Muslim rebels in Mindanao are pushing Japan to boost aid to conflict-affected areas in the southern Philippines, saying it will hasten peace and development in the impoverished region.

"We believe that Japan could play a very important role in bringing peace, especially to the conflict-affected in Mindanao," Al-Haj Murad Ibrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, said in an interview.

Mindanao, the second-largest Philippine island, is home to most Filipino Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of the country's 85 million people.

Japan is playing peacemaker on the island scarred by decades of war that have stunted the growth of the mineral-rich islands. It is the first non-Islamic country to join the international monitoring team, a 60-member group keeping track of a 2003 ceasefire agreement.