Province of North Cotabato v GRP Panel

FACTS:
- March 1984 - MILF was founded by Salamat Hashim by splintering off the MNLF (then headed by
Nur Misuari) since Salamat perceived that MNLF was moving away from an Islamic basis towards
Marxist-Maoist orientations
- 1996 - GRP-MILF peace negotiations begin
- July 18, 1997 - GRP and MILF Peace Panels signed the Agreement of General Cessation of Hostilities
- August 27, 1998 - GRP and MILF signed the General Framework of Agreement of Intent
- End of 1999 and start of 2000 - MILF attacked number of municipalities in Central Mindanao
- March 2000 - MILF took control of the town hall of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. Erap declared an
“all-out war” shortly afterwards
- When Gloria took office, the offensive in Mindanao was suspended and the government pursued
peace talks. GMA asked for help from Malaysian government to convince the MILF
- March 24, 2001 - GRP and MILF meet in Kuala Lumpur and signed the Agreement on the General
Framework for the Resumption of Peace Talks Between the GRP and the MILF
- June 20-22, 2001 - The parties met in Tripoli, Libya and signed the Tripoli Agreement 2001 which
tackled three aspects: Security, Rehabilitation, and Ancestral Domain
- August 5-7, 2001 - The parties met in Cyberjaya, Malaysia and signed the Implementing guidelines
on the Security Aspect
- May 7, 2002 - The parties met in Putrajaya, Malaysia and signed the Implementing guidelines on the
Humanitarian Rehabilitation and Development aspects of the Tripoli Agreement 2001
- 2005 - Several talks transpired leading to the drafting of the MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement
on the Ancestral Domain Aspect of the Tripoli Agreement 2001) which was to be signed on August 5,
2008

Issues:
- Whether by signing the MOA, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines would be BINDING
itself to create and recognize the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) as a separate state, or a juridical,
territorial or political subdivision not recognized by law
- Whether the inclusion/exclusion of the Province of North Cotabato, Cities of Zamboanga, Iligan and
Isabela, and the Municipality of Linamon, Lanao del Norte in/from the areas covered by the
projected Bangsamoro Homeland is a justiciable question

Decision/Reasons:
- YES, the MOA-AD creates and recognizes the BJE as a separate state through an associative
relationship which grants it executive, legislative, and judicial autonomy, as well as freedom to
negotiate internationally as a separate entity to the Republic of the Philippines.
- The MOA-AD cannot be reconciled with the present Constitution and laws. Not only its specific
provisions but the very concept underlying them, namely, the associative relationship envisioned
 between the GRP and the BJE, are unconstitutional, for the concept... presupposes that the
associated entity is a state and implies that the same is on its way to independence.
- YES. The territory of the Bangsamoro homeland is described as the land mass as well as the
maritime, terrestrial, fluvial and alluvial domains, including the aerial domain and the atmospheric
space above it, embracing the Mindanao- Sulu-Palawan geographic region. More specifically, the
core of the BJE is defined as the present geographic area of the ARMM - thus constituting the
following areas: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, and Marawi City.
Significantly, this core also includes certain municipalities of Lanao del Norte that voted for inclusion
in the ARMM in the 2001 plebiscite.
o That these components of the ARMM and the above-mentioned municipalities voted for
inclusion therein in 2001, however, does not render another plebiscite unnecessary under the
Constitution, precisely because what these areas voted for then was their inclusion in the
ARMM, not the BJE.