The Philippine Government and the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) began a new round of meetings on August 1
to draft a basic law called Bangsamoro that allows the establishment of
an autonomous Muslim region in the south of the country.
According to Miriam Ferrer, head of the Government’s negotiation team,
the two sides will meet in the southern province of Davao for 10
days to produce a version of the bill that is acceptable to both.
During the first day, Government and MILF negotiators reconsidered 18 articles of the draft law, he added.
Meanwhile,
chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said that after the two sides
reach consensus, they will come to Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia to realise
their decisions.
On July 23, the Philippine
Government and MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro, under which the two sides agreed to discuss the
establishment of an autonomous Muslim region by mid-2016, when the
six-year presidency of Benigno Aquino ends.
In
return, the 12,000-member MILF will disarm and help the government
improve the lives of Filipino Muslims, who are among the poorest and
most marginalised in the mainly Catholic nation of 100 million.
Muslim rebels have been battling for independence or autonomy in the
southern islands since the 1970s, with the conflict claiming tens of
thousands of lives.-VNA