Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain Aspect of the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peach of 2001
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Wednesday said it is not inclined to sign the present form of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) until after a thorough review has been done, a television report said.
The GMA-7 Flash Report quoted Press Secretary Jesus Dureza saying that even if the signing of the MOA will not take place, peace talks with the MILF will continue.
Dureza also said that there was a need for the MILF to control its forces which had been accused of launching a series of attacks on several towns the past days.
This came the same day that it was learned that Malaysias foreign minister - who was supposed to discuss the status of the peace process between the government and the MILF - canceled a scheduled meeting his Filipino counterpart.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that the cancellation was not connected in any way with the ongoing clashes between government and the MILF.
Meanwhile, a radio report said that Office of the President Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) is currently seeking the help of the Malaysian government to help them relay the Philippine government stand to the MILF.
Kuala Lumpur is brokering the peace negotiations between the government and the MILF, the largest secessionist organization in the country.
The same radio report also said that Malacañang saw the need for a review of the agreement following the recent MILF attacks on civilian communities in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte provinces.
It also said a new set of conditions is expected to crop up after the review on the said agreement.
This development came a day after Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking the dismissal of the petitions questioning the legality of the domain pact with the MILF.
Circumstances have changed from the time of the intended signing of the MOA in Malaysia. Following the filing of various petitions questioning the constitutionality of the MOA, fighting in some areas in Muslim Mindanao had resurfaced led by some disgruntled groups of the MILF," Devanadera said.
Devanadera, in filing the petition, said the executive department is likely conduct further negotiations with the MILF to address the issues hurled against the agreement.
The Office of the Solicitor General is representing the government panel that is talking peace with the secessionist organization.
In its motion, Devanadera insisted that the agreement is not yet a done deal but merely a codification of consensus points reached between the GRP and MILF peace panels and the aspirations of MILF to have a Bangsamoro homeland."
The respondents are clear in their position that the actualization or realization of the aspiration of MILF to have a Bangsamoro homeland of their own shall be achieved only by complying with the existing legal processes such as the enactment of appropriate legislation, amendment of the Constitution itself as well as the holding of a plebiscite," she said.
MOA signing
Government, through Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr, earlier rejected calls for the renegotiation of the MOA which was supposed to have been signed on Aug. 5 in Kuala Lumpur.
Esperon said that a renegotiation would push the peace process back to square one.
It was stopped Aug 4 by the Supreme Court which issued a temporary restraining based on a petition filed by local government executives who were surprised when told that the MOA calls for the inclusion of more than 700 villages into the proposed expanded autonomous region which would be governed by the MILF.
A day before the Supreme Court hearing on the petition, Esperon softened his stand, saying that the government panel is open to renegotiate the MOA if the Supreme Court finds the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical unconstitutional.
The expansion of autonomous region will cover villages and municipalities in eight provinces where the MILF has been waging a bloody rebellion since 1978.
The ancestral domain issue is the last remaining hurdle for a final political settlement that is expected to end the four decades-old insurgency that has claimed more than 120,000 lives.
Clashes erupt
The High Courts decision sparked a series of MILF attacks against towns in North Cotabato, Sarangani, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur the past days.
The attacks have claimed the lives of more than 30 people, most of them civilians.
The toll continues to rise.
Malaysia cancels meet with RP
The bilateral meeting between the Philippines and Malaysia in Manila this week has been canceled, DFA spokesman Claro Cristobal said.
The two-day meeting, which was supposed to take place on August 21 to 22, was postponed to a later date.
Cristobal said Malaysia sought for the meetings cancellation, but he was quick to add that it had nothing to do with the ongoing armed conflict between government troops and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Mindanao, which is threatening to scuttle the Malaysian-brokered peace negotiations.
The Joint Consultative Meeting is postponed upon Malaysias request citing domestic political developments," the DFA spokesman said.
Malaysias Foreign Minister Rais Yatim and his counterpart DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo were supposed to discuss political and security cooperation, particularly the status of the peace process between the government and the MILF and the aborted ancestral domain agreement in the meeting.
It was also intended to review and discuss the implementation of cooperative undertakings and to further strengthen the existing cooperation between the two countries on areas of trade and investment, education, health, tourism and culture, agriculture, information cooperation, environment and the welfare of Filipino migrant workers.
Romulo and Rais were also supposed to witness the signing of the controversial territorial agreement in Malaysia last Aug. 5 but it was ordered halted by the Supreme Court, which called for the review of the accord. Malaysia was reportedly dismayed with the cancellation of the MoA signing.- GMANews.TV