MANILA, October 13, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Philippine government has agreed in principle to allow Muslims in the South to draft their own constitution, impose their won tax system, form and maintain legal and financial institutions, according to a local paper Thursday, October 13.

Delegations of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) reached an initial agreement during informal talks in September in Kuala Lumpur to give Mindanao Muslims revenue-raising powers, the right to draft their own charter and to build their own institutions, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper said.

A government's peace delegation member confirmed the initial deal on the Muslim Mindanao.

"We're optimistic a deal may be signed within the year or in early 2006," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The official, however, stressed that changes could be introduced to the reached agreement.

"What we have right now is a working draft. There may be revisions to the consensus points that we had agreed last month."

MILF spokesperson, Eid Kabalu, also confirmed the accord.

"There was indeed a consensus," the spokesman said.

"Since these are only exploratory talks, I suppose the agreement is on a principle level and it has to be approved."

The MILF has demanded independence for Muslim majority areas in the south and favors an East Timor-style referendum to allow residents to decide.

Security experts cautiously welcomed reports on reaching the initial agreement on the Mindanao Muslims to solve the decades-long conflict in the area, Reuters said.

They, however, warned that the deal could just mark the beginning of a new struggle over how the agreement is implemented.

They maintained that creating the new entity would require changes to the constitution at a time when Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is struggling to impose her agenda amid allegations that she cheated her way to election victory last year.

"It all depends on the political will of the national leadership," said Abhoud Lingga, executive director of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies in Mindanao's Cotabato City.

"If they have the political will, it is all possible."

The Philippine government and MILF still have to thrash out an agreement on ancestral domain, which covers the territory and resources on the mineral-wealthy island that the new entity will control.

Last August, the International Solidarity Mission-Moro Team (ISM) revealed that the Moro people continue to suffer from human rights violations and "are being treated like animals."