PROVINCE OF NORTH COTABATO v GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

G. R NO. 183591
October 14, 2008

FACTS:
On August 5, 2008, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF,
through the Chairpersons of their respective peace negotiating panels, were scheduled to sign a
Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) Aspect of thelGRP-MILF Tripoli
Agreement on Peace of 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The MOA-AD was preceded by a long process of negotiation and the concluding of several prior
agreements between the two parties beginning in 1996, when the GRP-MILF peace negotiations
began.
Invoking the right to information on matters of public concern, the petitioners involving public
officers from Zamboanga, Iligan City and North Cotabato, among others, seek to compel
respondents to disclose and furnish them the complete and official copies of the MA-AD and to
prohibit the slated signing of the MOA-AD and the holding of public consultation thereon. They
also pray that the MOA-AD be declared unconstitutional. The Court issued a TRO enjoining the
GRP from signing the same.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the MOA-AD that embodies BIE runs counter to the national sovereignty and
territorial integrity of the Republic

RULING:
YES. The B.JE (Bangsamoro Juridical Entity) 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. Indeed, BJE is a state in all but name as it meets the eriteria 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.

Even assuming arguendo that the MOA-AD would not necessarily sever any portion of Philippine
territory, the spirit animating it - which has betrayed itself by its use of the concept of
association - runs counter to the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic.

The defining concept underlying the relationship between the national government and the BJE
being itself contrary to the present Constitution, it is not surprising that many of the specific
provisions of the MOA-AD on the formation and powers of the BJE are in conflict with the
Constitution and the laws. The BJE is more of a state than an autonomous region. But even
assuming that it is covered by the term "autonomous region" in the constitutional provision just
quoted, the MOA-AD would still be in conflict with it.