MANILA: The Supreme court decision declaring as illegal the government’s Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front practically rests on one vote because a “change of one vote changes the picture,” Sen. Joker Arroyo said on Wednesday.
In a long-distance call from the United States, Arroyo said the high tribunal was “sharply divided” on the issue of allowing the Moro people to create an expanded Bangsamoro homeland.
“For a decision with such far-reaching consequences, the high court was sharply divided, 8-7, and it could pose more problems in the future,” said Arroyo, adding that “rarely” had the court been so “evenly divided.”
The senator also pointed to an even disturbing fact — the US had implicitly supported the MOA-AD between the government and the MILF.
“This is attested by the joint statement titled, ‘Fixing Mindanao,’ released by the immediate seven former US ambassadors to the Philippines,” Arroyo said.
He was referring to the statement that appeared on the Sept. 30, 2008 issue of the Asian Wall Street Journal which was in support of the MOA-AD.
The joint statement advocated “political means” to the 40-year separatist rebellion in Mindanao.
The statement also said the “Supreme Court precipitated a true crisis when it issued a temporary restraining order that aborted an unprecedented agreement” between the Philippine government and the MILF.
