President Duterte has offered self-rule to the Muslim minority in the south of the Philippines in the hope of heading off violent extremism.
The president hopes the promise of autonomy will persuade Filipino Muslims to reject extremist groups, such as the Islamic State-affiliated militants who continue to hold out in Marawi City after nearly two months of fighting.
The president said he would help to push through Congress a “Bangsamoro Basic Law” bill jointly written and submitted to him by government officials and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The bill would create an autonomous region with its own executive, legislature and fiscal powers.
Speaking to MILF leaders and government officials yesterday (Monday, July 17), the president said: “This moment is a significant step forward in our quest to end centuries of hatred, mistrust and injustice that have affected the lives of millions of Filipinos.
“May I say to you my brothers, I will support and hasten this instrument as it goes to the legislature.
“There will be no objections of the provisions of all that is consistent with the constitution and aspirations of the Moro people.”
Both sides have said that giving the impoverished Islamic minority greater independence was crucial to heading off the lure of violent extremism.
MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim said: “”We live in very dangerous times… we watch with utter disgust of the destruction that violent extremism has inflicted in the city of Marawi.
“These misguided people have filled the vacuum created by our failure to enact the basic law and they feed into the frustration of our people.”
The roots of islamic insurgency in the south of the Philippines go back centuries, with increased clashes since the 1970s claiming more than 100,000 lives.
The MILF signed a peace treaty with President Benigno Aquino in 2014 but Congress refused to approve the self-rule bill — a central plank of the ceasefire.
After this, small rebel groups that had split from the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) began pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.
The Marawi attack on May 23, which involved members of Abu Sayyaf, the Maute group and foreign jihadis, was their first major action, and led to the imposition of martial rule across Mindanao.
The government’s chief peace negotiator, Irene Santiago, said Manila expected the bill to pass within a year.
“The next 12 months are full of opportunity but also fraught with so much danger. The dangers are staring us in the face: violent extremism, the source of the crisis in Marawi,” she said.
An Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has been in place in parts of the south since the MNLF signed peace with Manila in 1996.
However, it has failed to end violence and insurgency.
Both the MILF and MNLF had a hand in drafting the new self-rule bill.
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