World Bulletin / News Desk

Many Filipinos want their next president to implement a landmark peace deal between the government and the country's one time largest Muslim rebel group, according to a new survey in the Philippines.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process released a Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll Saturday, showing that there are more Filipinos, 45 percent, who agree that the next president should implement the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) compared to only 23 percent who disagreed.

Just over 30 percent were still undecided on the issue.

Geographically, the highest number of those who want the next president to implement the CAB was in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, with 51 percent of respondents agreeing. This was followed by 48 percent in Mindanao, 47 percent in the rest of Luzon, and 36 percent in the Visayas.

“The survey proves that the most Filipinos want to sustain the gains achieved by President Benigno S. Aquino III and his administration in resolving the Bangsamoro issue,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles said in a statement emailed to Anadolu Agency.

The survey was conducted from March 30 to April 2 among 1,500 respondents nationwide with a 3 percent error margin.

It was commissioned by the office which oversees the peace process for the government.

Last year, Congress adjourned for the election without passing the BBL that would have sealed a 2014 peace deal between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government bringing 17 years of peace negotiations in southern Mindanao island to a close.

Even though Congress failed to pass the proposed law, President Aquino has remained optimistic that it is still the most appropriate path toward peace and development in the southern Philippines.

More than 50 million Filipino voters will choose the Philippines' next president in May 9 national and local elections.

Mohagher Iqbal, who chairs the MILF peace panel, has underlined the Front’s “hands off policy” on the elections and said the organization does not stop its followers from exercising their right to vote.

He has, however, advised voters to make critical and objective analysis of the candidates and weigh who deserves their vote.

Voters are instructed to check the candidates’ platforms on the process, its implementation, along with their attitudes, characters -- both plus and minus -- and their associates.