The 1987 Constitution needs to be changed in the Philippines to reach a final peace agreement between the government and the country' separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a government official said on Monday.
The Philippine government is scheduled to sign a pact Tuesday in Malaysia with MILF on the ancestral domain issue, the last remaining hurdle to a final political settlement that is expected to end the insurgency in the southern Philippines. MILF has been waging a bloody rebellion since 1978.
The agreement will grant MILF an autonomous region, which will have its own legal, banking and education systems, civil service and internal security force, reports said.
Philippine Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said that amendments of some provisions in the Constitution might be needed for the agreement to take effect, local radio station dzBB reported.
"(It) may require constitutional amendments, that is also the next step. Constitutional amendment is a possibility," he said.
Critics are concerned that the constitutional amendments might be used for the government to extend President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term in office.
But Dureza doused the speculations, saying the amendments may come "beyond 2010," the year when President Arroyo finishes her term.
"We don't know how long it will take (to implement the pact on the ancestral domain issue). Constitutional amendments may take beyond 2010," he said.
"The constitutional process from where I see, if there are going to be amendments, will take place even beyond 2010," Dureza added.
He said that Tuesday's signing of the pact will be just the first step and "cannot be implemented on its own."
"It will have to go through our legislative process," he added.
Source:Xinhua
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