GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Arroyo government abandoned the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, announced it would not sign it in its “present or in any other form”, dissolved its negotiating panel and changed its peace process policy. The popular conclusion was the MOA-AD is dead.
But at the same time, in officially informing the […]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Raising the issue of unconstitutionality against the MOA-AD was premature. Most of the consensus points are not controversial or unconstitutional. Those that are will be resolved during the negotiation of the comprehensive compact. Those that are deemed unconstitutional should be considered as proposals to amend the Constitution; as proposals, they are […]

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GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The MOA-AD is a very well constructed piece – possessing unity, coherence and emphasis. Unfortunately, the interest it holds caught the Philippine Government between its commitment to the MILF and the vehement protests from the Senate, the affected local governments in Mindanao, other critics and the media.
Governance
The essentials […]

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GENERAL SANTOS CITY — If Muslim Autonomy, whether it is the ARMM or the BJE version, is real autonomy, it must have a strong economic economy. With weak economy like what the present ARMM has, political autonomy is meaningless. From this, the Bangsamoro quest in MOA-AD for their ancestral domain, lands and […]

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GENERAL SANTOS CITY - Recapitulation: In sum, people (Bangsamoro: Consensus 1), territory (Bangsamoro homeland: Consensus 2), resources (ancestral domain and ancestral lands: Consensus 3), governance (self-governance as Bangsamoro right: Consensus 4), and the authority and jurisdiction of the autonomous government (the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity: Consensus 5) contemplated in the “Concept and Principles” strand […]

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GENERAL SANTOS CITY — This completes the discussion of the “Concepts and Principles” of MOA-AD. Part 1 discussed Consensus points 1, 2 and 3 – who the Bangsamoros are, what the Bangsamoro homeland is, and what ancestral domain and ancestral lands are.
What is self-governance as the right of the Bangsamoro people? (Consensus […]

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GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Opponents of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain pinned it down on the question of constitutionality. At the Supreme Court hearing, the respondents led by the solicitor general admitted that the MOA-AD could not be implemented without amending the Constitution. That sealed the question.
The admission elicits the […]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY  — By its latest shift of negotiating position with the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front), the AGRP (Arroyo Government of the Philippines) has put itself in tighter bind. Mired now in lost credibility, how can it extricate itself? Malaysia, the Organization of Islamic Conference, and others in the international community may be […]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Last Tuesday, August 26, The Philippine Star carried President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s declaration: “We’ll remove all obstacles to peace.” Just like her recent policy statements on the Mindanao crisis, she did so as guest in a public ceremony.
The Star reported: “President Arroyo maintained yesterday that the government is determined to remove ‘all […]

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain of the Government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front can be the ultimate solution to the centuries-old Moro problem – to write finis to the protracted peace process. Unfortunately, the GRP and MILF peace panels ignored essential realities, turning the solution into the […]