GR 183591rr; (October, 2008) (Digest)
G.R. No. 183591 , October 14, 2008
The Province of North Cotabato, et al. v. The Government of the Republic of the Philippines Peace Panel on Ancestral Domain (GRP), et al.
FACTS
Consolidated petitions and petitions-in-intervention for mandamus and prohibition were filed seeking the nullification of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) entered into between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) Panel and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). During oral arguments, the Solicitor General manifested that the MOA-AD would not be signed “in its present form or in any other form,” and a memorandum from the Executive Secretary stated that “the government will not sign” the MOA-AD. The MOA-AD’s terms of reference included various agreements and laws but curiously omitted the Philippine Constitution. The agreement contemplated the creation of a “Bangsamoro Juridical Entity” and involved commitments that would require constitutional changes.
ISSUE
1. Whether the petitions and petitions-in-intervention have become moot due to supervening events.
2. Whether the MOA-AD is constitutional.
RULING
1. The petitions have become moot due to the government’s declaration that it would not sign the MOA-AD. However, the Court is not precluded from deciding the case given exceptional circumstances, following precedents where the Court decided moot cases when there is a grave constitutional violation, paramount public interest, a need to formulate controlling principles, or the issue is capable of repetition yet evading review.
2. The MOA-AD is unconstitutional. The GRP Panel exceeded its authority under the President’s Memorandum of Instructions, which mandated that negotiations be conducted in accordance with the Philippine Constitution and the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. The omission of the Constitution from the MOA-AD’s terms of reference indicated an intent not to be bound by it. Furthermore, the GRP Panel’s commitment to change the Constitution to conform to the MOA-AD violated the doctrine of separation of powers, as the President has no authority to effect constitutional changes. The MOA-AD also violated constitutional provisions on national territory, the creation of autonomous regions, the powers of Congress, the President, and local government units, and the national defense, police, judicial, monetary, and economic planning systems.