MANILA, Philippines Mindanao-based civic, religious and political leaders on Friday sought the help of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines in pressing government to make public its deal on ancestral domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF).
A statement on the CBCP website (www.cbcpnews.com) said the Mindanao-based group wants the contents of the deal disclosed before its formal signing in Malaysia on Aug. 5.
Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo accepted the proposal of Kidapawan City mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco to have President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo defer the signing until until copies have been given to Mindanao officials for review.
Gantuangco raised the proposal in a breakfast meeting July 31, the CBCP said.
"The most influential group that could convince the president is the CBCP," Gantuangco told the participants, which included a delegation from North Cotabato.
North Cotabato's delegation included Governor Jesus Sacdalan, Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol, and members of the provincial board and mayors.
The Mindanao leaders said they want to convince the Arroyo administration to consult leaders and people of Mindanao affected by the MOA on ancestral domain before it is signed.
Piñol said most of the participants think a hastily signed MOA could give the MILF a status of belligerency.
North Cotabato officials led by Sacdalan and Piñol earlier filed with the Supreme Court a petition asking the high court to compel the national government, through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, to divulge the contents of the MOA before it is signed.
They also asked the Supreme Court to issue a restraining order against the national government to ensure that the MOA is thoroughly reviewed and studied before it is signed.
For his part, Bagaforo said in an earlier radio interview he is inclined to support Piñol's moves.
Mayors of North Cotabato, led by League President and Magpet Mayor Efren Piñol, also asked the Supreme Court to act on the petition earlier filed by the provincial officials.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also directed his lawyers to rush the filing of a similar independent motion before the Supreme Court.
Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz was also expected to do the same, the CBCP said.
Other government officials present in the meeting were Reps. Abraham Khalil Mitra of Palawan, Erlie Fabian of Zamboanga del Sur, Darlene Antonino-Custodio of Gen. Santos City and Beng Climaco of Zamboanga City; city mayors Celso Lobregat of Zamboanga and Lawrence Cruz of Iligan, and Civil Service Commissioner Cesar Buenaflor.
ARMM election
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban), meanwhile, urged Malacañang to submit to the Senate the government's accord on ancestral domain, as well as other agreements it has forged with the MILF.
In a press statement, Pimentel suggested that the administration's peace authorities and members of the government's negotiating panel should officially inform the senators on the progress of the peace talks which began at the inception of the Arroyo presidency.
He said the members of the Senate are in the dark about the agreements that have been hammered out by both sides. And yet, he said President Arroyo has cited the need to sustain the momentum of the peace talks as a reason for postponing the August 11 election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The agreement on ancestral domain supposedly provides for the inclusion of about 700 more barangays or villages in the so-called Muslim juridical entity subject to the results of a plebiscite in accordance with constitutional process.
Pimentel, principal author of the ARMM organic act, maintained that the ongoing peace negotiation between government and Muslim rebels should not be used as a ground for disrupting the scheduled regional polls.
He said any postponement of elections is inadvisable because it will unnecessarily extend the term of incumbent officials, including the incompetent and corrupt. At the same time, he said postponement deprives deserving leaders of a chance to get elected and serve the people.
If the ARMM election is postponed, the biggest casualty will be the costly automated voting and counting system intended to eliminate fraudulent practices. He said this will also jeopardize the plan to computerize the 2010 national and local elections.
"People must remember that the ARMM election was also intended to provide the venue for testing of the computerized election process in preparation for the 2010 elections. If you postpone the election now, that means there will be no more opportunity to test the automated voting machines. Therefore, they can use that excuse that since the machines were not tested, they could not be used for the 2010 elections. That, to my mind, is the ultimate purpose to defer or cancel the ARMM election," Pimentel said.
Other reasons cited for Pimentel for opposing the postponement of the ARMM polls:
1. There is no more time for Congress to pass the bill to defer the elections.
2. It is unfair to candidates for ARMM positions who have already spent a lot of money for their election campaign.
3. It will create the impressions that the government is weak for being unable to enforce its election laws.
4. It will aggravate political instability in Mindanao.
5. It will put to waste billions of pesos in taxpayers money already spent on the automated electoral system and other preparatory activities. - GMANews.TV