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The Supreme Court on Monday stopped the government from signing a
peace agreement with Muslim separatist insurgents in southern
Philippines, in another apparent setback to efforts to end nearly
four decades of rebellion there.
A temporary restraining order that the High
Tribunal handed down was in response to a consolidated petition
filed by officials from Mindanao who had opposed giving the
country’s Muslim minority of four million their ancestral domain.
On such territory, the rebels said, would rise their independent
Islamic homeland. The signing of the peace pact between the
government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had been
scheduled for today in Malaysia.
The proposed agreement had triggered massive
street protests in Mindanao on fears that non-Muslim areas could be
covered by the ancestral domain, arguably the thorniest issue that
hobbled negotiations between Manila and the MILF.
“The Court issued a TRO [temporary restraining
order] restraining the respondents from signing the MOA [memorandum
of agreement],” said Jose Midas Marquez, the Supreme Court
spokesman.
The High Tribunal based its decision on two
petitions, which it later decided to consolidate, filed by
local executives of the province of North Cotabato and the city
government of Zamboanga.
Petitioners for North Cotabato were Gov.
Jesus Sacdalan and Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol, Zamboanga City Mayor
Celso Lobregat, and Rep. Ma. Isabelle Climaco and Rep. Erico Basilio
Fabian, both of Zamboanga City.
Named respondents were members of the government
peace panel headed by Rodolfo Garcia and Leah Armamento,
Sedfrey Candelaria, Mark Ryan Sullivan and Secretary
Hermogenes Esperon Jr., in his capacity as the presidential
adviser on the peace process.
The peace agreement would give the separatist
rebels powers over a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, which would expand
the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or ARMM.
Bangsamoro refers to the Muslim minority not only in Mindanao but
also in Palawan province in western Philippines.
The juridical entity, under the proposed peace
pact, would have its own legal, banking and educational systems,
civil service and internal-security forces. It had been seen as
paving the way for a formal peace deal with the MILF.
The rebels’ spokesman, Eid Kabalu, described
the issuance of the restraining order as a “setback.” Kabalu,
though, said the supposedly 12,000-strong MILF remained “committed
to solving the problem peacefully.”
According to him, MILF peace negotiators have
yet to formally receive the Supreme Court order. Press Secretary and
Presidential Spokesman Jesus Dureza, though, said Tuesday’s
signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur would not take place.
“We submit to the sound discretion of the
[Supreme Court], which is the ultimate arbiter of issues and so
effectively the signing of the agreement will have to be
cancelled,” Dureza added.
The High Tribunal ordered the government to
submit a draft of the agreement later this week, and defend its
merits in oral arguments on August 15.
Looking ahead
Dureza said President Gloria Arroyo was
confident that the Court would eventually “uphold the position”
of the government and lift all obstacles to ending the MILF
rebellion. (See related front-page story.)
The ruling came hours after an estimated 15,000
demonstrators of various faiths were reported to have taken to the
streets in the predominantly Christian port city of Zamboanga in
Mindanao to oppose the agreement. Another 8,000 were also reported
to have protested in nearby Iligan City, capital of Lanao del Sur
province.
The demonstrators in both mass actions were also
reported to have carried placards saying “MILF Go Home.” No
violent incidents from the protest rallies were reported.
Many non-Muslims oppose the deal because their
land could be included in the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.
“It [signing of the peace pact] was ill-timed,
and there was already a lot of opposition to this deal,” said
Julkipli Wadi, an Islamic studies professor at the University of the
Philippines in Quezon City.
“This [blocking by the Supreme Court] was a
setback, but could also be a blessing since the High Court could
finally solve the legal questions on the draft agreement,” he
added.
The draft agreement apparently has placed in
jeopardy the future of the autonomous area in Mindanao that is set
to hold elections on August 11.
Established in 1996 after a peace agreement
between Manila and another Muslim separatist group—Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF)—ARMM was supposed to have answered the
so-called Muslim question in the South but was seen by many Muslims
as a sell-out. ARMM is the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The MILF, which split from the MNLF after
ideological disagreements over the future direction of the movement,
has continued to fight for an independent Islamic state.
-- William B. Depasupil and AFP
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