Province of North Cotabato vs GRP Peace Panel on Ancestral Domains

G.R. No. 183591 – October 14, 2008

Topic: Territory

FACTS:
- March 1984 - MILF was founded by Salamat Hashim by splintering off the MNLF (then headed
by Nur Misuari) since Salamat perceived that MNLF was moving away from an Islamic basis
towards Marxist-Maoist orientations
- 1996 - GRP-MILF peace negotiations begin
- July 18, 1997 - GRP and MILF Peace Panels signed the Agreement of General Cessation of
Hostilities
- August 27, 1998 - GRP and MILF signed the General Framework of Agreement of Intent
- End of 1999 and start of 2000 - MILF attacked number of municipalities in Central Mindanao
- March 2000 - MILF took control of the town hall of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. Erap
declared an “all out war” shortly afterwards
- When Gloria took office, the offensive in Mindanao was suspended and the government
pursued peace talks. GMA asked for help from Malaysian government to convince the MILF
- March 24, 2001 - GRP and MILF meet in Kuala Lumpur and signed the Agreement on the
General Framework for the Resumption of Peace Talks Between the GRP and the MILF
- June 20-22, 2001 - The parties met in Tripoli, Libya and signed the Tripoli Agreement 2001
which tackled three aspects: Security, Rehabilitation, and Ancestral Domain
- August 5-7, 2001 - The parties met in Cyberjaya, Malaysia and signed the Implementing
guidelines on the Security Aspect
- May 7, 2002 - The parties met in Putrajaya, Malaysia and signed the Implementing guidelines
on the Humanitarian Rehabilitation and Development aspects of the Tripoli Agreement 2001
- 2005 - Several talks transpired leading to the drafting of the MOA-AD (Memorandum of
Agreement on the Ancestral Domain Aspect of the Tripoli Agreement 2001) which was to be
signed on August 5, 2008

Issues:
- Whether by signing the MOA, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines would be
BINDING itself to create and recognize the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) as a separate
state, or a juridical, territorial or political subdivision not recognized by law
- Whether the inclusion/exclusion of the Province of North Cotabato, Cities of Zamboanga,
Iligan and Isabela, and the Municipality of Linamon, Lanao del Norte in/from the areas
covered by the projected Bangsamoro Homeland is a justiciable question
Decision/Reasons:
- YES, the MOA-AD creates and recognizes the BJE as a separate state through an associative
relationship which grants it executive, legislative, and judicial autonomy, as well as freedom
to negotiate internationally as a separate entity to the Republic of the Philippines.
- YES. The territory of the Bangsamoro homeland is described 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.
More specifically, the core of the BJE is defined as the present geographic area of the ARMM
- thus constituting the following areas: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan,
and Marawi City. Significantly, this core also includes certain municipalities of Lanao del Norte
that voted for inclusion in the ARMM in the 2001 plebiscite.
o That these components of the ARMM and the above-mentioned municipalities voted for
inclusion therein in 2001, however, does not render another plebiscite unnecessary under
the Constitution, precisely because what these areas voted for then was their inclusion in
the ARMM, not the BJE.