Catholic officials oppose Muslim autonomy in Mindanao

Aug 03, 2008

Catholic officials from two cities in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao are calling for protests against a government deal that increases the size of an autonomous region for Muslims.

The agreement between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has taken more than 10 years to negotiate, gives more land to minority Muslims in the largely Catholic state and also gives them broader political and economic powers.

Maria Isabel Climaco, a member of the lower house of Congress representing Zamboanga City, says this is treason.

She says the government has allowed Mindanao to be dismembered from the Philippines.

More than 120,000 people have been killed, two-million displaced and economic growth stunted across the whole of Mindanao, a region rich in nickel, gold and copper, due to 40 years of a Muslim separatists revolt.