OSG asks SC to dismiss anti-MOA-AD petitions
PURPLE S. ROMERO, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 08/27/2008 3:46 AM
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | 
Share your views
The OSG said the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) “has not been signed” and “will not be signed.”
The SC had asked the OSG to reply to the comments of groups opposed to the MOA-AD which insisted that the SC should still rule on the various petitions even if the government has decided to review and not sign the agreement.
The OSG asked the high court to rule that these petitions are “moot.”
The OSG said the anti-MOA petitions should be dismissed since there is no “justiciable controversy” which warrants a judicial review because the agreement is a mere draft or “at a very least, a proposal.”
The OSG cited the Supreme Court’s recent dismissal of the case on the US$329 million National Broadband Network (NBN) project between the government and Chinese telecommunications firm, ZTE Corp., after President Arroyo cancelled the deal.
The OSG said the unsigned MOA-AD has no legal effect and is not a contract under civil law since it has only been initialed, not signed by negotiators of the government and the MILF.
“The MOA-AD has not been signed, and even if it is signed, operative acts have to be undertaken to make the same effective,” the OSG said.
‘Speculative’
The OSG also argued that the petitioners could not pursue their case based on the “fear” that the government may end up repeating its mistakes by coming up with a similar Muslim ancestral homeland agreement in the future.
The MOA-AD expands the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with at least 700 more villages, subject to a law passed by Congress and voters’ approval in a plebiscite. It also grants wider economic and political powers to the new autonomous region, such as 75:25 sharing in its favor from the exploitation of natural resources.
Former Senator Franklin Drilon, Senator Mar Roxas and United Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano wrote in their joint opposition to the OSG motion that if the Supreme Court does not strike down the accord, it would give the executive department a chance to commit or enter into similar questionable deals in future negotiations.
But the OSG argued that this was “speculative.”
“Neither the petitioners nor the respondents can foresee what the future may bring with respect to negotiations with MILF,” the OSG wrote.
With regard to the proposed renegotiation of the MOA-AD, the OSG said that even the Supreme Court cannot resort to “guessing” its outcome.
In an interview with abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak, Senior State Solicitor Rolando Faller said the renegotiation of the MOA-AD would center on the most contentious points of the MOA-AD: the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) and its territory.
Critics of the MOA-AD have alleged that the agreement would grant the BJE its own judicial and police powers as well as enter into international economic agreements.
Political question
The OSG said entering into peace agreements, such as the MOA-AD with the MILF, are is one of the powers of the president.
Thus, asking the SC to stop the executive department from exercising its constitutionally-mandated powers would be a violation of the principle on separation of powers, it explained.
“The all encompassing prohibition, apart from being violative of the constitutional principle on separation of powers, would unnecessarily shackle the hands of the President,” the OSG wrote.
The OSG also stressed that since the executive department would be carrying out its duties in forging peace with rebel groups, its decision to do so becomes a “political question,” one that is not subject to a judicial review.
Prayers answered
On the request of MOA-AD critics for official copies of the initialed agreement, the OSG also said these prayers have already been granted, thus making the pending cases against the MOA-AD moot and academic.
It said the MOA-AD has already been made public, as requested by the petitioners.
In addition, the government has decided not to sign the MOA-AD in its present form and would seek to renegotiate the accord.
“First, the would-be signing of the MOA-AD in
Second, the MOA-AD, in its present form, will no longer be signed. Third, the parties have been served with copies of the final draft of the MOA-AD,” the OSG said.
The MOA-AD was set to be signed August 5 in
“There is nothing more left to be done by this Honorable Court but to dismiss the instant cases,” the OSG said.
