MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo should defer Tuesdays scheduled signing of the a memorandum of agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) until the Supreme Court resolved the legality of the deal, the United Opposition said Sunday.
UNO President Jejomar Binay said this is to avoid further tension in the region, noting the petition filed by the local government of North Cotabato to junk the said agreement and the similar opposition voiced by Zamboanga City officials.
"Tension is brewing in Mindanao and old wounds are being reopened unnecessarily because of this controversial GRP-MILF ancestral domain accord. To defuse the tension, we are asking Malacañang to defer the signing of the MOA in deference to the Supreme Court," Binay said.
Binay said in North Cotabato and Zamboanga, Malacañang should direct Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr and government panel chair Rodolfo Garcia not to push through with the signing of the agreement on ancestral domain in Kuala Lumpur on August 5.
Earlier, North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Scadalan, Vice Gov. Emmanuel Pinol, and other officials of the province filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to junk to MOA. Government officials from Zamboanga City, led by Mayor Celso Lobregat and Representatives Erico B. Fabian and Maria Isabelle Climaco, said they will also file a similar petition before the high court Monday morning.
These officials claimed the signing of the agreement would be illegal since "it would place the Philippine republic at a great disadvantage." They claimed that they were not consulted in the peace process.
Binay, together with Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr, asked Malacañang to reveal the terms of the said agreement, saying that the lack of transparency with the negotiations has fueled political tension in the area.
"We sincerely hope that the Palace is not deliberately creating tension in Mindanao by withholding the contents of the agreement of the GRP-MILF accord. In the interest of peace and stability, we hope that they will divulge the terms of the accord to the people of Mindanao at the soonest possible time," Binay said.
Pimentel, on the other hand, deplored that senators were "kept in the dark" as to the basis of President Arroyos call for the postponement of the election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled on August 11.
"I find that largely irregular for the executive to call for the suspension of the ARMM elections without us knowing what the contents of the agreement are," Pimentel said. - GMANews.TV