ZAMBOANGA CITY, PHILIPPINES (BNO NEWS) -- Philippine Muslim rebels on Tuesday rejected a new government peace proposal to end the decades-long conflict in the restive southern region of Mindanao, local media reported.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rejected a new government offer for wider autonomy in Mindanao and insisted on a sub-state in the mineral-rich southern region, the Mindanao Examiner reported. The MILF said there is nothing to fear with its proposal because the central government will still manage foreign relations, national defense, coinage and currency, and postal services.



"The MILF's formula to solve the Moro Question in Mindanao is very simple - it is far from complex. Let the Moros run their affairs; let them decide their own destiny. Let them succeed or self-destruct. Gone were the days when the government in Manila designed everything for them," the MILF said.

"The most important element here is self-determination. Let them exercise this right to self-determination, which is enshrined and guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations. This is a right that cannot be foreclosed by any agreement or the subject of negotiation."

The MILF has previously branded the five-province Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao as a failure since it remains as one of the poorest in the country. It has repeatedly called on the government to amend the Constitution that would allow the creation of a Muslim sub-state in Mindanao.

President Benigno Aquino's allies in Congress are pushing for the amendment of the Constitution, saying there is a need to change many provisions in the Charter that would benefit the country's economy. However, there is a widespread fear that amending the Constitution could pave way for granting the MILF its demand for a sub state.



A failed Muslim homeland deal in 2008 resulted in attacks by rebel forces led by Ameril Umra Kato. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands displaced after the top rebel commander and his men carried out attacks in Mindanao.



Kato has split with the MILF and formed his own group called Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. "The MILF Central Committee has not decided yet on what to do with Kato, but we will definitely act on this probably after Ramadan," Von Al-Haq, a spokesman for the MILF, told the Mindanao Examiner.



Kato has criticized MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim of betraying rebel forces after he agreed to a secret meeting called by President Aquino in Japan this month. The renegade leader has repeatedly said that the MILF should pursue independence in Mindanao, home to some four million Muslims in a region of about 18 million mostly Christian inhabitants.

The MILF entered into peace negotiations with the government in 1997, but despite a ceasefire agreement, the southern Philippines continues to see violence. The rebel group has been fighting against the Government of the Philippines since 1977 for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines.