Philippines Supreme Court Junks Muslim Homeland Deal

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 14, 2008) – The Philippines Supreme Court of Tuesday declared as unconstitutional the Muslim homeland deal initially signed by government and rebel peace negotiators.

The decision came out barely two months after the Supreme Court suspended the formal signing August 5 of the territorial deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group is fighting for nearly four decades for the establishment of a separate state in Mindanao.

The Supreme Court voted 8-7 in ruling that the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain with the MILF violated provisions in the Constitution. President Gloria Arroyo quit peace negotiations with the MILF after accusing the rebel group of attacking civilian areas following the aborted signing of the Muslim territorial deal.

The MILF said the peace panels have initially signed the Muslim homeland agreement in July this year in Malaysia, which is brokering the talks and would not renegotiate the agreement.

The rebels said Mrs. Arroyo’s emissaries rushed the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain with the MILF so she can include it in her state of the nation address on July 28.

The controversial deal also sparked massive protests from politicians opposed to the agreement that would have granted about four million Muslims their homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao.

Arroyo later scrapped the Muslim homeland deal and abolished the government team negotiating with the MILF and vowed to achieve peace in the restive region through dialogues and consultations with the communities and political leaders.

Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator, said the decision of the Supreme Court further complicated the situation in Mindanao.

“We are not affected by the decision of the Supreme Court. It has no bearing on the MILF. As far as we are concerned the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain is a done deal because the peace panels had already initialed the deal.”

“The problems are now with the Philippine government. The MILF will not negotiate anymore the ancestral domain agreement. The Philippine government violated all peace agreements and the trust of all stakeholders in the Mindanao peace process,” he told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from a rebel base in Mindanao.

Sporadic fighting in recent weeks have killed and wounded many soldiers and rebels and displaced as much as half a million people in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

10 Critical Questions for the GRP, MILF and the Media on Future Choices between War and Peace: Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project

1. The initialled Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was to be formally signed in Malaysia and witnessed by the international community –indicating it was approved and supported by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) at the highest level. Yet Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera reportedly testified to the Supreme Court on Friday that the President had not seen the MOA-AD in "its final form."

This surely suggests political incompetence at the highest level since in theory under international law, it allows Malaysia to force a Constitutional change in the Philippines (to implement the MOA-AD) over something that the government authorized – but not apparently read. What is the GRP response and will it allow a Senate investigation of the whole MOA-AD negation process –or should we wait for the movie?

2. Is the GRP's latest reported decision not to sign now a result of killings and atrocities of civilians allegedly committed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) –or because of concerns with the agreement itself? If the latter, why was it ever initialled and scheduled for signing?

3. The collapse of the MOA-AD process on the eve of its signing and successive confusion has seriously damaged the reputation of the GRP as a reliable negotiator –how can this be repaired?

4. The MOA-AD was the product of four years and eight months of negotiation. Both sides maintain they held full consultations with stakeholders –the GRP through meetings with communities, groups and politicians including those affected by proposed territorial changes – and the MILF likewise and with in particular, the indigenous peoples. Will both sides publish details of those consultations?

5. The GRP is now proposing to focus on a strategy of Demobilization, Disarmament and Rehabilitation (DDR) –but these processes typically take place only within part of an overall agreement or process. If the MOA-AD has been abandoned, what is the government's new plan, if any?

6. The MILF maintains that the initialling of a peace agreement is binding under International Law. At the same time, it refuses to acknowledge that several MILF commanders may have broken international humanitarian law and deliberately targeted civilians, burnt their homes, taken them hostage and killed men, women and children. How can the MILF leadership inspire public confidence that it is a disciplined organization and a prospective partner in peace and will not employ or return to terror tactics if ever frustrated in the future?

7. The MILF states it is not fighting for itself –but on behalf of all the Bangsamoro people. What concrete plans does it have to live up to this promise? Specifically what protection and rights will it afford non-Moro minorities under a future Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE)?

8. The MILF publicly refer to the MOA-AD as a Framework Agreement – that is only the context of a future final and detailed agreement which has yet to be thrashed out, agreed and then put to a public vote. Likewise it has publicly called the BJE concept as a sub-state – not as a state within a state. According to the MILF, the BJE will not issue its own currency; pursue international diplomacy or be responsible for its own defense – the three things that commonly define separatism. Should the media start using these terms and hold the MILF to them in the future to help ensure clarity and avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation?

9. What role -- if any – can the media play in helping negotiate a way out of this dangerous impasse? Alongside its traditional role of informing, educating and acting as a check and balance – can the media play a role as honest broker and impromptu mediator in getting the sides back together?

10. What practical things can both the GRP and the MILF offer in terms of showing good faith and building public confidence back to where it should be?

And finally, an 11th question might even be: Were the authorized GRP MOA-AD negotiators in fact the governmental equivalents of MILF commanders Kato and Bravo –i.e. political renegades – or is the government itself a political renegade writ large given its handling of the whole affair? (Alan Davis, Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

MILF Blames Arroyo For Failed Peace Talks, Territorial Deal In South RP

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 4, 2008) – Philippine Muslim rebels on Thursday blamed Manila for the failed peace negotiations and accused President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on the territorial deal.

Mohagher Iqbal, chief peace negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said Arroyo is to blame if fighting resumes in Mindanao. “We have nothing to blame but the Philippine government if war breaks out in Mindanao,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Arroyo on Wednesday dissolved the government panel negotiating peace with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group. She earlier scrapped the ancestral domain deal that peace negotiators initially signed in July 27 in Malaysia, which was brokering the talks.

The Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the accord on August 5 after government spokesmen said Arroyo was not informed and unaware about the territorial deal.

The ancestral domain deal would have granted some four million Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao, whose 21 million populations are mostly Christians and indigenous tribes.

But Iqbal said the President knew about the ancestral domain deal long before it was initially signed in Kuala Lumpur because the issue had been tackled many times since last year by the Cluster E.

“The President knew everything about the ancestral domain agreement and other important developments as far as the peace talks were concerned. President Arroyo had been informed about anything that has something to do with the peace process,” Iqbal said.

“They also wanted us to sign the peace agreement, but we declined because there are more important things to talk about as far as the Mindanao problems are concerned.”

“The memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain had been tackled many times since last year with the Cluster E and as a matter of fact they rushed the signing of the ancestral domain deal because President Arroyo wanted it included in her state of the nation address in July 28,” Iqbal said.

Cluster E refers to the cabinet Cluster for Political and Security Affairs that routinely advised Arroyo on national security matters. Its members included the National Security Council, National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance secretaries.

Arroyo, in her state of the nation address, said: “A comprehensive peace has eluded us for half a century. But last night, differences on the tough issue of ancestral domain were resolved. Yes, there are political dynamics among the people of Mindanao. Let us sort them out with the utmost sobriety, patience and restraint. I ask Congress to act on the legislative and political reforms that will lead to a just and lasting peace during our term of office.”

Iqbal said the ancestral domain deal is considered final. “It has been initialed already and the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain deal, as what we have repeatedly said in the past, is a done deal. We will not negotiate anymore what has been already agreed by the peace panels,” he said.

Iqbal said the peace talks are now in "purgatory".

The Malaysian news agency Bernama also quoted Michael Mastura, a member of the MILF peace panel, as saying that the scrapping of the government peace panel has little bearing on the Muslim homeland lead.

“Our position on this is very clear that it's a done deal. Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, there's a provision which states that status of initialing is as good as signature. But whether they comply with it or not is a different story,” he said.

Mastura said they were still awaiting official notice from the peace talks secretariat in Kuala Lumpur about the scrapping of the government peace panel. “We have expected this and we have our contingency plan. We will deliberate on it,” he said.

The MILF on Wednesday said it would continue with its armed struggle in Mindanao should the peace talks totally collapse.

The government's announcement came two weeks after MILF commanders Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led hundreds of rebels in separate attacks on the provinces in Mindanao. Dozens of people were brutally killed in the raid.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001, but since then nothing significant had been signed except for the ancestral domain agreement. But the homeland deal sparked a series of protests from politicians and residents who were opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the agreement that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Arroyo has shifted in the basic premise of the government's peace effort after hundreds of rebels under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of attacks in the provinces in Mindanao that killed dozens of civilians.

Manila also demanded the rebels to lay down their weapons before peace talks can resume. This was rejected by the MILF.

Last year, peace talks were also stalled after Manila reneged on the ancestral domain deal. Malaysia, which is brokering the peace talks, has pulled out its truce observers deployed in Mindanao after blaming the Arroyo government of stalling the seven-year old negotiations.

Manila said previously that it would pursue a proposal by Senator Aquilino Pimentel to put up a federal government and divide the Philippines into eleven states.

Pimentel proposed four federal states in Luzon, three in the Visayas and three more in Mindanao.

Arroyo's allies in Congress have earlier proposed to amend the Constitution to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary or federalism.

But militant groups and political activists have repeatedly accused Arroyo of using the peace talks with the MILF to amend the Constitution and eventually prolong her to stay into power.

Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo is allowed only one six-year term. In the charter change proposal suggested by her political allies who dominate Congress, she can be elected as prime minister should Congress dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to parliamentary and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.

Arroyo deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, but corruption scandals in her government and allegations of poll fraud in 2004 has made her extremely unpopular. (Mindanao Examiner)

Philippines Abandons Homeland Deal With Muslim Rebels

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 29, 2008) – Manila on Friday said it is abandoning the homeland deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, but would still pursue peace talks with the Philippine’s largest Muslim rebel group, officials said.

Government and rebel peace negotiators last month have initially signed the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain. But the Supreme Court stopped the signing of the deal after some lawmakers and politicians opposed to the accord filed separate petitions, saying, there were no public consultations.

The accord would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 villages across Mindanao, but the deal also sparked a series of protests from politicians and residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the agreement that will make up the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

President Gloria Arroyo, who opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001, has shifted in the basic premise of the government's peace effort after hundreds of rebels under Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of attacks in the provinces in Mindanao that killed dozens of civilians.

“The focus of our talks shall shift from the armed groups to the communities. The parameters governing our negotiations shall be a balance between the constitutionality and public sentiment,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo said the change in the government's approach to end the Mindanao conflict was prompted by the atrocities committed by the MILF attacks.

Hermogenes Esperon, the presidential peace adviser, said the government will longer sign the ancestral domain deal. “We will not sign the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain, but will continue with further negotiations with the MILF to arrive at final peace deal,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Esperon earlier said the ancestral domain deal is not self-executing and that there is a need for future discussions as peace negotiators frame the comprehensive peace agreement.

The MILF said it will not anymore negotiate the ancestral domain agreement because peace negotiators have already initialed the deal.

“It is already a done deal and we have been saying this all the time. We will not revisit or renegotiate the agreement on the ancestral domain,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said in a separate interview.

Kabalu said the MILF leadership will have to decide what steps to take after Manila abandoned the Muslim homeland deal. “It is really unfortunate that the Philippine government again reneged on the ancestral domain deal which is the product of long and arduous work of the peace negotiators,” he said.

He said the MILF will not abandon its fight for self-determination. “Our right to self-determination is non-negotiable,” he said. Last year, peace talks also stalled after government negotiators approved the Muslim homeland deal only to reneged it later.

Esperon said granting of independence is not and never was the intent of peace talks. He said it was the same position made by President Gloria Arroyo in her May 6 letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi when the government peace panel and MILF were discussing the peace process.

Government peace negotiators and Arroyo's political allies have earlier proposed to amend the Constitution to change the system of government from presidential to parliamentary or federalism to allow the MILF to have a separate state.

Militant groups and political activists have repeatedly accused Arroyo of using the peace talks with the MILF to amend the Constitution and eventually prolong her to stay into power.

Under the presidential form of government, Arroyo is allowed only one six-year term. In the charter change proposal suggested by her political allies who dominate Congress, she can be elected as prime minister should Congress dissolve the Senate and change the system of government to parliamentary and eventually prolong her into power beyond 2010.

Arroyo deposed President Joseph Estrada in a people power revolution in 2001, but corruption scandals in her government and allegations of poll fraud in 2004 has made her extremely unpopular among many Filipinos.

Manila’s announcement coincided with fresh government assaults on suspected rebel strongholds in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte provinces, where security forces are pursuing the groups of Kato and Macapaar.

Kabalu said military forces fired cannons and rockets and bombed MILF targets in the provinces in the guise of pursuing the two rogue rebel leaders. “They are attacking us and MILF forces have been ordered to defend themselves,” he said.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the assaults targeted rogue rebels. “This is a punitive action against rogue MILF members and this operation will continue until Kato and Macapaar are captured,” he said.

Manila demanded the MILF to surrender peacefully the two rogue commanders, now wanted by authorities, to face trial over the killings of civilians in the provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao where rebel forces pillaged villages. Rebels launched the attacks after the aborted signing of the controversial ancestral domain agreement.

The influential Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned the rebel attacks. (Mindanao Examiner)

A Firm Statement Of Patriotism to Adhere To The MOA-AD: MILF Chief Murad Ebrahim

Honoring our Written Agreements

It behooves upon the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to keep on track the status of the peace process. None of us think the MOA-AD will end the life of the country. But it lets the Bangsamoro people feel a sense of purpose with new “associative ties” to the rest of the Philippines, redefining the relationships between the Filipino people and Bangsamoro people.

I believe that tracking our footprints on the negotiation path can help us tread peacefully using the MOA-AD as a great motivation on the way forward. After 4 years and 8 months of Exploratory Talks, the MILF wants to keep going and see if we can leave behind the imprints of past Moro wars, end the armed conflicts of recent decades and so deal with the Comprehensive Compact.

The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) is an abstract idea that is hard for ordinary people to connect to. It’s good to build public confidence around this conceptual framework at basic level, with a written instrument, for the peaceful negotiated settlement of age-old “Moro Problem” and armed conflict in Mindanao.

As a revolutionary movement, the MILF takes the controversy over the release of the contents of the MOA-AD a call to redefine patriotism. What defines us as patriots of our historic Bangsamoro homeland is a positive force in the country today.

What we, mujahideens, fight for now find open articulation in the MOA-AD: Our political sentiments and collective actions to pursue the right “to determine our own future political status free from imposition”.

This Memorandum of Agreement has the ingredients of an “elegant formula” fulfilling one of the objects of negotiation to put an idea before the public. It does on paper equations of “trade-offs” instead of “sell-out”.

More importantly, it is a firm statement of patriotism on behalf of all the Bangsamoros who claim it a birthright right to assert their distinct identity. It makes a plausible public expression of what political moderates and peace advocates demand in common as well as human right activists march about in mass.

Let us not forget, too, our comrades-in-arms in the liberation movements who have been aspiring for what they progressively desire to accomplish a long time. Today we find one voice one sentiment in our long struggle for self determination and freedom.

To track the GRP-MILF negotiation path, the aborted signing in the Malaysian capital is confirmation to wary investors and multi-donor countries on the incapability of the GRP of living up to its commitments and honoring its agreements. Certainly no rhetoric of anti-Moro and anti-Muslim sentiments opposed to the MOA-AD can distort the bias of diplomacy towards settling the essence of the Bangsamoro problem with third party facilitation.

For the sake of the primacy of the peace process, I want to caution people in the media to desist from fueling years of vengeful arrogance. Through opinion-editorials and spins in news coverage, your diatribe alienates many others—more than our revolutionary forces.

For the sake of evoking public response, the domestic scrutiny of the MOA-AD before the Supreme Court has gone the way of media intrusion for full disclosure. The trouble is that it can be more injurious to the GRP negotiator’s credibility rather than the MILF side, for it makes consensus and agreement very hard to achieve.

Attempts to stop the signing of the agreed text of the MOA-AD through a petition for temporary restraining order are other forms of suppression of Bangsamoros parallel to domestic political decisions. Of what peaceable benefit is derived from the foreclosure of the negotiability of matters where the MILF does not contest it by arms? This may affect only the reputation for discretion of Government negotiators in subsequent stages for the details of how the Comprehensive Compact, if reached, is to be revealed.

All things considered, the negotiation of the MOA-AD is a done deal in accordance with modern treaty law practice. As such, for the MILF side, there is none to agree to any further as framework agreement except to honor the terms and stipulations in good faith. In as much as the MOA-AD was duly initialed by representatives of the Parties thereto afterward they exchanged copies. The original initialed copy of the agreed text in the English language together with maps annexed thereto as of 27 July 2008 was deposited with the Malaysian Secretariat.

The initialing took place in Kuala Lumpur to jibe with the formal signing ceremony dated 5 August 2008: on the part of the GRP negotiating panel chairman Rodolfo Garcia, and for the MILF negotiating panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal. Likewise, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon affixed his initial on the agreed text. The Malaysian facilitator Datuk Othman bin Abd Razak properly initialed as witness the copy of agreed text.

On a personal note, we do commend both the MILF and the Government negotiating panels and all those who took part in this great endeavor.

Camp Darapanan
Al Haj Murad Ebrahim
MILF Chairman

MILF Peace Talks Breaking Apart, Fighting Continues In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 23, 2008) – Hope of resuming the peace talks between the Arroyo government and the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, remains dim as fierce fighting continued Saturday in Mindanao.

The Philippine military said at least 100 rebels were killed since early this week in the skirmishes in central Mindanao. But the MILF disputed the military report, saying, only 7 rebels died in the fighting.

“As far as the military is concerned, we have reports to prove that more than rebels were killed in the fighting,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

“It trash, that’s military propaganda and only seven of our members were killed, but we can say that dozens of government soldiers perished in the fighting,” Eid Kabalu, a senior rebel leader, said by phone from his base in Mindanao.

He said fighting between rebel and military forces were raging in the towns of Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Piang, all in Maguindanao province.

Ando said three soldiers were killed and 23 more wounded in the battles since Monday. He said there is an ongoing military offensive aimed at capturing two notorious MILF commanders Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar.

“We have done our best to embrace peace, but the MILF started the hostilities by pillaging villages and murdering innocent civilians in Mindanao. We are now implementing the full force of the law and we will arrest those responsible for the traitorous attacks against civilians,” Ando said.

The two rogue commanders led a series of attacks recently in the provinces that killed dozens of people, mostly civilians, but the MILF claimed most of those were militias fighting the rebels.

Former army chief Romeo Tolentino, now a senior member of the National Security Council, also criticized leftist human rights organizations and the Communist Party of the Philippines, including the National Democratic Front, which had previously accused soldiers of human rights violations in Mindanao.

“All these groups, which have been so noisy in the past about human rights issues suddenly, are silent about the atrocities committed by the MILF rebels.

This clearly shows that these organizations are also terrorists which have no respect for human lives, security and welfare of the people,” he said.

The Amnesty International also accused the MILF of human rights violations.
“MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held to account,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

Over 160,000 people were displaced by the fighting that broke out this week in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat. The number of war refugees is increasing as the exodus of civilians continues in Maguindanao and other neighboring areas.

Because of the hostilities, some politicians had urged villagers to arm and defend themselves from rebel attacks. Armed militias were also deployed to guard their communities against further atrocities.

Zarifi said the deployment civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals.

“Experience from around the world shows that the deployment of civilian militias can set off a chain of reprisals and only increases the danger facing civilians.”

“All sides to this conflict should step back from the brink and demonstrate their commitment to avoid harming civilians. The MILF must control its forces, and the Philippine government should take responsibility for the security of all peoples in the Philippines, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” he said.

The rebels launched attacks after the aborted signing of the Muslim homeland deal between the MILF and Manila. The accord would have granted Muslims their own separate state in more than 700 villages across Mindanao, but it also sparked a series of protests from mostly Christian politicians and residents opposed to the inclusion of their areas to the so-called Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

The Supreme Court stopped the signing of the memorandum of agreement on the ancestral domain after some lawmakers and politicians filed separate petitions asking the government to bare the rest of the deal with the MILF.

Manila also demanded the MILF to peacefully surrender Kato and Macapaar.

But the secluded chieftain of the MILF, Murad Ebrahim, said they will not surrender the two rogue commanders and warned that an all-war is inevitable if the peace talks with Manila fail.

“We cannot subject our members to the laws of the government,” Murad said, insisting that the MILF is a revolutionary organization.

Murad said government forces have indiscriminately attacked Muslim areas while pursuing the groups of Kato and Macapaar. Both MILF leaders and dozens of their followers had been charged in court in connection with the attacks in Mindanao.

Mohagher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, also said that war could break out in Mindanao if fighting does not stop. “This is grim scenario and I don’t even want to think about it, but if the peace talks collapse then there will be war again in Mindanao,” he said in a separate phone interview.

Iqbal blamed hawkish faction in the Arroyo government and Christian politicians opposed to the Muslim homeland to the fighting in Mindanao. “The voice of reason is dwarfed by the voice of hatred and prejudice. The peace talks are slowly breaking apart and if this continues, may God help us all,” he said.

Iqbal said the MILF will not any more negotiate the Muslim homeland deal with the Manila. “The ancestral domain agreement is a done deal because we have already initialed the accord during our meeting in Malaysia last month,” he said.

Malaysia, a member of the influential Organization of Islamic Conference, is brokering the peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF. But Kuala Lumpur already withdrew most of its truce observers deployed in Mindanao after accusing Manila of stalling the peace talks. (Mindanao Examiner)

Uphold Peace For Our Generation: Young Moro Professionals Network, Inc.

We are concerned citizens of peace, sons and daughters of the Bangsamoro, who are grieving over the past weeks' horrific incidents in Southern Mindanao, and appeal against an all-out war in Mindanao.

We are an international network of more than a hundred Young Muslims - lawyers, doctors, IT and media professionals, businessmen, local chief executives, civil servants, professors, NGO workers - from different cultural groupings and Muslim converts, who are concerned with the future of this nation.

We are gravely concerned with the negative repercussions brought by the Temporary Restraining order (TRO) of the Supreme Court on the signing of the Memorandum of Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), which forms part of a Comprehensive Peace Pact framework in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) - Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace talks.

While we advocate for civil society participation in the peace processes by involvement in discussions on the MOA drafting, we question the lopsided one-track , anti-peace talks stance of many of our Senators - to name Mar Roxas, Chiz Esudero, Loren Legarda, Rodolfo Biazon, Juan Ponce Enrile and others.

They are statesmen/women who we feel are not helping the peace process and instead promote divisiveness in times of confusion, emotional trauma and uncertainty among our people. We ask the presidentiables among them, with national ambitions, what is their agenda for the Bangsamoro, if any?

Have they gone to the Muslim South and asked the Muslim constituency before opposing the MOA or were their positions a product of their biases and prejudices?

We also question the inequality of voices in media, majority of which represent rightist sentiments, without appreciation of historic Moro grievances in the country. We are disappointed that 12 years of peace negotiations between the MILF and GRP can be swept away by unconcerned so-called national politicians who have never proposed any concrete form of governance structures that can respond to the Moro aspiration for right to self-determination.

We are aware that tensions aggravated by senseless, unfounded statements of these senators , congressmen and politicians opposing the MOA put the gains of the peace process farther and impact on many of development programs ongoing in the South because of renewed hostilities.

We would like to appeal for more informed judgements , constructive dialogue, an affirmative reaching out by Manila's media and politicians to the grassroot populace in the South to understand the search for genuine peace.

In deliberating the MOA AD, we call on the Supreme Court to exercise judgment with dispassion but sensitive to the lives and constituencies affected even lost because of frustrations over the TRO on the MOA-AD.

We are deeply concerned with the evacuations in North Cotabato, echoing the cycle of violence manifest in any renewal of hostilities. We affirm our trust in the local and international monitoring teams, the AHJAG and the CCCH to help keep the peace on the ground.

We call for an independent investigation on the attack in Lanao del Norte on villages by armed men affecting children, women and damaging relationships built from decades of interfaith dialogue.

These lawless acts are in violation of Islam, international humanitarian laws and conventions protecting children and women from the wrath of war.

Muslims and Christians are victims alike. Muslims must stand up and rise to condemn violence and aggression on the innocent, We call on our ulama, MNLF, MILF and traditional leaders to help bridge the mistrust by reaching out to our Christian brethren,who were victimized in Norte's attacks. Be the messengers of messages of non-violence and peace - SALAAM as Khalifas (STEWARDS) who enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong (as stated in the Holy Quran).

Let the perpetrators be accountable to local peacekeeping mechanisms. Both the AFP and MILF must be held to answer for any atrocities and violations of the rules of war.

In these times of hardship, we hold hands as one , with our Christian and Lumad neighbours, in the name of peace, acceptance and justice. We are committed to a democratic and peaceful resolution of the conflict. Do not be afraid of the MOA- AD. Let all stakeholders involve an enlightened discussion of the MOA. To the national public, open your hearts to the Moro grievance.

Philippines-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain

IN THE NAME OF GODTHE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT ON THE ANCESTRAL DOMAIN ASPECT OF THE GRP-MILF TRIPOLI AGREEMENT ON PEACE OF 2001

The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) herein referred to as the “Parties” to this Agreement,

TERMS OF REFERENCE:

The Agreement for General Cessation of Hostilities dated July 18, 1997 Between the GRP and the MILF, and its Implementing Administrative and Operational Guidelines;
The General Framework of Agreement of Intent Between the GRP and the MILF dated August 27, 1998;

The Agreement on the General Framework for the Resumption of Peace Talks Between the GRP and the MILF dated March 24, 2001;

The Tripoli Agreement on Peace Between the GRP and the MILF dated June 22, 2001;

The Tripoli Agreement Between the GRP and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) dated December 23, 1976 and the Final Agreement on the Implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement Between the GRP and the MNLF dated September 2, 1996;

Republic Act No. 6734, as amended by R.A. 9054, otherwise known as “An Act to Strengthen and Expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)”;

ILO Convention No. 169, in correlation to the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, and Republic Act No. 8371 otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, the UN Charter, the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and internationally recognized human rights instruments; and
Compact rights entrenchment emanating from the regime of dar-ul-mua’hada (or territory under compact) and dar-ul-sulh (or territory under peace agreement) that partakes the nature of a treaty device.

For the purpose of this Agreement, a “treaty” is defined as any solemn agreement in writing that sets out understandings, obligations, and benefits for both parties which provides for a framework that elaborates the principles declared in the Agreement.

HAVE AGREED AND ACKNOWLEDGED AS FOLLOWS:

CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES:

It is the birthright of all Moros and all Indigenous peoples of Mindanao to identify themselves and be accepted as “Bangsamoros”. The Bangsamoro people refers to those who are natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and its adjacent islands including Palawan and the Sulu archipelago at the time of conquest or colonization and their descendants whether mixed or of full native blood. Spouses and their descendants are classified as Bangsamoro. The freedom of choice of the Indigenous people shall be respected.

It is essential to lay the foundation of the Bangsamoro homeland in order to address the Bangsamoro people’s humanitarian and economic needs as well as their political aspirations. Such territorial jurisdictions and geographic areas being the natural wealth and patrimony represent the social, cultural and political identity and pride of all the Bangsamoro people. Ownership of the homeland is vested exclusively in them by virtue of their prior rights of occupation that had inhered in them as sizeable bodies of people, delimited by their ancestors since time immemorial, and being the first politically organized dominant occupants.

Both Parties acknowledge that ancestral domain does not form part of the public domain but encompasses ancestral, communal, and customary lands, maritime, fluvial and alluvial domains as well as all natural resources therein that have inured or vested ancestral rights on the basis of native title.

Ancestral domain and ancestral land refer to those held under claim of ownership, occupied or possessed, by themselves or through the ancestors of the Bangsamoro people, communally or individually since time immemorial continuously to the present, except when prevented by war, civil disturbance, force majeure, or other forms of possible usurpation or displacement by force, deceit, stealth, or as a consequence of government project or any other voluntary dealings entered into by the government and private individuals, corporate entities or institutions.

Both Parties acknowledge that the right to self-governance of the Bangsamoro people is rooted on ancestral territoriality exercised originally under the suzerain authority of their sultanates and the Pat a Pangampong ku Ranaw. The Moro sultanates were states or karajaan/kadatuan resembling a body politic endowed with all the elements of nation-state in the modern sense. As a domestic community distinct from the rest of the national communities, they have a definite historic homeland.

They are the “First Nation” with defined territory and with a system of government having entered into treaties of amity and commerce with foreign nations. The Parties concede that the ultimate objective of entrenching the Bangsamoro homeland as a territorial space is to secure their identity and posterity, to protect their property rights and resources as well as to establish a system of governance suitable and acceptable to them as a distinct dominant people.

Both Parties affirm their commitment to mutually respect the right to one’s identity and the parity of esteem of everyone in the political community. The protection of civil rights and religious liberties of individuals underlie the basis of peace and justice of their totality of relationships.

Both Parties agree that the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) shall have the authority and jurisdiction over the Ancestral Domain and Ancestral lands, including both alienable and non-alienable lands encompassed within their homeland and ancestral territory, as well as the delineation of ancestral domain/lands of the Bangsamoro people located therein.

Vested property rights upon the entrenchment of the BJE shall be recognized and respected subject to paragraph 9 of the strand on Resources.

TERRITORY:

The Bangsamoro homeland and historic territory refer to the land mass as well as the maritime, terrestrial, fluvial and alluvial domains, and the aerial domain, the atmospheric space above it, embracing the Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan geographic region. However, delimitations are contained in the agreed Schedules (Categories).

Toward this end, the Parties enter into the following stipulations:

The GRP and MILF as the Parties to this Agreement commit themselves to the full and mutual implementation of this framework agreement on territory with the aim of resolving outstanding issues that emanate from the consensus points on Ancestral Domain.

The Parties confirm their understanding that the mutual goal of reaching an agreement on Bangsamoro territory specific to mapping the outlying borders and the boundaries affecting local government units will lead to consolidation of the agreed texts on the Ancestral Domain Strands.
The Parties affirm that the core of the BJE shall constitute the present geographic area of the ARMM, including the municipalities of Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in the province of Lanao del Norte that voted for inclusion in the ARMM during the 2001 plebiscite.

Without derogating from the requirements of prior agreements, the Government stipulates to conduct and deliver, using all possible legal measures, within twelve (12) months following the signing of the MOA-AD, a plebiscite covering the areas as enumerated in the list and depicted in the map as Category A attached herein (the “Annex”). The Annex constitutes an integral part of this framework agreement. Toward this end, the Parties shall endeavour to complete the negotiations and resolve all outstanding issues on the Comprehensive Compact within fifteen (15) months from the signing of the MOA-AD.

The areas covered by Category B are reflected on a map and list attached herein as agreed to by the Parties. Category B (the “Special Intervention Areas”) refers to conflict affected areas outside the BJE which shall be the subject of special socio-economic and cultural affirmative action implemented by the Central Government pending the conduct of a plebiscite not earlier than twenty-five (25) years from the signing of the Comprehensive Compact to determine the question of their accession to the BJE. The areas reflected are subject to further negotiations by the Parties. The Annex constitutes an integral part of this framework agreement.

Internal Waters:The BJE shall have jurisdiction over the management, conservation, development, protection, utilization and disposition of all natural resources, living and non-living, within its internal waters extending fifteen (15) kilometers from the coastline of the BJE area.

Territorial Waters:

(1) The territorial waters of the BJE shall stretch beyond the BJE internal waters up to the Republic of the Philippines (RP) baselines south east and south west of mainland Mindanao. Beyond the fifteen (15) kilometers internal waters, the Central Government and the BJE shall exercise joint jurisdiction, authority and management over areas and all natural resources, living and non-living contained therein. The details of such management of the Territorial Waters shall be provided in an agreement to be entered into by the Parties.

(2) The boundaries of the territorial waters shall stretch beyond the 15-km. BJE internal waters up to the Central Government’s baselines under existing laws. In the southern and eastern part of the BJE, it shall be demarcated by a line drawn from the Maguling Point, Palimbang, Province of Sultan Kudarat up to the straight baselines of the Philippines. On the northwestern part, it shall be demarcated by a line drawn from Little Sta. Cruz Island, Zamboanga City, up to Naris Point, Bataraza, Palawan. On the western part of Palawan, it shall be demarcated by a line drawn from the boundary of Bataraza and Rizal up to the straight baselines of the Philippines.

The final demarcation shall be determined by a joint technical body composed of duly-designated representatives of both Parties, in coordination with the appropriate Central Government agency in accordance with the above guidelines.

Sharing of Minerals on Territorial Waters:Consistent with paragraphs 5 and 6 of the provisions on Resources, all potential sources of energy, petroleum in situ, hydrocarbon, natural gas and other minerals, including deposits or fields found within the territorial waters, shall be shared between the Central Government and the BJE in favor of the latter through production sharing agreement or economic cooperation agreement.

Activities Allowed on Territorial Waters:

(1) The Parties shall have authority to carry out the following activities within the territorial waters:

(a) Exploration and utilization of the natural resources, whether living or non-living, within the territorial waters;(b) Establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures;(c) Marine scientific research;(d) Protection and the preservation of the marine environment;(e) Conservation of living resources;(f) Regulation of shipping and fishing activities;(g) Enforcement of police and safety measures, including interdiction of the entry and use of the waters by criminal elements and hot pursuit of suspected criminal elements;(h) Regulation and control of contraband and illegal entry of prohibited materials and substances, including smuggling; and(i) Such other measures as the Parties may otherwise mutually agree.

(2) Activities relating to exploration and utilization of non-living resources, as well as paragraphs (c) and (d) of the Authorized Activities will be carried out on a joint basis agreed by the Parties which may be in the form of production sharing agreements or joint development pacts.

Establishment of a Joint Commission:

(1) The Parties shall establish a Joint Commission, which shall elaborate the modalities for the implementation and the carrying out of the Authorized Activities and the measures adopted in cases of allegation of breach, and carry out any other functions which may be assigned to it by the Parties for the purpose of implementing the joint management of resources.

(2) The Joint Commission shall consist of one representative from each Party, who are assisted by advisers as may be needed. The conclusions of the Joint Commission shall be adopted by consensus and shall only be recommendatory in nature. Only when the conclusions of the Joint Commission are adopted by the Parties do they become binding on the Parties.

Demarcation and Status of Territorial Waters:The demarcation and status of the BJE territorial waters shall be finally determined together with the demarcation and final status of Category B territory of the BJE.

From and after entrenchment of compact rights over the Bangsamoro homeland and the territorial jurisdictions for associative governance shall likewise embrace those under proclamation for agricultural and human settlements intended for the Bangsamoro people, all alienable and disposable lands, pasture lands, timberlands together with all existing civil and military reservations, parks, old growth or natural forests declared as forest reserves, watersheds, mangroves, fishponds, wetlands, marshes, inland bodies of water; and all bays, straits and channels found within the BJE.

All territorial and geographic areas in Mindanao and its adjacent islands including Palawan, and the Sulu archipelago that have been declared recognized, and/or delineated as ancestral domain and ancestral land of the Bangsamoro people as their geographic areas, inclusive of settlements and reservations, may be formed or constituted into political subdivisions of the Bangsamoro territorial jurisdictions subject to the principles of equality of peoples and mutual respect and to the protection of civil, political, economic, and cultural rights in their respective jurisdictions.

For purposes of territorial delimitation, the Parties have agreed to the joint determination of geographic areas encompassed within the territorial borders of the Bangsamoro homeland and territory based on the technical maps and data submitted by both sides as provided above.

RESOURCES:

The BJE is empowered with authority and responsibility for the land use, development, conservation and disposition of the natural resources within the homeland. Upon entrenchment of the BJE, the land tenure and use of such resources and wealth must reinforce their economic self-sufficiency.

Among the purposes or measures to make progress more rapid are:

Entry into joint development, utilization, and exploitation of natural resources designed as commons or shared resources, which is tied up to the full setting of appropriate institution, particularly affecting strategic minerals;

Stimulation of local economy by a range of mechanism, in particular the need to address unemployment and improvement of living conditions for the population in the BJE;
Intensification of measures needed to uproot the cause of poverty in the BJE through responsible harnessing and development of its natural resources; and
Undertaking program review of public services, industrial or trade-related and agrarian-related issues in situations of different sectors of the society in the BJE, which acquire communal character deriving from the special nature of their industry.

The Bangsamoro People through their appropriate juridical entity shall, among others, exercise power or authority over the natural resources within its territorial jurisdiction:

To explore, exploit, use or utilize and develop their ancestral domain and ancestral lands within their territorial jurisdiction, inclusive of their right of occupation, possession, conservation, and exploitation of all natural resources found therein;

To conserve and protect the human and natural environment for their sustainable and beneficial enjoyment and their posterity;

To utilize, develop, and exploit its natural resources found in their ancestral domain or enter into a joint development, utilization, and exploitation of natural resources, specifically on strategic minerals, designed as commons or shared resources, which is tied up to the final setting of appropriate institution;

To revoke or grant forest concessions, timber license, contracts or agreements in the utilization and exploitation of natural resources designated as commons or shared resources, mechanisms for economic cooperation with respect to strategic minerals, falling within the territorial jurisdiction of the BJE;

To enact agrarian laws and programs suitable to the special circumstances of the Bangsamoro people prevailing in their ancestral lands within the established territorial boundaries of the Bangsamoro homeland and ancestral territory within the competence of the BJE; and
To use such natural resources and wealth to reinforce their economic self-sufficiency.

The BJE, and the Central Government agree on wealth-sharing based on a mutually agreed percentage ratio in favor of the BJE through an economic cooperation agreement or arrangement over the income and revenues that are derived from the exploration, exploitation, use and development of any resources for the benefit of the Bangsamoro people.

The BJE is free to enter into any economic cooperation and trade relations with foreign countries: provided, however, that such relationships and understandings do not include aggression against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines; provided, further that it shall remain the duty and obligation of the Central Government to take charge of external defense.

Without prejudice to the right of the Bangsamoro juridical entity to enter into agreement and environmental cooperation with any friendly country affecting its jurisdiction, it shall include:
The option to establish and open Bangsamoro trade missions in foreign countries with which it has economic cooperation agreements; and

The elements bearing in mind the mutual benefits derived from Philippine archipelagic status and security.

And, in furtherance thereto, the Central Government shall take necessary steps to ensure the BJE’s participation in international meetings and events, e.g. ASEAN meetings and other specialized agencies of the United Nations. This shall entitle the BJE’s participation in Philippine official missions and delegations that are engaged in the negotiation of border agreements or protocols for environmental protection, equitable sharing of incomes and revenues, in the areas of sea, seabed and inland seas or bodies of water adjacent to or between islands forming part of the ancestral domain, in addition to those of fishing rights.

Jurisdiction and control over, and the right of exploring for, exploiting, producing and obtaining all potential sources of energy, petroleum, in situ, fossil fuel, mineral oil and natural gas, whether onshore or offshore, is vested in the BJE as the party having control within its territorial jurisdiction, provided that in times of national emergency, when public interest so requires, the Central Government may, during the emergency, for a fixed period and under reasonable terms as may be agreed by both Parties, temporarily assume or direct the operations of such strategic resources.

The BJE take or profit split from total production shall be shared with the Central Government on a percentage ratio of 75:25 in favor of the BJE. All royalties, bonuses, taxes, charges, custom duties or imposts on natural resources and mineral resources shall be shared by the Parties on a percentage ratio of 75:25 in favor of the BJE.

The legitimate grievances of the Bangsamoro people arising from any unjust dispossession of their territorial and proprietary rights, customary land tenures, or their marginalization shall be acknowledged. Whenever restoration is no longer possible, the GRP shall take effective measures or adequate reparation collectively beneficial to the Bangsamoro people, in such quality, quantity and status to be determined mutually by both Parties.

All proclamations, issuances, policies, rules and guidelines declaring old growth or natural forests and all watersheds within the BJE as forest reserves shall continue to remain in force until otherwise modified, revised or superseded by subsequent policies, rules and regulations issued by the competent authority under the BJE.

Forest concessions, timber licenses, contracts or agreements, mining concessions, Mineral Production and Sharing Agreements (MPSA), Industrial Forest Management Agreements (IFMA), and other land tenure instruments of any kind or nature whatsoever granted by the Philippine Government including those issued by the present ARMM shall continue to operate from the date of formal entrenchment of the BJE unless otherwise expired, reviewed, modified and/or cancelled by the latter.

The Parties recognize an immediate need to establish a five-member BJE economic-expert mission (the “Mission”) bearing in mind that the functioning of the economy and the operation of institutions involve financial and other resource management as well as parallel or complementary means, by which the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) will manage and administer resources acquired for the above purposes, especially in coordinating strategies and programs for cooperation in all fields.

The Mission acts as a link in the conduct of BJE’s associative parallel relationships and shall cooperate fully with all organizations involved in implementation of the peace settlement. It shall launch a plan and joint international appeal for the reparation and development of the conflict affected areas in Mindanao. Persons appointed thereto must be familiar with the specific economic, political and legal characteristics in the Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan region and must possess recognized competence, integrity, and high moral standing.

Cognizant that the Mission will benefit from international expertise, both the Central Government and the BJE hereby join the Third Party facilitator in inviting international funding institutions or equivalent entities for reconstruction and development to appoint two members and to designate one as the Chairman. The BJE shall designate one member as Co-Chairman.
The remaining two members shall each be designated by the Central Government and the BJE.

GOVERNANCE:

The recognition and peaceful resolution of the conflict must involve consultations with the Bangsamoro people free of any imposition in order to provide chances of success and open new formulas that permanently respond to the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.

The ultimate objective of entrenching the Bangsamoro homeland as a territorial space is to secure their identity and posterity, to protect their property rights and resources as well as to establish a system of governance suitable and acceptable to them as a distinct dominant people.

The Parties respect the freedom of choice of the indigenous peoples.

The Parties agree to invite a multinational third - party to observe and monitor the actual implementation of the comprehensive compact which will embody the details for the effective enforcement of this Agreement. The participation of the third – party shall not in any way affect the status of the relationship between the Central Government and the BJE.

The relationship between the Central Government and the BJE shall be associative characterized by shared authority and responsibility with a structure of governance based on executive, legislative, judicial and administrative institutions with defined powers and functions in the Comprehensive Compact. A period of transition shall be established in a Comprehensive Compact specifying the relationship between the Central Government and the BJE.

In the context of implementing prior and incremental agreements between the GRP and MILF, it is the joint understanding of the Parties that the term “entrenchment” means, for the purposes of giving effect to this transitory provision, the creation of a process of institution building to exercise shared authority over territory and defined functions of associative character.

The modalities for the governance intended to settle the outstanding negotiated political issues are deferred after the signing of the MOA-AD.

The establishment of institutions for governance in a Comprehensive Compact, together with its modalities during the transition period, shall be fully entrenched and established in the basic law of the BJE. The Parties shall faithfully comply with their commitment to the associative arrangements upon entry into force of the Comprehensive Compact.

The Parties agree that the mechanisms and modalities for the actual implementation of this MOA-AD shall be spelt out in the Comprehensive Compact to mutually take such steps to enable it to occur effectively.

Any provisions of the MOA-AD requiring amendments to the existing legal framework shall come into force upon signing of a Comprehensive Compact and upon effecting the necessary changes to the legal framework with due regard to non derogation of prior agreements and within the stipulated timeframe to be contained in the Comprehensive Compact.

The Parties agree that the BJE shall be empowered to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of, civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, and police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions, necessary for developing a progressive Bangsamoro society, the details of which shall be discussed in the negotiation of the Comprehensive Compact.

The Parties further agree to undertake activities which will enhance the capacity of the government institutions during the transition through technical assistance, information-sharing and human resource development.

Matters concerning the details of the agreed consensus points on Governance not covered under this Agreement shall be deferred to, and discussed during, the negotiations of the Comprehensive Compact.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being the representatives of the Parties hereby affix their signatures.

Done this 5th day of August, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

FOR THE GRP:
(SGD) RODOLFO C. GARCIA
ChairmanGRP Peace Negotiating Panel

FOR THE MILF:
(SGD) MOHAGHER IQBALChairmanMILF Peace Negotiating Panel

WITNESSED BY:
(SGD) DATUK OTHMAN BIN ABD RAZAK
Special Adviser to the Prime Minister

IN THE PRESENCE OF:
(SGD) ALBERTO G. ROMULO
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Republic of the Philippines

(SGD) DATO’ SERI UTAMA DR. RAISBIN YATIM
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Malaysia

Initialed by:
Sec. Rodolfo Garcia
Mohagher Iqbal
Sec. Hermogenes Esperon

Witnessed by:
Datuk Othman bin Abd Razak


Dated 27 July 2008