Philippines signs peace deal with Muslim rebels

(Vatican Radio) The Philippine government today signed a peace accord with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MILF], the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

The deal grants largely Muslim areas of the southern Mindanao region greater political autonomy in exchange for an end to armed rebellion. The peace accord concludes formal negotiations that began in 2001, four years after a cease-fire was agreed to in 1997.

For us it is a hope that peace can come about in [Mindanao],” said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the National Director of the Caritas Filipinas Foundation. He said the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines hopes peace can also lead to the stability necessary for the development of that region of the country.

He told Vatican Radio there is concern that other Muslim rebel groups – such as the MNLF - have yet to sign peace deals with the government.

“This is one problem, because the peace accord has been done only with MILF, and there are already splinter groups…and many of them are not in accord with this agreements,” said Bishop Pabillo. “Hopefully, the do not derail the peace process.”

The Communist rebels which plague the island nation are another concern. Bishop Pabillo said peace talks with Marxist groups have not been going well.

“The problem with communist groups is they are all over the country, and not only confined…to Mindanao,” he said.

Listen to the interview by Charles Collins with Bishop Pabillo: