by Evangeline de Vera
Malaya
The Supreme Court, voting 8-7, yesterday declared unconstitutional the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain that the government would have signed with the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front two months ago.
The MOA-AD, whose signing was stopped by the tribunal, proposes to create a Muslim homeland in the South which will have its own judicial system and police force.
The Muslim homeland will be governed by the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), also proposed to be created under the MOA, which can enter into economic agreements and trade relations with other countries.
The Supreme Court said the government peace negotiating panel that crafted the MOA with the MILF violated the Constitution when it initialed the agreement that would have ceded a portion of the country’s territory to the secessionist group under the BJE.