The World - News from Aug. 2, 1989

President Corazon Aquino, trying to end years of separatist unrest, signed a law that could lead to semi-autonomy in 13 southern provinces, home to most of the Philippine Muslim minority. The law would enable several parts of Mindanao Island and neighboring Palawan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi islands to elect a regional executive and legislature and keep a larger share of taxes. “The success of this undertaking will promote the peace and progress we all desire for our people in Mindanao and in the rest of the Philippines,” Aquino said in a statement. Aquino said the government will launch a major information campaign about the new autonomous region before holding a plebiscite in the provinces involved in about three to four months.