The Philippine largest Muslim rebel group has turned over the first batch of their firearms and fighters in the southern island of Mindanao, as part of the peace agreement the group signed with the government.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front "symbolically" turned over on Tuesday 75 firearms and 145 rebels to an international body set up to monitor the peace process.

President Benigno Aquino III and rebel leader Al Haj Murad Ebrahim attended the ceremony, which the president said signals the willingness of the rebels to reach a peaceful solution to the long-running violence in southern Philippines.

"Let's reciprocate the trust that the rebels gave to us," Aquino said in calling for the passage of a law governing a future autonomous sub-state for Muslim minorities in Mindanao.

"They are extending their hand of peace," he said referring to the 11,000-strong rebel group.

"Hundreds of thousands of people have already died, and countless communities have been destroyed because of the four decades of violence. How many more people have to die, if we don't support this peace process?"

The turning over of the rebel arms marks the first time that a rebel group in the Philippines has voluntarily given up their warms as part of the deal.