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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte alongside Milf leader Murad Ebrahim at a ceremony allowing rebels to surrender on 7 September 2019. FERDINANDH CABRERA / AFP

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) took up arms in the 1970s to claim the autonomy or even independence of the southern archipelago that Filipino Muslims consider their ancestral land.

The peace agreement dates from 2014, but so far the rebels have not yet laid down their arms. It was the creation last February of Bangsamoro, a new autonomous region for the Muslim minority, that convinced the main rebel armed front of the country to turn the page on a 40-year-old insurgency that left 150,000 dead.

In all, 40,000 fighters are to surrender their weapons in the coming years to independent foreign observers, which should allow the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to become a legal political party.

Other Islamist organizations remain active

Already last February, President Rodrigo Duterte had inducted Murad Ebrahim, the leader of the former rebel front, as head of the local government, during a solemn ceremony in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

But the peace process is far from including all Islamist organizations. Those who have pledged allegiance to ISIL are still very active in the southern Philippines.