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The document summarizes a Supreme Court case from 2008 regarding a Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The MOA-AD would grant authority over ancestral lands in Mindanao to a new Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. However, the Supreme Court ruled the MOA-AD unconstitutional because the associative relationship envisioned between the national government and the BJE presupposes the BJE is a state, and certain provisions effectively surrendered Philippine sovereignty over the agreed upon territory.

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38 views

Facts

The document summarizes a Supreme Court case from 2008 regarding a Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The MOA-AD would grant authority over ancestral lands in Mindanao to a new Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. However, the Supreme Court ruled the MOA-AD unconstitutional because the associative relationship envisioned between the national government and the BJE presupposes the BJE is a state, and certain provisions effectively surrendered Philippine sovereignty over the agreed upon territory.

Uploaded by

Abju Haree
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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G.R. No.

183591 October 14 2008


Province of North Cotabato vs Government of the Republic of the Philippines

FACTS:
On August 5, 2008, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) were scheduled to sign a Memorandum of Agreement of the Ancestral Domain
Aspect of the GRP - MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In its body, it grants ―the authority and jurisdiction over the Ancestral Domain and Ancestral Lands of the
Bangsamoro to the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE). The latter, in addition, has the freedom to enter into
any economic cooperation and trade relation with foreign countries. ―The sharing between the Central
Government and the BJE of total production pertaining to natural resources is to be 75:25 in favor of the
BJE. The MOA-AD further provides for the extent of the territory of the Bangsamoro. It describes it as ―the
land mass as well as the maritime, terrestrial, fluvial and alluvial domains, including the aerial domain and
the atmospheric space above it, embracing the Mindanao-Sulu-Palawan geographic region. With regard to
governance, on the other hand, a shared responsibility and authority between the Central Government and
BJE was provided. The relationship was described as ―associative.

Issue:

Whether or not the MOA-AD is unconstitutional considering that the petitioners contend that the
MOA-AD violates the Constitution and laws and considering further that the respondents that the MOA-AD
is a significant part of a series of agreements necessary to carry out the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on
Peace signed by the government and the MILF back in June 2001.

Held:

No. The SC ruled that the MOA-AD cannot be reconciled with the present Constitution and laws,
not only its specific provisions but the very concept underlying it.

The associative relationship envisioned between the GRP and the BJE, are unconstitutional, for
the concept presupposes that the associated entity is a state and implies that the same is on its way to
independence.

Neither the GRP Peace Panel nor the President herself is authorized to make such a
guarantee. Upholding such an act would amount to authorizing a usurpation of the constituent
powers vested only in Congress, a Constitutional Convention, or the people themselves through the
process of initiative, for the only way that the Executive can ensure the outcome of the amendment process
is through an undue influence or interference with that process. While the MOA-AD would not amount to
an international agreement or unilateral declaration binding on the Philippines under international law,
respondents’ act of guaranteeing amendments is, by itself, already a constitutional violation that renders
the MOA-AD fatally defective.

Therefore, contains provisions which are repugnant to the Constitution and which will result in the virtual
surrender of part of the Philippines’ territorial sovereignty.

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