PHILIPPINES: Chief negotiator says peace agreement framework will form a parliament-style autonomous state in southern Philippines, as the country's largest Muslim rebel group ends decades-old insurgency

Record ID: 349611

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: Chief negotiator says peace agreement framework will form a parliament-style autonomous state in southern Philippines, as the country's largest Muslim rebel group ends decades-old insurgency
  • Date: 9th October 2012
  • Summary: AQUINO SHOWING STRAITS TIMES NEWSPAPER WITH HEADLINE "KL-BROKERED DEAL SIGNED"
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADCZLSNWU8FLKCRIGQ697DMIMK
  • Story Text: The Philippine government struck a peace deal struck with Muslim rebels on Monday (October 8), ending a 40-year conflict and raising hopes of lasting peace and development in the under-developed region of Mindanao.
    Chief negotiator for the Philippine government side, Marvic Leonen, said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's commitment to disarm is a breakthrough.
    "Today you have an agreement in which the MILF clearly states that it will decommission, clearly states that it will assist in the reduction and control of the proliferation of firearms," chief negotiator Marvic Leonen told reporters, after the government peace panel met with President Benigno Aquino, immediately after returning from the talks in Kuala Lumpur.
    The agreement begins a roadmap to create a new autonomous region in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country before the end of Aquino's term in 2016, giving the Muslim-dominated area greater political powers and more control over resources.
    "It is similar to a parliamentary form of government within the area. The constitution says that whatever government is in the autonomous region, it shall always be under the supervision of the president," Leonen said.
    The new entity - whose exact size will decided by plebiscites ahead of elections in 2016 - will be called Bangsamoro, the term for those who are native to the region and which Aquino said honored "the struggles of our forebears in Mindanao."
    Leonen said Bangsamoro is a political identity rather than a citizenship.
    The MILF and the government still need to thrash out details of their broad agreement in the months ahead as a 15-member all-Bangsamoro commission drafts a law by 2015 to send to Congress.
    Hopes of peace have been raised in the past only to be dashed, most recently in 2008 when the Supreme Court declared a deal unconstitutional in a decision that set off rebel attacks and a fierce military offensive that displaced 750,000 people.
    Leonen said deep trust between the two parties this time around could see the deal through.
    "What is our assurance? You know, peace agreements are political commitments, made by one party to the other. Although we can put numbers, we can put dates in the agreement, in the ultimate analysis it is the good faith in both sides, it is in the good faith of both sides that the agreement is implemented."
    The new entity and its jurisdiction, expected to cover five provinces under the existing autonomous region plus parts of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato provinces, will be determined through a plebiscite after the passage of an organic act, as provided for in the Philippine constitution.
    The Muslim area will gain powers such as the right to impose taxes to cut central government subsidies, a bigger share in revenues from natural resources and a more active role in internal security.
    But the Philippine government will continue to hold exclusive powers of defence and security, foreign policy, monetary policy, and citizenship and naturalization.
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