(File) Government soldiers take cover during a firefight with Muslim rebels from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines September 12, 2013. Source: Reuters
FILIPINO President Rodrigo Duterte announced a new law granting autonomy to minority Muslims in the south last week, moving the restive region a step closer towards self-governance by 2022 in a bid to tackle extremism, end a decades-long separatist conflict, and revitalise the poverty-stricken economy.
Observers have compared the legislation, called the Bangsamoro Organic Law, to the devolved powers granted by Indonesia to its Muslim-majority province of Aceh over a decade ago, according to the South China Morning Post.
Although Mindanao has been granted partial autonomy in 1996, that the agreement did not accord crucial powers to the local government to spur the region’s economy.
However, the new law announced by Duterte looks to provide the Bangsamoro (Moro prople) with its own parliament and guaranteed five percent grant of national internal revenue. More importantly for the citizens in the region, the local government has the right to impose sharia law.
The law also allows 75 percent of taxes collected in the area to be kept by the local government but the central government security and policing.
On Sunday, leaders of the Philippines’ mainstream separatist group called on the Muslims to support the new autonomy law in a referendum scheduled to be held later this year.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf), which signed a peace deal with the government four years ago, gathered tens of thousands of supporters from all over the southern province of Mindanao to its base to begin a massive campaign for the law’s approval, Reuters reported.
(File) A signage of “I love Marawi” is seen in front of damaged houses, buildings and a mosque inside a war-torn Marawi city, southern Philippines October 26, 2017. Source: Reuters
End to conflict
The new autonomy legislation is also aimed at ending a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced two million.
“Our real journey towards self-determination is just starting,” Mohagher Iqbal, the rebel group’s chief negotiator, said, adding there are still challenges ahead that could stop the implementation of the law.
Speaking earlier to thousands of supporters, including women and children, he asked them to vote for the approval of the law expanding the territories covered by the Muslim autonomous area in the south, although he warned of some potential obstacles.
“We still don’t know if there are groups or individuals who will question the new autonomy law before the Supreme Court,” he told a cheering crowd in a speech livestreamed on social media. Supporters chanted “Allahu Akbar” and “Yes to BOL” in the rebel camp in the middle of coconut and banana groves.
The green light is the culmination of a lengthy and rocky peace accord with separatists, during which militants linked to Islamic State have expanded their influence, most notably in their devastating occupation of Marawi City last year.
Duterte signed the measure into law after a visit to a southern city, his spokesman, Harry Roque, said last week.
Ebrahim Murad, chairman of the Milf said he was confident the law would help bring splinter separatist groups back into the political fold and eliminate prospects of any incidents like Marawi.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law has broad public backing, making it harder for foreign extremists to form alliances and win support, he told reporters.
“All these splinter groups are a result of the frustration with the peace process. The moment the small groups no longer accept the foreign elements, they can no longer come (to the Philippines).”
The Bangsamoro area includes part of the Philippines’ second-largest island of Mindanao, and a chain of dozens of small islands to the west notorious for piracy and banditry.
