Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Arinday: 'MOA-AD'-a mockery of sovereignty By G.H. Arinday Jr. Sunfare
JUST IN the nick of time, an injunctive sanction was issued by the Supreme Court commanding both parties-the GRP and MILF-to desist from signing the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) last Monday, August 4.
The unpredictable month of August is getting nastier with high-octane controversies notably the bribery scandal involving Court of Appeals justices and now the agreement to create the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity "as a distinct dominant people to have its own basic law, its own police and internal security force", and all other departments inherent in a duly-constituted government.
From my own humble interpretation of the MOA-AD, the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity is a "state by itself" and the inhabitants therein can shed off their Filipino citizenship and have their state religion officially done in their basic law. A mockery of sovereignty, isn't it?
While the MOA-AD speaks of plebiscite after the signing of such agreement, here lies the beginning of a more complex problem which would engulf the whole island of Mindanao and nearby places.
Even before some grey areas in the MOA-AD could be discussed and clarified, the "armed forces" of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are on the rampage invading villages predominantly Christian with the obvious intent to expand their territory before the plebiscite-if ever it shall happen-could take place.
The 6-month period provided in the MOA-AD for the required plebiscite is not even certain to take place as the subject, as serious as it is because it requires the amendment of the Constitution. A student of political science knows this indispensable requirement.
Given the expertise on semantics of the MILF spokespersons and negotiators who often outwitted the GRP representatives, it is not surprising that at the end of the day, they would find the "state within the state" declaring its total independence from the Republic of the Philippines.
The MOA-AD is actually the "balkanization" of the country. As pointed out earlier in this corner, there can never be unity or cohesiveness among the Moro tribal groups as bared by no less than the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu calling the MILF as the Maguindanaons Iranon Liberation Front. The Iranons and Maguindanaons are tribes found in Cotabato provinces.
The GRP negotiators appealed for sobriety and considered the "peace deal" as an end to endless bloodbath in Mindanao. Likewise, the MILF also called for "trust, understanding, and confidence-building" to close the chapter on internecine blood-letting in the Land of Promise. No one disagrees on this point, but what matters most is how the peace agreement would be implemented when the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) is given the right of an almost exclusive jurisdiction over the internal waters, certain length of off-shore waters, and space or aerial space above their territories.
Further the BJE shall have authority "to send trade missions and enter into economic cooperation agreements with other countries" and "send representatives to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as agencies of the United Nations." Are these not hallmarks of an independent State?
Under the foregoing powers and authority, who can stop the BJE in entering into "economic cooperation agreement" with the "traders" and "economic entities" funded by the Jemaah Islamiyah or bin Laden's Al-Qaeda?
Try to get someone else conversant with the slyness of international relations and it would not be surprising that since BJE is given the power to have their own security forces, it would not be far-fetched that they could get more sophisticated weapons and even war planes from Iran under trade or economic cooperation agreement to protect their territorial integrity.
Why does this "peace agreement" suck my gut feeling? It is because the perceived "just and lasting peace" can never be achieved under the terms and conditions in the MOA-AD.
While the "peace agreement" is being considered, the MILF's armed components have never shown any respect for such action by pillaging, burning and killing the residents of Christian-dominated villages, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were mostly on the defensive. The usual line of reasoning of the MILF leadership that the undesirable acts were done by the "lost command" or plain bandits has become too shallow of a false pretense.
This is one issue which transcends the supremacy and sovereignty of the Republic which cannot be diminished under the ambiguous doctrine of "ancestral domain", unhitherto unknown in international law or under any established legal perspectives. There is nothing in our Constitution which allows dismembering the country "under joint authority" but giving the breakaway territorial segment and such powers and authority beyond the reach of our own Congress at the least sounds perfidious!
