G.R. No. 183591 , October 14, 2008
THE PROVINCE OF NORTH COTABATO, represented by GOVERNOR JESUS SACDALAN and/or VICE-GOVERNOR EMMANUEL PIÑOL, for and in his own behalf, Petitioners, versus 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., in his capacity as the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Respondents.

FACTS

The case involves a petition concerning the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) negotiated between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The petitioners challenged the constitutionality of the MOA-AD. The separate concurring opinion of Justice Carpio highlights that the MOA-AD, as initialed, would have created a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) possessing attributes of a state, including its own people, territory, government, armed forces, and foreign trade missions, governed by its own basic law. The opinion focuses on the Executive branch’s commitment under the MOA-AD to amend the existing legal framework, impliedly the Constitution, to implement the agreement, with due regard to non-derogation of prior GRP-MILF agreements.

ISSUE

Whether the Executive branch’s commitment under the MOA-AD to amend the Constitution to conform to the MOA-AD constitutes a usurpation of the powers of Congress and the sovereign people, and is therefore unconstitutional.

RULING

The Executive branch’s commitment under the MOA-AD to amend the Constitution is patently unconstitutional. It violates Sections 1 and 4, Article XVII of the Constitution , which vest the sole discretionary power to propose amendments in Congress (or a constitutional convention) and the exclusive power to ratify amendments in the sovereign people through a plebiscite. The MOA-AD’s provision requiring amendments to the existing legal framework with “due regard to non-derogation of prior agreements” imposes a mandatory obligation on the Executive to amend the Constitution to conform to the MOA-AD, thereby usurping the powers reserved to Congress and the people. This commitment constitutes a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. The opinion further notes that implementing the MOA-AD would require drastic changes to numerous constitutional provisions, including those on national territory, the Bill of Rights, the structure of government, and the powers of the President, Congress, and the Judiciary.