“There is no longer any reason for us to bear arms and continue the war,” a spokesman for Muslim rebel groups said. Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Sunday that an agreement had been reached with the insurgent Moro Islamic Liberation Front to create an autonomous region for the country`s Muslim minority, the result of 15 years of negotiations. In 2004, the development and institutionalization of education in madrasas was approved by the GRP Education Department under DepED Regulation No. 51. In the same year, the armM also adopted the National Standard Program with Executive Decree No. 13-A. These two orders essentially bring madrasa schools into the national herd for the first time by allowing them to apply for national funding.1 As called for in the 1996 peace agreement, a regional referendum was held in August 2001 on the expansion of the Muslim Autonomous Region of Mindanao (ARMM), which has four provinces. Only one new province, the Muslim-majority island of Basilan, voted to join the ARMM. Faced with blatant democratic rejection by ARMM voters, even in several Muslim-majority provinces, MNLF leader Nur Misuari is protesting against the timing and legitimacy of the plebiscite election amid numerous calls for resignation.
In November, MNLF units claiming to be Nur Misuari attacked AFP facilities in Zamboanga and Jolo Island, killing an estimated 140 people. It is still unclear whether Nur Misuari ordered the attacks. He was arrested while trying to cross the border into Sabah in Malaysia and detained by AFP security forces in the Philippines. He was later placed under house arrest.1 Philippine officials said the interim agreement would be published on the government`s website for public review and would soon be signed in Manila in the presence of Aquino, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and rebel leader Moro Al Haj Murad Ibrahim. The rebels would implement a “progressive program” to dismantle their armed guerrilla units “so that they can be decommissioned,” the agreement said, without setting a timetable. In the early 1990s, the Organization of the Islamic Conference expanded its four-member ministerial commission, which had facilitated peace talks between the Philippine government and the MNLF. The six-member Committee of Ministers, as it is now called, included the new members, represented by Indonesia and Bangladesh, as well as the four members of the original Ministerial Commission, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Somalia. Indonesia became the Chairman of the Committee, which mediated the talks between the Philippine Government and the MNLF.
[5] The 1996 Final Peace Agreement, also known as the Jakarta Agreement,[1] was signed on September 2, 1996 in Manila, Philippines, by Manuel Yan, who represented the government of the Philippines and Nur Misuari of the Moro National Liberation Front. The culmination of four years of peace talks, the agreement established mechanisms to ensure the full implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement. In the southern Philippines (SZOPAD), a special zone for peace and development is established, which includes the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sarangani and Palawan, as well as the cities of Cotabato, Dapitan, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Pagadian, Zamboanga and Puerto Princesa. Over the next three (3) years, these areas will be the subject of intensive peace and development efforts. Public and private investments are channelled in these areas to stimulate economic activity and improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of these areas. All companies, partnerships or business units whose head office is outside the Autonomous Region, but which carry on their activities within their territorial jurisdiction, whether through the use, exploitation and exploitation of the land, water and all natural resources contained therein, pay their income taxes, which correspond to their income from their commercial activities in the area of the autonomy of the province. The city or municipality where their branches are located. If the institution does not have a branch in the area of self-government, the institution pays through the city or municipality in which its establishment is located.
The 1996 Peace Agreement provides that one judge of the Supreme Court, two judges of the Court of Appeal and one member of the Council of Lawyers must be from the ARMM. In addition, an office of the Deputy Judicial Administrator will be established and headed by a person recommended by the Governor of the ARMM. None of the above appointments related to judicial reform have been implemented this year. The fact that none of the specific positions of the 1996 Agreement are mentioned in the report to the third party responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Agreement is a clear indication that no appointments have been made. Attention to the results of the recent election suggests that the government did not make an appointment that could be referenced in its report, which amounted to an attempt to report something rather than nothing. The REPORT OF THE MNLF to the OIC explicitly states that no appointments have been made on the basis of the recommendations of the Regional Government under the 1996 Agreement.1 Republic Act 9054, adopted in March 2001, constitutes the ratification of the 1996 Peace Agreement. In Article 12 (Economy), Section 5, strategic minerals are defined as uranium, petroleum, fossil fuels, mineral oils, all energy, national reserves, water parks, forests, watershed reserves, and “those that may be defined as such by an Act of Congress within one (1) year of the enactment of RA 9054.” .