Philippines (2012 onwards, inc OEF)

[Dayuhan]

someone is seeing the light finally in the Philippines.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino called on lawmakers Friday to pass a bill endorsing a pact aimed at ending a decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion, warning them they would otherwise start counting "body bags".

This has been an ongoing effort for some time, but at this point has about a snowball's chance on Taft Avenue in April of passing. Legislators have lined up against it since the Mamasapano incident, and it has become a political football, with prominent legislators lining up to tap the anti-Muslim sentiment that prevails among the majority population and turn the agreement into a nationalist issue. With an election coming up in 2016 that is likely to continue. Aquino has taken a beating; the incident was quickly and effectively exploited by his political rivals blaming him for the outcome and claiming that he's in league with Islamic radical separatist terrorists. It's becoming a bit of a circus, but the outcome looks likely to be a rejected agreement and very likely a return to open conflict.