Yul Kwon:
It's been described as the second longest conflict on earth: And now, it may finally be over. Earlier this week, the Philippine government signed an accord with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF. The Moros are Muslim inhabitants of Mindanao and other smaller islands in the southern Philippines. They've been fighting for independence and religious freedom since the middle of the 16th century. First against the Spanish Empire, then against the United States, and more recently, against the Philippine government. In Manila, Murad Ebrahim, head of the 12-thousand strong MILF, agreed to stop fighting. In return, Philippine president Benigno Aquino promised autonomy for Mindanao and other islands in the southern Philippines.

Benigno Aquino:
This framework agreement paves the way for a final enduring peace in Mindanao. It brings all former secessionist groups into the fold. No longer does the Moro Islamic Liberation Front aspire for a separate state.

Yul Kwon:
The agreement is called 'Bangsamoro' - named after the people who live in and around Mindanao. Since 1971, the Moro insurgency has killed at least 120,000 people, displaced two million, and drained the treasuries of successive Philippine governments. But not all Moro groups have agreed to the accord. There are still lots of open questions about what autonomy will mean, for example, how Mindanao's majority Christian population will fit in to the new political structure.

Yul Kwon:
To help us understand some of these issues, we have Steven Rood with us on Skype from Manila. Rood is country representative in the Philippines for the Asia Foundation and has spent decades working in Mindanao. His most recent publication is 'Forging Sustainable Peace in Mindanao.' Steven, welcome to LinkAsia.

Steven Rood:
I'm glad to be here, Yul.

Yul Kwon:
The Bangsamoro agreement is just a framework for future negotiations. Are you optimistic that it will ultimately lead to a full treaty?

Steven Rood:
Well, the framework agreement that was signed here in Manila last Monday is already calling for four annexes to provide more details by the end of the year. Once that's completed there will be a domestic process of consultations and drafting of a new, basic law for Bangsamoro, which needs to be passed by the Philippine congress and ratified down in those localities by plebiscite. Once that's done, by 2016 we should have the normally scheduled elections after which there will be an exit document that closes the whole process. So, as you can see there's a lot of steps between here and there, and there needs to be care taken to make sure we don't stumble along the way.

Yul Kwon:
What are some of the major challenges that stand in the way?

Steven Rood:
There are details that still need to be worked out that are hard to negotiate, such as: wealth sharing between the government and the Bangsamoro for the resources of oil and gas that people think are down there. There's the question of internal security and the policing: how does the police force for the Bangsamoro relate to the national police? And then there are all those other interests down there who have not yet been a direct part of the peace process, such as elected officials, both Christian and Muslim; such as, other organizations like the Moro National Liberation Front, which has prior agreement. And, local residents in and around Bangsamoro who need to be reassured that their security and interest will be included and protected.

Yul Kwon:
What about other separatist groups in the southern part of the country. Are they onboard with all this?

Steven Rood:
Well, the Moro National Liberation Front was the original liberation front, and it has splintered into a number of factions after reaching a 1996 agreement with the government. The other types, of course, are the terrorists who are down there who are. They need to be isolated from the mainstream so that it's possible to deal with them through both the police force for the Bangsamoro and the armed forces of the Philippines.

Yul Kwon:
The conflict seems to have as much to do with migration of Christian settlers from Luzon and other Philippine provinces and marginalization of the Moros. Do you think that the two communities can ultimately get along?

Steven Rood:
A couple of things about the community getting along. In the first place, the Bangsamoro will cover areas that are vastly majority Muslim, so there is a general delineation of territory that will help keep the peace. But there's also considerable good will that was eroded over decades of conflict, that is latent in our survey data we find that both Christians and Muslims want a peaceful agreement, are willing to make legal changes to have it, because they all see that conflict hurts both sides and makes it really impossible to economically develop.

Yul Kwon:
Thanks, Steven. Steven Rood is country representative for the Asia Foundation in the Philippines. He's also a member of the International Contact Group, which is comprised of diplomats and NGO's, and which played a key role in negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moros.