GR 183591tld; (October, 2008) (Digest)
G.R. No. 183591, October 14, 2008.
THE PROVINCE OF NORTH COTABATO, duly represented by GOVERNOR JESUS SACDALAN and/or VICE-GOVERNOR EMMANUEL PINOL, for and his own behalf, petitioners, vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES PEACE PANEL ON ANCESTRAL DOMAIN (GRP), represented by SEC. RODOLFO GARCIA, ATTY. SEDFREY CANDELARIA, MARK RYAN SULLIVAN, and/or GEN. HERMOGENES ESPERON, JR., the latter in his capacity as the present and duly-appointed Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) or the so-called Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, respondents.
FACTS
The case involves a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) intended to be signed between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Petitioners, including the Province of North Cotabato, challenged the agreement. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) manifested that the Executive Department had categorically stated the MOA-AD would not be signed in its present or any other form, and that the GRP Panel had been dissolved.
ISSUE
Whether the case has been rendered moot and academic by the Executive Department’s manifestation that the MOA-AD will not be signed and that the GRP Panel has been dissolved.
RULING
The Separate Concurring and Dissenting Opinion of Justice Leonardo-De Castro voted to consider the cases moot and academic. The reasoning was that the Executive Department’s manifestation—specifically, the categorical statement that the MOA-AD would not be signed and the dissolution of the GRP Panel—rendered unnecessary a detailed analysis of the MOA-AD’s stipulations. The opinion further expressed that it was beyond the authority of any negotiating panel to commit to implementing consensus points or a legal framework inconsistent with the present Constitution or existing statutes. It highlighted that the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), as contemplated in the MOA-AD, was not provided for in the 1987 Constitution, which only recognizes provinces, cities, municipalities, barangays, and autonomous regions. The establishment of such an entity would require the participation of Congress and consultations with the people, in conformity with constitutional processes.