RP govt drops territory deal in peace accord

MANILA, Philippines - The government has dropped the territory deal in its pursuit of a peace accord with Moro rebels. This was the information from state lawyers relayed Friday to the Supreme Court during oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which was supposed to set up an Islamic state in Mindanao through an expanded autonomous Muslim region. Solicitor General Agnes VST Devanadera said "infighting [in some parts of Mindanao] continue to escalate to alarming proportions so that the Executive department decided to reassess its decision the MOA-AD will not be signed in its present form or in any other form." She told the court Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita called her Thursday night to note this position. This prompted Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno to say, "this is a very significant change in the position of the government." Mr. Ermita could not be reached for comment in Malacañang. Ms. Devanadera clarified there have been misconceptions that the government will only drop the territory deal "in its present form," noting although it has been set aside, the peace process continues. After conferring with members of the state peace panel, Ms. Devanadera said the government has yet to manifest this position to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). She added this does not mean that the peace talks will revert to zero, only that the government will have to do further consultations with more stakeholders. Press Secretary Jesus G. Dureza confirmed that the government will no longer sign the MOA-AD, but declined to elaborate saying the case is now in court. "We will not sign that document anyway. No matter how the Supreme Court will decide, the government will not sign the MoA," he said when asked to clarify the Solicitor-General’s position. Mr. Dureza, a former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, only said the peace talks should be refocused "in the context of the DDR (disarmament demobilization and rehabilitation)." The DDR entails the surrendering of rebel weapons and the reconstruction of damaged properties and livelihood of people affected by encounters between the military and the MILF. The state lawyers were criticized by the justices after they admitted that if the MOA-AD had been signed, the government would be bound to effectively implement drastic changes in the Constitution. Changes in the Constitution Associate Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna said, "A unilateral statement given by a representative of a state to any international forum can bind the country. It cannot argue that it is against its Constitution. It is obliged to change its Constitution to comply with the MOA-AD," Mr. Azcuna said. Ms. Devanadera, however, said the deal should not be considered as internationally binding since the state peace does not have the authority "to sign documents that will bind the Republic with legal effects." Justice Antonio T. Carpio, however, noted diplomats and other observers witnessed the initialing of the MOA-AD, and that no one can stop them from questioning the government’s change in position on the deal. "The event is considered a milestone. The signing was not in any international forum; it just happens to be in a place outside the country. The presence of diplomats did not confer the domestic document to any international document," Ms. Devanadera said. Mr. Carpio, however, noted the state lawyer could not know for sure that the deal is not internationally binding. "You are risking the dismemberment of the Philippines [in the International Court of Justice] on your position that it is not an international document." The government counsel earlier asked the court to dismiss petitions seeking to nullify the territory agreement. Some local leaders and other members of opposition groups questioned the process in drawing up the deal, and its constitutionality. The MOA-AD, whose Aug. 5 signing in Kuala Lumpur was stalled by the high court, will cover in a plebiscite 712 villages in Palawan, South Cotabato, Zamboanga City, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM. The expanded ARMM will form the Bangsamoro (Muslim homeland) Juridical Entity wherein the MILF will have wide fiscal, political and religious authority. The hearings were terminated Friday and all parties were asked to submit their memoranda within 20 days, after which the court will resolve the matter. — Ira P. Pedrasa and Alexis Douglas B. Romero, BusinessWorld