President Benigno Aquino III urged the Philippine Congress on Wednesday [10 September 2014] to fast-track a bill that would establish an autonomous Muslim region in the south of the country.

In submitting a draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, Mr. Aquino marked another milestone in the peace process between the government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The two sides signed a peace deal in March but are running out of time to establish the autonomous region, Bangsamoro, by mid-2016 as planned. They fell behind schedule as drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law dragged on for months longer than expected over thorny details of wealth- and power-sharing.

A few extra months might not seem substantial when put in the context of a 40-year conflict that has claimed more than 120,000 lives in Mindanao and other parts of the southern Philippines, as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other rebel outfits fought to break away from the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

However, Mr. Aquino is set to leave office in June 2016, and both sides are determined to establish the region before then, due to fears that his successor might try to revisit the terms of the peace plan. While the candidates are not yet known, the rebel group has said it is unlikely to see a central government more favorable to the Bangsamoro region than Mr. Aquino's.

"If we are able to legislate this, we can give our [Muslim] brothers enough time to prepare," Mr. Aquino said.

Congressional leaders have expressed optimism that they can pass the law by around March. Then a referendum is planned for late next year in the affected areas on whether they want to join.

Then, in May 2016, leaders of the future Bangsamoro are to elect their leaders, shortly before the region is due to be established.

"The timeline is tight but doable," said Rufus Rodriguez, a congressman from Mindanao, on Tuesday [9 September 2014]. Mr. Rodriguez is expected to head a congressional committee that will study the law and seek to speed up the legislative process.

The bill is expected to pass easily as Mr. Aquino enjoys healthy majorities in both houses of Congress.

However, there are other hurdles that could trip up the sensitive peace process, said Zachary Abuza, a political-science professor at Simmons College in Boston.

The Moro National Liberation Front, another Islamic rebel group that has so far rejected the peace deal, has "the ability to derail the entire process" unless it is somehow brought onboard, Mr. Abuza said.

Implementing the agreement and establishing a functioning and democratic Bangsamoro could be the greatest challenge of all, he said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front "have limited human capital to run the place [and] have never really governed," Mr. Abuza said. At the same time, the Philippine government "has a track record of signing accords, getting rebels to lay down their arms, and then never really implementing what they agreed to."