The Philippines on Monday offered Muslim rebels waging a decades-long insurgency the prospect of autonomy, but warned they must first lay down their arms and a peace pact was likely years away. The offer was contained in the government’s proposal for peace with the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the start of three days of talks in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
“This proposal presents the possibility of a more empowered, more workable and thus, more genuine autonomy of a Bangsamoro (Filipino Muslim) region,” the government said in a statement summarising its offer. The govt did not make public all the specific details, but hinted the area could expand and improve the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which groups five Muslim provinces in the country’s troubled south.
The proposal also includes “a system of cooperation” by which the govt and the MILF could share revenue from natural resources exploited from the region. However, for any final peace deal to take place, the government demanded that the MILF disarm and allow its fighters to be rehabilitated into society. And while describing its proposal as “politically comprehensive”, it indicated the most sensitive issues would not be addressed immediately.
Once the MILF surrender their weapons to Manila they will stand blindly with their backs to the wall facing the butts and bayonets of the Phillipine Government. The Muslims of Mindanao must get Security Council's and International Court of Justice's_written assurance that all issues will be addressed within one to two years.
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