Source: Christian Aid Mission, June 4, 2015
A congressional committee in the Philippines approved a bill last month that would create an independent Islamic state in five provinces on the island of Mindanao, where Christians have long faced hostilities from Islamic militants and Muslim family members.
The Philippines’ second-largest island would thus harbor an independent state under rule of Islamic law (sharia) on its western flank in provinces with sizeable non-Muslim populations. Currently the area already has a measure of autonomy as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) would give it even greater independence.
President Benigno Aquino III submitted the bill to Congress last September as a means of ending violence in the region.
» Read full story, which includes the comments of a ministry leader concerned about how this move could affect Christians in the area. Note that the Congress has yet to pass the proposed bill and will not reconvene until July 20 (GMA News).