Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, poses with lawmakers, leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and military and police officials during a presentation ceremony for the new Bangsamoro law in Manila on Aug. 6, 2018. The law grants greater autonomy to the Philippines' Moro Muslim minority on the southern island of Mindanao.
Four years after it signed a peace deal that pacified a powerful insurgent force on the southern island of Mindanao, the Philippine government has finally made good on its key promise by enacting a law that allows an expanded, more powerful, locally governed region for its Moro Muslim minority. The long delay in the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law allowed the Islamic State to make inroads in the restive region , and last year insurgents linked to the group took over Marawi City for six months. In the vast maritime space of Southeast Asia , extremist activity in the Philippines can echo far beyond remote Mindanao. Now that it has started building a new autonomous region, the Philippine government will need to stick the landing.
