The ongoing peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) hit a snag as the MILF rejects the government's proposal for a "genuine autonomy" to address the decades-old conflict in Mindanao.

Von Al Haq, spokesman for the 11,000-strong rebel group, told Xinhua their negotiators have rejected the government's "genuine autonomy" offer.

The government proposal was part of the comprehensive proposal in the resumption of the formal exploratory talks in Malaysia Monday.

"It's not acceptable to everybody. More 'genuine autonomy' is just the same as the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) set up. They (government) only made some enhancement but we still don't have our freedom," Al Haq said.

The MILF has been proposing a "substate" to resolve the problem in the southern Philippines.

The government peace panel presented to its counterpart its proposed comprehensive peace compact during the resumption of the 22nd formal exploratory talks in Malaysia, the third party facilitator, on Monday. In its proposal, the government basically offered genuine autonomy to end the problem in Mindanao.

The government's proposal recognizes the identity of the Bangsamoro and its history.

At the same time, it presents the possibility of a more empowered, more workable, and thus, more genuine autonomy of a Bangsamoro region.

The Philippine government's chief negotiator Marvic Leonen expressed hope that peace talks would again resume soon, saying that it would be Malaysia that will schedule the meeting.

He is also hopeful that the "impasse" on the proposed comprehensive peace pact would be resolved immediately.

Earlier, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said the ARMM may have been a failed experiment in the past, but the current proposal is based on a more balanced understanding of whether its past failure was due to its structure and the systems that it spawned or the quality of the past national or regional leadership.

The ARMM was offered to the then secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari, who became the region' s first governor.

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