The Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest rebel group, finally agreed to sign a framework agreement that will end the decades-long armed conflict in southern Philippines.

The Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest rebel group, finally agreed to sign a framework agreement that will end the decades-long armed conflict in southern Philippines, President Benigno Aquino III announced on Sunday.

In a speech delivered Sunday noon at Malacanan, or the Presidential Palace, Aquino said that part of the agreement is to come up with a new political entity to be called as Bangsamoro to replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Secretary Teresita Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) said that the agreement will be signed on Oct. 15 in Manila by the government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel head Marvic Leonen and MILF panel chair Mohagher Iqbal.

"We are happy and we thank the president for this," MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar told Agence France Presse by phone from his base in the current ‘Mindanao’.

The two sides said they were aiming for a final peace deal to be achieved before the president's term ends in the middle of 2016.

Under the agreement, Aquino said that the national government will continue to exercise exclusive powers of defense and security, foreign policy, monetary policy and coinage, citizenship, and naturalization.

"The Constitution and lawful processes shall govern the transition to the Bangsamoro, and this agreement will ensure that the Philippines remains one nation and one people, with all of our diverse cultures and narratives seeking the common goal,” he said.

“The Filipinos of Bangsamoro, on the other hand, will be assured a fair and equitable share of taxation, revenues, and the fruits of national patrimony. They will enjoy equal protection of laws and access to impartial justice," he added.

Aquino said that consistent with the Constitution, the basic law for the creation of the Bangsamoro will be drafted by a transition commission and will go through the full process of legislation in Congress.

The agreement to sign an accord was reached after the 32nd formal exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur, for Malaysia acts as the facilitator in the peace process.