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2.8 million Filipino Muslims vote for self-rule and peace in Mindanao

2019-01-22 10:01:27       source:The Straits Times

January 21, 2019


MANILA - More than 2.8 million Muslims cast their votes on Monday (Jan 21) in a referendum meant to carve out their own territory in the restive southern part of the Philippines and end nearly half a century of separatist violence in a region plagued by poverty and Islamist extremism.


A clear "yes" vote is widely expected, despite opposition from a number of Muslim politicians who have refused to cede power to a new political entity that will control a third of Mindanao, the Philippines' second-biggest island.


The vote caps years of turbulence as the government in Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main rebel group, tried to hammer out a peace deal to end the violence that had left over 120,000 dead in its wake and displaced some two million people.


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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/28million-filipino-muslims-vote-for-self-rule-and-peace-in-mindanao