Roxas to file motion for intervention on govt-MILF homeland pact

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Manuel Roxas II is set to file before the Supreme Court Monday a motion for intervention in connection with the controversial agreement on ancestral domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Roxas said he is against the said agreement because it was done without prior consultation to the public and that it would only lead to a “partitioned republic.” “We cannot have peace under a partitioned republic. We cannot have peace without transparent consultation with our people,” he said. The memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain was supposed to be signed by both panels last Aug. 5 in Kuala Lumpur but was postponed after the Supreme Court granted a petition of local officials from Mindanao and issued a temporary restraining order against it. Roxas also dismissed those who are questioning his strong opposition to the MOA, saying he is not siding with any of the two parties involved in the negotiations. “I have never made a stand on the basis of ethnic or religious views, but only on the basis of the common welfare. And there is no point in trying to refute the malicious loose talk about my motivations or ambitions,” he said. Meanwhile, former Senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad and former Assemblyman Homobono Adaza expressed hope that the high court will nullify the deal that would create a new, larger homeland and to give President Arroyo a chance to come with best solution. Speaking before the Balitaan sa Tinapayan news forum held in Sampaloc, Manila, Adaza said the SC should issue a permanent injunction to give President Arroyo the chance to come up with a best solution. Tatad, for his part, said any MOA should be within in the framework of Constitution. “The MOA on Ancestral Domain between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is not within the bounds of the Constitution. The SC should nullify an invalid, illegitimate and immoral agreement,” he said. - with Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV