Philippines and Rebels Agree on Peace Accord to End Insurgency - NYTimes.comPhilippines and Rebels Agree on Peace Accord to End Insurgency - NYTimes.com






NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 8 or earlier. Please upgrade your browser.
LEARN MORE »









Sections


Home
just updated

Search
Skip to content
Skip to navigation
View mobile version









Asia Pacific|Philippines and Rebels Agree on Peace Accord to End Insurgency
 





Search


Log In
0
Settings




Close search

search sponsored by






Search NYTimes.com



Clear this text input



Go






http://nyti.ms/1eSr37D




Loading...




See next articles





See previous articles













                                Home Page                                                            



                                Home Page                                                            



                                World                                                                    




                                U.S.                                                                    




                                Politics                                                                    




                                New York                                                                    




                                Business                                                                    




                                Business                                                                    




                                Opinion                                                                    




                                Opinion                                                                    




                                Technology                                                                    




                                Science                                                                    




                                Health                                                                    




                                Sports                                                                    




                                Sports                                                                    








                                Arts                                                                    




                                Arts                                                                    




                                Fashion & Style                                                                    




                                Fashion & Style                                                                    




                                Food                                                                    




                                Food                                                                    




                                Home & Garden                                                            



                                Travel                                                            



                                Magazine                                                            



                                Real Estate                                                                    




                                Obituaries                                                            







                                Video                                                                    




                                The Upshot                                                            







                                More                                                                    





 










                                Africa                                                            



                                Americas                                                            



                                Asia Pacific                                                            



                                Europe                                                            



                                Middle East                                                            



                                At War                                                            



                                India Ink                                                            



                                Sinosphere                                                            







                                Education                                                            







                                First Draft                                                            



                                Elections                                                            







                                City Room                                                            



                                ArtsBeat                                                            



                                Events                                                            







                                DealBook                                                            



                                Economy                                                            



                                Energy                                                            



                                Markets                                                            



                                Media                                                            



                                Small Business                                                            



                                Your Money                                                            







                                DealBook                                                            



                                Economy                                                            



                                Energy                                                            



                                Markets                                                            



                                Media                                                            



                                Small Business                                                            



                                Your Money                                                            







                                Op-Ed Columnists                                                                    









                                Editorials                                                            



                                Contributing Writers                                                            



                                Op-Ed Contributors                                                            



                                Opinionator                                                            



                                Letters                                                            



                                Sunday Review                                                            



                                Taking Note                                                            



                                Room for Debate                                                            



                                Public Editor                                                            



                                Cartoons                                                            







                                Op-Ed Columnists                                                                    









                                Editorials                                                            



                                Contributing Writers                                                            



                                Op-Ed Contributors                                                            



                                Opinionator                                                            



                                Letters                                                            



                                Sunday Review                                                            



                                Taking Note                                                            



                                Room for Debate                                                            



                                Public Editor                                                            



                                Cartoons                                                            







                                Bits                                                            



                                Personal Tech                                                            







                                Environment                                                            



                                Space & Cosmos                                                            







                                Well                                                            



                                Health Guide                                                            



                                Fitness & Nutrition                                                            



                                Money & Policy                                                            



                                The New Old Age                                                            



                                Views                                                            







                                Baseball                                                            



                                Basketball: College                                                            



                                Basketball: N.B.A.                                                            



                                Football: College                                                            



                                Football: N.F.L.                                                            



                                Golf                                                            



                                Hockey                                                            



                                Soccer                                                            



                                Tennis                                                            







                                Baseball                                                            



                                Basketball: College                                                            



                                Basketball: N.B.A.                                                            



                                Football: College                                                            



                                Football: N.F.L.                                                            



                                Golf                                                            



                                Hockey                                                            



                                Soccer                                                            



                                Tennis                                                            







                                Art & Design                                                            



                                ArtsBeat                                                            



                                Books                                                            



                                Dance                                                            



                                Movies                                                            



                                Music                                                            



                                N.Y.C. Events Guide                                                            



                                Television                                                            



                                Theater                                                            



                                Video Games                                                            







                                Art & Design                                                            



                                ArtsBeat                                                            



                                Books                                                            



                                Dance                                                            



                                Movies                                                            



                                Music                                                            



                                N.Y.C. Events Guide                                                            



                                Television                                                            



                                Theater                                                            



                                Video Games                                                            







                                T Magazine                                                            



                                Motherlode                                                            



                                On the Runway                                                            



                                Weddings                                                            







                                T Magazine                                                            



                                Motherlode                                                            



                                On the Runway                                                            



                                Weddings                                                            







                                Cooking                                                            



                                Restaurant Search                                                            







                                Cooking                                                            



                                Restaurant Search                                                            







                                Commercial Real Estate                                                            



                                Great Homes & Destinations                                                            



                                My Real Estate                                                            







                                U.S. & Politics                                                            



                                International                                                            



                                New York                                                            



                                Opinion                                                            



                                Times Documentaries                                                            



                                Business                                                            



                                Technology                                                            



                                Culture                                                            



                                Style                                                            



                                Health                                                            



                                Food                                                            



                                Travel                                                            



                                Sports                                                            



                                Real Estate                                                            



                                Science                                                            







                                Crossword                                                            



                                Times Premier                                                            







                                Today's Paper                                                            



                                Automobiles                                                            



                                Corrections                                                            







                                Multimedia                                                            



                                Photography                                                            







                                Classifieds                                                            



                                Tools & Services                                                            



                                Jobs                                                            



                                Times Topics                                                            



                                Blogs                                                            



                                NYT Store                                                            



                                Times Journeys                                                            



                                Subscribe                                                            



                                Manage Account                                                            











                            Charles M. Blow                                                    



                            David Brooks                                                    



                            Frank Bruni                                                    



                            Roger Cohen                                                    



                            Gail Collins                                                    



                            Ross Douthat                                                    



                            Maureen Dowd                                                    



                            Thomas L. Friedman                                                    



                            Nicholas Kristof                                                    



                            Paul Krugman                                                    



                            Joe Nocera                                                    





                            Charles M. Blow                                                    



                            David Brooks                                                    



                            Frank Bruni                                                    



                            Roger Cohen                                                    



                            Gail Collins                                                    



                            Ross Douthat                                                    



                            Maureen Dowd                                                    



                            Thomas L. Friedman                                                    



                            Nicholas Kristof                                                    



                            Paul Krugman                                                    



                            Joe Nocera                                                    


 









Asia Pacific 
Philippines and Rebels Agree on Peace Accord to End Insurgency

By FLOYD WHALEYJAN. 25, 2014
 
Inside








Photo






The government negotiator, left, shaking hands with the representative of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Saturday.

Credit
            Samsul Said/Reuters        



Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story




Continue reading the main story
Share This Page

Continue reading the main story


MANILA —  The Philippine government and the country’s largest Muslim insurgency group negotiated the final details of a peace accord on Saturday that many hope will end more than 40 years of violence that has killed tens of thousands of people and helped nurture Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia.The agreement will create an autonomous Muslim-dominated region in the restive south of the predominantly Christian country, handing much of the responsibility for security there to local authorities as well as a large share of revenues from the region’s wealth of natural resources. The militants have agreed to disarm, with many expected to join Philippine security forces.Although many challenges to sustained peace remain — notably that some militant groups have refused to join the agreement — the deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is considered a signature achievement for President Benigno S. Aquino III. Mr. Aquino has vowed to end the conflicts on the island of Mindanao that have bedeviled the Philippines for more than a century and that would eventually hinder the nation’s ability to expand its economy and catch up with more prosperous neighbors.“The agreement represents the culmination of decades of excruciating diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict in Mindanao,” said Richard Javad Heydarian, a political science lecturer at Ateneo de Manila University. “This provides an unprecedented opportunity to end one of the world’s longest-running intrastate conflicts.”The groups left out of the agreement are the most violent in the southern Philippines, including the Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which has carried out kidnappings, bombings and beheadings for more than a decade and says it wants to set up a strict Islamic state.The peace deal is expected to be signed within the next several weeks, but analysts consider that just a formality. They say the true test of the pact will be in its implementation; a peace deal with another militant group in 1996 failed in part because of widespread corruption in the area it was supposed to control.The negotiations were brokered by Malaysia, where the deal was reached, and countries including the United States and those in the European Union are expected to help in the implementation, providing aid and advice on good governance. Those countries want to sap the strength of Islamic insurgencies in the region.On Saturday, Secretary of State John Kerry offered congratulations for “concluding negotiations toward an historic, comprehensive peace agreement. This agreement offers the promise of peace, security, and economic prosperity now and for future generations in Mindanao.”The conflict between Muslim insurgent groups on Mindanao and the Christian-dominated government in the north of the country has simmered since the late 1800s. Every government since Philippine independence in 1946 has struggled to resolve the violence, through peace talks and sometimes military action.In recent decades, the conflict has claimed an estimated 120,000 lives and displaced more than two million people. It has also kept the southern Philippines mired in poverty even as the country has undergone an economic renaissance of sorts, becoming one of the fastest growing economies in East Asia, with a growth rate that surpassed China’s in some quarters last year.Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story
“In a world looking for peaceful solutions to all troubles, we are grateful that we have found ours,” Teresita Quintos Deles, a presidential adviser on the peace talks, said Saturday.The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have been working on the details of the peace deal since October 2012, when they reached a framework agreement for ending the conflict.Earlier interim agreements dealt with sharing power and resources. Under those deals, the national government will retain authority over national defense, foreign policy and monetary issues, while the newly formed autonomous region, to be called Bangsamoro, is expected to have broad local powers.The two parties also agreed that 75 percent of the tax revenue from metallic minerals mined in the region would stay in Mindanao. In addition, half of the taxes collected from fossil fuels developed in the region would remain with local authorities.Saturday’s agreement dealt with the delicate issue of disarmament. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front agreed to incorporate some of its 11,000 fighters into Philippine government forces and gradually disarm the others with the oversight of a third party yet to be named.After the deal is formally signed, it must be passed by the Philippine congress and approved through plebiscite in the newly formed autonomous areas, but analysts consider passage extremely likely.The success of the agreement may hinge in good part on the ability of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which will now be in charge of internal security in the autonomous area, to curb the violence of other militant groups. To do so, the peace deal envisions Muslim authorities working closely with Philippine security forces.Another major group, the Moro National Liberation Front, signed the 1996 peace deal, but that agreement allowed the rebels to retain their arms and did little to end the violence. Those militants oppose the latest deal, which they say encroaches on the autonomy they were granted under their own pact. Factions of the group were involved in an incursion into the southern city of Zamboanga in September that left more than 200 people dead, most of them militants.Government negotiators have said that bringing greater prosperity to Mindanao and empowering the largest peaceful Muslim groups in the area will help decrease violence and lawlessness. The United States has about 500 Special Forces troops based in Mindanao to help the Philippine military fight the most violent groups.One analyst expressed skepticism about the chances for a lasting peace.“The Aquino administration is in a hurry to finish this and claim credit for peace, but this isn’t peace,” said Bobit Avila, a columnist for The Philippine Star newspaper. “It will not bring peace unless all the armed groups in Mindanao will join in.”“I can visit Muslim countries around the world without fear, but I can’t go to Mindanao or I will be kidnapped,” Mr. Avila said. “I don’t think this agreement will change that.”


A version of this article appears in print on January 26, 2014, on page A15 of the New York edition with the headline: Philippines and Rebels Agree on Peace Accord to End Insurgency.  Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe









More on nytimes.com






Site Index



News


World


U.S.


Politics


New York


Business


Technology


Science


Health


Sports


Education


Obituaries


Today's Paper


Corrections




Opinion


Today's Opinion


Op-Ed Columnists


Editorials


Contributing Writers


Op-Ed Contributors


Opinionator


Letters


Sunday Review


Taking Note


Room for Debate


Public Editor


Video: Opinion




Arts


Today's Arts


Art & Design


ArtsBeat


Books


Dance


Movies


Music


N.Y.C. Events Guide


Television


Theater


Video Games


Video: Arts




Living


Automobiles


Crossword


Food


Education


Fashion & Style


Health


Home & Garden


Jobs


Magazine


N.Y.C. Events Guide


Real Estate


T Magazine


Travel


Weddings & Celebrations




Listings & More


Classifieds


Tools & Services


Times Topics


Public Editor


N.Y.C. Events Guide


TV Listings


Blogs


Cartoons


Multimedia


Photography


Video


NYT Store


Times Journeys


Subscribe


Manage My Account




Subscribe

Subscribe


Times Premier



Home Delivery



Digital Subscriptions



NYT Opinion



Crossword




Email Newsletters


Alerts


Gift Subscriptions


Corporate Subscriptions


Education Rate




Mobile Applications


Replica Edition


International New York Times











                    © 2015 The New York Times Company


Home
Search
Contact Us
Work With Us
Advertise
Your Ad Choices
Privacy
Terms of Service
Terms of Sale




Site Map
Help
Site Feedback
Subscriptions


 











