MANILA — The Philippine government said Thursday, July 17, it will hold a referendum to establish an ancestral homeland for Muslims in the south, a day after reaching a landmark deal with the country’s largest Muslim separatist group.
“We promised to deliver a plebiscite within six months after the signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain,” said Hermogenes Esperon, who is President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s peace adviser, reported Reuters.
The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Wednesday reached a deal to create an ancestral homeland for Muslims in the south.
“We have finally settled all the remaining issues on ancestral domain,” Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, told Reuters after a one-day meeting in Malaysia.
“The real battle will be fought on the next level when we start talks on the political formula to end the conflict. But, at least we have hurdled the ancestral domain issue.
“We can now return to formal negotiations.”
Negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF stalled over the size and wealth of a proposed homeland in the south.
The MILF has been fighting to reclaim Mindanao, tipped to be the richest in natural resources among the three islands of the country, for some three decades now.
More than 120,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in the late 1960s.
Broader Power
The Philippine government said the proposed Muslim homeland would also be empowered to collect about 75 percent of taxes from oil, mines and fisheries in the area.
“The government has agreed to grant broader political, social and economic power to the Muslims based on a deal we have reached with the rebels in Malaysia,” Esperon, a former military chief, said.
He said the government and the MILF were due to meet in Malaysia on July 24 to finalize the draft agreement and fix the date for the formal signing of the deal on ancestral domain.
Esperon said that the peace deal was in line with the constitution.
“The final political solution will still be negotiated, and, if needed, we will amend the constitution to reflect what was agreed upon with the rebels,” he said.
Under the constitution, the exploration, utilization and development of natural resources shall be “under the full control” of the state.
“It appears we’re creating a federal system, but that is not what we have now in our constitution,” said Esperon.
But analysts said that some fundamental issues, such as the right of Muslims to self-determination, remained unresolved.
“It’s definitely a positive development, giving the peace process a big push forward,” Benedicto Bacani, executive director of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance at the Notre Dame University, told Reuters.
“But, there are still a lot of issues to be resolved. I don’t really think a final deal could be sealed under this government.”
Muslims make up nearly 8 percent of the total populace in the Philippines, which Islam reached in the 13th century about 200 years before Christianity.
Mineral-rich Mindanao, Islam’s birthplace in the Philippines, is home to 5 million Muslims.
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