Philippine Vote on Muslim Self-Rule Puts Christians on Edge
Philippine Vote on Muslim Self-Rule Puts Christians on Edge by Jake Maxwell Watts – Wall Street Journal
Voters in a Muslim-majority region in the Philippines will decide today on a proposal for greater self determination, a pivotal attempt at peace that tests the fragile relationship between Muslims and a Roman Catholic minority concerned about creeping Islamic authority.
To most of the four million people on the southern island of Mindanao, the vote offers a hopeful end to decades of conflict between armed groups and the government in this overwhelmingly Catholic country of 100 million people. The fighting claimed more than 100,000 lives over the years and extremist groups backed by Islamic State and al Qaeda were able to thrive.
Voters braved the threat of terrorism on Monday to go to polling stations, with more than 20,000 soldiers and police deployed to protect them. Large crowds swarmed polling stations starting early in the morning in Cotabato, an electoral battleground, where both sides have alleged vote-buying, intimidation and violence…