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)
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