Philippine provinces reject autonomy plan

Voter turnout was low in many areas, with some contituencies failing to register a single ballot

By staff and wire reports

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Voters in the southern Philippines appear to have rejected plans to expand an autonomous region ruled by former Muslim separatist rebels.

Officials said early returns suggested nine of 10 provinces and 12 of 14 cities -- all predominantly Christian -- had voted against joining the so-called Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

"It would seem that the 'no' votes overwhelmed the 'yes'," Alfredo Benipayo, chairman of the poll watchdog Commission on Elections (Comelec) told the ANC television network.

In the plebiscite voters were asked whether they want to join the four small, Muslim majority provinces already in the ARMM.

The autonomous region was set up by Manila in 1990 to defuse a campaign by militants for an Islamic state in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

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Count officials said only in Marawi and Cotabato cities and on the island of Basilan -- where Muslim Abu Sayyaf extremists have been holding two Americans and 16 Filipinos hostage for almost three months -- did voting trends favor joining the ARMM.

If they were included in the Muslim zone the autonomous region would encompass a total population of 3.2 million, or about four percent of the country's 76 million people.

Violence

Observers said that despite Manila's pledge to pour in over $1 billion to develop the poverty stricken Muslim-zone the rich Christian provinces shunned the thought of joining because of the separatist violence racking the area.

The vote for an expanded zone was provided in a 1996 peace agreement signed with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The government hoped it would appease Muslim demands for an Islamic state on the southern island of Mindanao and adjacent isles.

However, the separatist rebellion, now led by another faction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), has continued to seethe.

Muslims in the Philippines regard the Mindanao region as their ancestral homeland but migrations of rich Christian settlers have dwarfed their numbers.

Officials had hoped autonomy would heal decades of Muslim separatist rebellion in the south, a resource-rich region largely undeveloped because of fighting.

The impoverished semi-autonomous zone has been governed for the past five years by Muslim separatist chief Nur Misuari, chairman of the MNLF.

Thousands of troops were on alert in the volatile southern Philippines as voting took place, but there were no reports of violence as Christians and Muslims trekked to the polls.

Low turnout

Rebel groups have denounced the plebiscite as a ploy by the government to undercut their separatist dreams.

Full results from the vote are not expected until the end of the week.

Despite the overwhelming Christian vote, the poll was marred by a relatively poor turnout, with only about 50 percent of the 4.9 million registered voters taking part.

In some precincts, not a single voter showed up.

Officials blamed the low turnout on several factors, including heavy rains and floods in some areas, fear of possible attacks by Muslim separatists and plain apathy.

In two towns, the plebiscite was scrapped because a boat carrying voting materials sank in stormy seas.