Tuesday, August 12, 2008 2 more petitions vs territorial deal filed
TWO more petitions were filed with the Supreme Court (SC) last Monday seeking to intervene in the petitions filed by North Cotabato Province and Zamboanga City seeking to stop the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II and former Senate President Franklin Drilon, both stalwarts of the Liberal Party, simultaneously filed their respective petitions questioning the constitutionality of the MOA on ancestral domain, which they said would create a separate state within the Philippine territory.
Roxas, in his petition, said the move of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) peace panel would only result in more violence and strife in Mindanao. At the same time, the MOA illegally created the Bangsamoro homeland for the Muslim people and granted the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) sovereign powers.
"Thus, for all intents and purposes, the GRP-MILF MOA created a state within the Philippine state in clear and categorical violation of the Constitution," he said.
Roxas echoed the concerns of previous petitioners that the terms of the MOA are considered matters of public concern, thus covered by Section 7 of the Bill of Rights, which guarantees the right of the people to information.
"Secret deals and agreements have no place in a democratic country such as ours. Only in the light of public scrutiny and serious criticism can any peace agreement with the MILF be said to uphold our fellow countrymen's best interest and hope for peace and harmony for a region long neglected," Roxas said.
The senator further said the country had so much to lose if the MOA as crafted would be implemented.
For their part, Drilon, who was joined in his petition by United Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano, asked the high court to render a decision prohibiting and permanently enjoining the respondents from further signing the agreement with such terms.
According to them, the panel gravely abused their authority and discretion in negotiating and finalizing the terms of the "patently unconstitutional" MOA, which was reached without consultation with the public.
"The MOA is blatantly injurious to interveners who are citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, eroding, as it does, the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippine state," Drilon and Tamano stated in their petition.
Named respondents in the suit were the GRP panel and the official Philippine representative who negotiated with MILF representatives and drafted the MOA on ancestral domain, which would allegedly include North Cotabato in the plebiscite that would be conducted six months after the signing to determine the areas to be added to the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).
Also named respondents were Secretary Rodolfo Garcia, head of the GRP peace panel; and members Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Leah Armamento, lawyer Sedfrey Candelaria, GRP secretariat Mark Ryan Sullivan, and retired General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. in his capacity as presidential peace adviser.
Under the MOA, the Bangsamoro territory comprises the following areas: the present Armm; the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte Province, which voted for inclusion in Armm during the 2001 plebiscite; and the additional geographic areas in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato.
North Cotabato was among the provinces included in the expanded Armm, to be governed by an independent district to be called the BJE; as well as eight barangays in Zamboanga City, including the entire downtown area of the city, the Zamboanga City Hall, a cathedral and the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
Petitioners said the assailed MOA would mean that the Philippine government recognizes the Bangsamoro people as a distinct people with their own distinct territory and government, thus conceding international recognition.
Should the GRP-MILF peace panel persist to include North Cotabato as among those subjects of the plebiscite six months after the signing of the MOA, petitioners said it would only be a waste of government funds, time and personnel to hold another electoral process if only to determine the voice and sentiments of the people of the province regarding the inclusion. (ECV/Sunnex)
