Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has proposed a dialogue between his administration and the country's Islamist extremist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) to end conflicts (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has proposed a dialogue between his administration and the country's Islamist extremist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) to end conflicts.
In his speech in Jolo in Sulu province on July 27, Duterte said that peace will soon reign in Mindanao, the southern Philippines, with the signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
He also warned that if conflicts continue, more will die.
Duterte was in Jolo to inspect the condition of some 5,000 families or 30,000 residents who were left homeless after a fire broke out on July 24 in one of the villages there.
The ASG is a small, violent, faction-ridden Muslim group that operates in the western fringes of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao and on the Sulu islands extending from Mindanao. The group is notorious for the killings, kidnapping for ransom and a series of bombings in Mindanao.
The ASG has pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militants and helped the Maute militants in attacking Marawi city in May last year, triggering a fierce battle that left more than 1,200 dead.
The BOL that Duterte signed on July 27 aims to abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and provide for the basic structure of government for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, following the agreements set forth in the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro peace agreement signed between the government and the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014.
The new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will have greater fiscal autonomy, a regional government, parliament, and justice system. The Philippine government hopes it will put an end to the decades-old war that ravaged Mindanao.-VNA
