Manila--Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday he could still secure a peace deal with Muslim rebels before standing down next year, after a botched anti-terror raid nearly derailed the process.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Philippines' biggest Muslim rebel group, signed a peace pact last year aiming to end their four-decade separatist struggle that has claimed an estimated 120,000 lives.
But efforts by the Aquino administration to pass a law authorising an autonomous region for the nation's Muslim minority -- the key part of the pact -- were delayed amid outrage over a police raid in January targeting alleged top terrorists.
Malaysian bomb-maker Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the United States' most wanted men, was killed in the raid. But 44 police commandos also died in an ensuing day-long battle with MILF fighters and other rebels.
Asked in an exclusive interview with AFP on Tuesday if the peace accord could be implemented before he steps down in June next year, Aquino said: "Yes, I believe so."
As outrage eased over the deaths -- the single biggest battlefield toll among security forces in recent memory -- the autonomy bill could be discussed "devoid of emotion", he said.
"Perhaps two, three weeks ago, a month ago they were saying it's dead in the water," Aquino said.
"They're back to discussing it. That's a very hopeful sign," Aquino said, referring to debates in parliament that resumed this week after a three-month suspension.
Aquino repeated warnings that failure to implement the treaty could radicalise the MILF's moderate base and cause further bloodshed in the southern Philippines.
"There is the very real danger that failing this, they (MILF leaders) will lose the support of their rank and file, who will now listen to the more radical voices within the organisation," he said.
AFP
