SC asked to stop Bangsamoro deal in light of Zambo fighting

A former lawyer of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has asked the Supreme Court to finally resolve a petition his group has filed seeking to stop the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in light of ongoing clashes in Zamboanga City.

The armed fighting, which started Monday, is between government troops and members of the Moro National Liberation Front, some members of which broke away in the 1970s and eventually formed the MILF in protest of the Tripoli Agreement of 1976 that gave the MNLF semi-autonomy in contested regions in Mindanao.

In an urgent manifestation, lawyer Oliver Lozano of the International Ministries for Perfect and Party Against Communism and Terrorism Inc. (Imppact) reiterated their appeal for the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the pact supposedly to prevent Jihad or Islam's "holy war" from happening.
 
“The worsening Zamboanga war is evolving into a Jihad or Holy War; meaning, universal war involving the entire Muslim community that adversely affects the whole nation,” insisted Lozano, who believes that stopping the deal would serve as a “unifying solomonic solution” to the ongoing skirmishes.
 
Lozano said the MNLF's oposition to the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement was a "valid protest." Halting the implementation of the deal would also pave the way for "multi-sectoral consultations on a new framework pact that is inclusive, democratic, and constitutional.”
 
"The valid and existing Tripoli Agreement and implementing Final Agreement can be modified by any subsequent Framework Accord by consensus or agreement of all parties concerned,” Lozano argued.

He also appealed to presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and presidential adviser on the peace process Ging Deles not to engage in "abrasive double talk... that could incite a shooting war."
 
Last December, Imppact through its head, lawyer Elly Pamatong, asked the high court to declare the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement as unconstitutional since it was struck in Malaysia with the help of Malaysians, who he claimed stand to benefit the most from the deal.

The SC soon after acted on the petition but did not issue a TRO. Until now, the high court has yet to resolve the petition on its merits.

Under the preliminary framework signed in October last year, a 15-member transition commission would be formed to draft the laws that would govern the Bangsamoro, which will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

President Benigno Aquino III had earlier described the ARMM as a "failed experiment" because corruption and poverty remained unmitigated in the region.

The framework was created with now Supreme Court associate justice Marvic Leonen, former dean of University of the Philippines College of Law, acting as chief negotiator for the government. Leonen was named SC associate justice a month after the deal was made. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News