SC asked to stop govt from signing interim peace deal with MILF

KIDAPAWAN CITY – North Cotabato vice governor Manny Piñol on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to stop the government’s peace negotiating panel from inking a so-called “midnight deal" with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Joining Piñol in filing the 32-page petition for mandamus with prayer for preliminary injunction was his brother Cotabato Rep. Bernardo Piñol Jr., who is seeking another term on May 10 congressional elections. Manny is running for governor. “There is a need for a writ of prohibition because the [government] peace panel has entered into negotiations regarding an ‘Interim Peace Agreement’ without discussing and disclosing the details of the agreement and consulting the people who maybe directly affected by the outcome of said agreement such as the petitioners herein, leaders of the province of North Cotabato," the petition read. The interim peace agreement was the product of a two-day meeting by the negotiating panels in Kuala Lumpur last April 20 and 21. According to the petitioners, the agreement was supposed to be finalized on the next meeting set sometime in May 2010. This was however moved on the first week of May. MOA-AD The Piñols said the agreement could be a ‘revival’ of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) that the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in August last year. According to petitioners, the Interim Peace Agreement sought to be signed by the government panel with MILF is another "brazen attempt to resurrect the failed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity under the voided MoA-AD." "Just as we have declared in our MoA-AD petition, we believe that the right of the people to know the details of the 'peace deal' is absolute and must be respected as it is enshrined in the Philippine Constitution," they added. If the interim peace agreement is allowed without proper consultation, petitioners said it might lead to violence in Mindanao similar to what transpired following the failure of the government to implement the MOA-AD. The two filed the petition after they received reports that the government is railroading the signing so that it will happen before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo steps down from office on June 30. Joining the Piñol brothers in the petition are members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, including Board Members Ronaldo Pader and Romeo Arana. — with Malu Cadelina Manar/KBK, GMANews.TV