G.R. No. 183591 – 589 Phil. 387 – 568 SCRA 402 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – General Principles – Elements of a State – Sovereignty – Derogation; Associate State
In 2008, the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) was about to be signed. However, a several local government units and other concerned citizens filed an opposition to the MOA-AD. It was argued that the MOA-AD is unconstitutional because it gave way too much power to the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE); powers such as:
- capacity to enter into economic and trade relations with foreign countries;
- the commitment of the GRP to ensure the BJE’s participation in meetings and events in the ASEAN and the specialized UN agencies;
- the continuing responsibility of the GRP over external defense;
- BJE’s right to participate in Philippine official missions bearing on negotiation of border agreements, environmental protection, and
- sharing of revenues pertaining to the bodies of water adjacent to or between the islands forming part of the ancestral domain
The GRP Peace Panel countered that the MOA-AD is in accordance with Sec. 1, Art. X of the 1987 Constitution which provides: xxx There shall be autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras as hereinafter provided.
ISSUE: Whether or not the MOA-AD is constitutional.
HELD: No. The MOA-AD, if signed, would have created not just an autonomous region but an entity far more powerful. It would have created an associate state which is not allowed under our Constitution. The BJE is a far more powerful entity than the autonomous region recognized in the Constitution. It is not merely an expanded version of the ARMM, the status of its relationship with the national government being fundamentally different from that of the ARMM. BJE is a state in all but name as it meets the criteria of a state laid down in the Montevideo Convention, namely, a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and a capacity to enter into relations with other states.
