THE PROVINCE OF NORTH COTABATO

vs.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES PEACE PANEL ON ANCESTRAL DOMAIN
(GRP)

G.R. No. 183591, October 14, 2008, J. Conchita Carpio-Morales

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 the GRP-MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001 in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. The signing of the MOA-AD between the GRP and the MILF was not to materialize. Early on, however, it was
evident that there was not going to be any smooth sailing in the GRP-MILF peace process. Towards the end of 1999 up to
early 2000, the MILF attacked a number of municipalities in Central Mindanao and, in March 2000, it took control of the
town hall of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. 3 In response, then President Joseph Estrada declared and carried out an "all-
out-war" against the MILF. Invoking the right to information on matters of public concern, the petitioners 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 respondents violate constitutional and statutory provisions on public consultation and the right
to information when they negotiated and later initialed the MOA-AD

Rulling: The SC ruled that the MOA-AD is a matter of public concern, involving as it does the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the State, which directly affects the lives of the public at large.

As enshrined in the Constitution, the right to information guarantees the right of the people to demand information, and
integrated therein is the recognition of the duty of the officialdom to give information even if nobody demands. The
policy of public disclosure establishes a concrete ethical principle for the conduct of public affairs in a genuinely open
democracy, with the people's right to know as the centerpiece. It is a mandate of the State to be accountable by following
such policy. These provisions are vital to the exercise of the freedom of expression and essential to hold public officials at
all times accountable to the people.