Has the Philippines finally found peace with the deal between the government of President Benigno Aquino and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)? The agreement reached in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur provides for an autonomous region, to be known as Bangsamoro in the south of the island of Mindanao. The final details have yet to be ironed out, but there are grounds for hoping that this latest agreement has a better chance of working than previous deals, which have sought to end this 40-year conflict which has cost more than 120,000 lives. For a start, the Aquino administration has been careful to involve all communities in the negotiations. Past settlements have broken down in part because local Christian communities and their local leaders have resented having accords imposed upon them. The current autonomous region for the Moro people has been a failure, if for no better reason than that it was autonomous in name only. The central government did not surrender security and sought to exclude leading Moro opinion formers from the local administration. Under the new agreement, security will be a matter for the Moro and there will be wide-ranging budgetary and administrative powers. For their part, it appears that the MILF has agreed to respect the rights of minorities. There are many perils ahead before the deal is finally inked. Moreover, as and when real autonomy is granted and Bangsamoro becomes a political reality, there will be questions about how the Moro run their own affairs. Inevitably the first administration of the autonomous region will be drawn from among MILF leaders. However, it is important that political pluralism emerges relatively quickly. Bangsamoro does not want to follow in the path of South Africa, where the victorious ANC has become an entrenched government since 1994, with all the graft and mismanagement that an effectively unopposed administration produces. The driving rationale behind the peace agreement is the rapid economic emergence of the Philippines. There are strong economic fundamentals on the verge of transforming this country of 95 million people scattered over 7,000 islands into a major Asian powerhouse. Not the least of these is a low-cost and industrious workforce and the widespread knowledge of English. The key to this boom will be more foreign investment, relocating manufacturing and services to the Philippines. The continued conflict in Mindanao with the MILF would have caused many investors to look elsewhere, despite the tempting local opportunities. Now hopefully, the country will be seen as a truly enticing prospect. In congratulating both sides for coming this far along the road to peace, it is also appropriate to acknowledge the role that the Malaysian government and in particular Premier Najib Razak have played in brokering the peace over the last 11 years. There remains, however, one more conflict that has to be resolved. The island of Jolo, with a Moro population of around 300,000, remains the cradle of an insurrection by the radical Islamist group Abu Sayyef. With their connection to Al-Qaeda, they are likely to have little interest in a political settlement and more concern with bigoted destruction. Now, however, with the Moro conflict settled, the Aquino administration can turn its attention to Jolo, which is nominally within the current autonomous region of Mindanao. It must seek to root out the men of violence and free the locals to pursue their lives in peace within the wider Moro community.
