regard Mindanao, the southern third of the archipelago, as
their ancestral homeland dating back to when Arabic traders arrived there in
the 13th century.
In 1996, another major rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front,
signed a peace deal with the government that created a Muslim autonomous area
in the south.
But critics, including the MILF, said it had failed to bring peace and
development.
Under the law Duterte signed, a new political entity known as the
Bangsamoro would replace the current autonomous region, gaining more power
and resources.
It would keep 75 percent of taxes collected in the area as well as
receive an annual fund allocation worth five percent of national revenues, or
about 60 billion pesos ($1.12 million).
The region is also to have a parliament and Islamic shariah courts
exclusively for cases involving Muslims.
Under the 2014 peace deal, the law has to be approved in a regional
referendum, which is widely expected to pass.
BSS/AFP/RY/1728 hrs