PHILIPPINES: The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front sign a final peace agreement, ending 45 years of conflict and granting Muslims self-rule in the south of the country

Record ID: 349908

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front sign a final peace agreement, ending 45 years of conflict and granting Muslims self-rule in the south of the country
  • Date: 27th March 2014
  • Summary: PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT BENIGNO AQUINO AND MALAYSIA PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK LOOKING ON IQBAL SIGNING AGREEMENT, EBRAHIM LOOKING ON COLONEL-FERRER SIGNING AGREEMENT, PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON PEACE PROCESS TERESITA QUINTOS DELES LOOKING ON NAJIB AND AQUINO LOOKING ON FERRER SIGNING AGREEMENT COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT DOCUMENT BEING HELD BY COLONEL-FERRER
  • Embargoed: 11th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA0BF4B5OEKBX5UEW093BP9SZH
  • Story Text: The Philippines and its largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), on Thursday (March 27) signed a final peace pact, ending nearly 45 years of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people in the country's south.
    The fight against Muslim separatists and Maoist guerrillas for almost five decades has stunted growth in resource-rich rural areas, besides scaring off potential investment in mines, plantations, energy and infrastructure.
    Under the pact, Muslim rebels agreed to disband guerrilla forces, surrender weapons and rebuild their communities while the government gives them self-rule with wider powers to control their economic and cultural affairs.
    But potential threats to lasting peace remain, ranging from a small breakaway MILF faction to criminal gangs, Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and feuding clans, all a reminder to potential investors that the region is volatile.
    President Benigno Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who briefly put aside his own country's problems over a missing Malaysia Airlines jet to witness the event, smiled and clapped as peace panel leaders signed the autonomy deal.

    "So many people have suffered for so long. So many of our stakeholders have worked so hard to arrive at this point," Aquino said.

    "I will not let peace be snatched from my people again. Not now. Not now, when we have already undertaken the most difficult and most significant steps to achieving it," he added.
    The event marked the final chapter in stop-start negotiations that lasted 17 years. Malaysia has brokered talks since 2001.

    "In signing this agreement, the two sides have looked not to the problems of the past, but to the promise of the future," Najib said.
    The final peace deal incorporates all agreements by the two sides, including annexes on power and wealth-sharing and the creation of a police force for the autonomous Muslim area.

    "From the distant to the present, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is the crowning glory of our struggle," Muslim rebel leader Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said, in a reference to the new region, which takes for itself the name used for Muslim and non-Christian natives of southern Mindanao island.
    He invited other Islamist rebel groups, such as the Moro National Liberation Front, which opposed the deal, to join the new Bangsamoro political entity.

    "Upon the establishment of the new Bangsamoro political entity, the role of the MILF may be likened to a gatekeeper for the duration of the transition period, where after such period, the keys to the gate will be willingly handed over to the democratic will of the Bangsamoro. To be overly emphatic, it will not be a government of the MILF, but a government of the Bangsamoro," Ebrahim said.
    Najib pledged its continued support, and said Malaysia has learned the lessons of cooperation through its recent ordeal.

    "For as long as it is needed, Malaysia remains a partner for peace and for development. Our belief in cooperation across borders has been strengthened by tragedy. The loss of 239 people on board flight MH370 has been devastating. Malaysia are grateful for the support of our friends and neighbours, including the Philippines, in the continuing search effort," Najib said.
    The next important step is the drafting and passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which Aquino said would be a priority step. Both houses of Congress promised to pass the bill this year to create a new entity and expand the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
    A plebiscite later in Muslim-dominated areas in the south will determine the shape and size of the new region.
    The government aims to put in place by 2015 the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, serving as an interim government, Aquino said, before elections in 2016, when his term ends.
    Muslims account for about 10 percent of the total population of 97 million.
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