The Philippine government signed an unprecedented Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro on March 27 with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, confirming the status of Bangsamoro as a political entity, which will supersede the previous Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

This pact marks the conclusion of the 17-year-long negotiations between Manila and the Muslim separatist group.

However, the historic agreement will not necessarily produce a long-lasting peace for the country. Its effect will probably be limited by the preexisting structural problems that haunt the country.

Based on the provisions of the deal, the Philippine government will have to recognize the autonomy of Bangsamoro as a political entity and respect the rights of its people. In essence, Manila is trading the administrative authority for regional peace, which however will not eradicate the root causes of chaos.

Putting aside the factors such as religious and cultural customs and investigating the Philippines from the sole perspective of social and economic development, we can find that the issues haunting the southern regions of the Philippines are no different from the preexisting problems that keep nagging the whole country.

Without an effective intervention mechanism by the government, the Philippines is facing grave social and economic illnesses. Years of chaos have incurred enormous gaps between the rich and the poor. And poverty and social inequality are always a hotbed of turmoil.

Compared with other Southeast Asian nations with similar conditions, such as Vietnam, the Philippines is actually ahead in terms of the average GDP, according to the data released by the IMF in early 2013.

However, the numbers cannot convince people that the Philippines' social and economic development is better than those of Vietnam, because the large gap between the rich and the poor in the the former is much worse than in the latter.

According to a report by the World Bank in 2011, in the Philippines, the richest 20 percent of the population outspend the poorest 20 percent by about nine times.

An official survey by the Philippine government reveals that one-third of Filipinos live on less than $1 every day, whereas the household income of the richest 10 percent of the families account for one third of that of the whole country.

The huge gaps between the rich and the poor and between urban areas and rural areas have shaped a society where religious fundamentalism can take root and add to social turmoil. It is poverty and social inequality that drive ordinary people to seek relief in extreme religious beliefs.

The Philippines is a typical victim of colonialism. Since 1565 when Spain took control of the islands, the Philippines has suffered from a lack of its own self-reliant social evolution.

Even after the Philippines gained independence and established democracy in 1946, the governance structure inherited from the colonial era was kept in place. Powerful families in the Philippines keep a firm hand on the country's economic resources, especially the land.

Such an economic monopoly makes the country's democratic elections look symbolic. Even today, land reform of the Philippines is still a contentious issue, which has long been accomplished in other modern countries.

This structural contradiction is the crux that has left the Philippines lost in chaos and turmoil. Thus, trading administrative authority for peace will unlikely be an effective approach to deal with this real problem. On the contrary, this will make it much even harder for the Philippine government to manage the economic and social development of Bangsamoro.

And as to the local autonomous administration, there is only a dim chance that they can address the core issue on their own.

The author is a political commentator based in Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn