CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Puzzled by the sudden turnaround of the deciding voter who paved the way for the declaration of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral-domain (MOA-AD) as unconstitutional, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) asked on Thursday for an explanation from the former Chief Justice.

MILF central committee chairman Muhammad Ameen said former Chief Justice Reynato Puno’s change of heart regarding the Mindanao peace process was “not natural.”

“Why only now that he is out of the judiciary?” asked Ameen in reaction to Puno’s proposal to prioritize the integration of Mindanao peace in any discussion on constitutional change.

“I hope that we can have Charter change that already integrates the Mindanao peace concerns before a final peace agreement is signed between the government and the MILF,” Puno said during the forum on “Decentralization and Political Reform Among Local Leaders in Northern Mindanao” that was organized by the Centrist Democratic Movement Lambigit in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung  and Centrist Democracy Political Institute  here.

It was Puno’s deciding vote that resulted in the SC’s rejection of the MOA-AD on October 14, 2008.

In an 89-page decision that was written by Justice Conchita  Carpio-Morales, the Supreme Court declared with finality, through an 8-7 vote, that the MOA-AD was “contrary to law and the Constitution” because it “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 government and the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, are unconstitutional, for the concept presupposes that the  associated entity is a state and implies that the same is on its way to independence.”

The SC also said the MOA-AD guaranteed that “the necessary amendments to the Constitution and the laws will eventually be put in place,” which was “an usurpation of the power given only to Congress, a Constitutional Convention or the people themselves through the process of initiative”

Protesting the decision, some MILF commanders launched attacks against government forces in Central Mindanao that displaced at least 700,000 people. The MILF also refused to return to the negotiating table.

This impasse in the negotiations resulted in the creation of the International Contact Group, composed of the United Kingdom, Japan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia for states, and The Asia Foundation, Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Muhammadiyah and Conciliation Resources, for nonstate members.

Although puzzled by Puno’s change of heart, the MILF, through Ameen, said that “it is better that way rather than maintaining his anti-Moro views.”

Meanwhile, two other MILF leaders urged local government officials and lawmakers to listen to the voices of their Moro constituents.

Hassan Hatab, a political officer of the MILF based in Western Mindanao, told Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat to let the Moros decide their political status in another round of referendum to determine whether they desire to remain as part of the city or to be part of the future Bangsamoro substate.

Habab was reacting to a news article that quoted Lobregat as saying that he is opposed to the demand of the MILF to include some part of Zamboanga City in the proposed Bangsamoro substate.

“You [Lobregat] have no right to speak for our people,” Hatab was quoted in an article posted on the MILF’s web site.

“Zamboanga is part of the Moro Province and in fact its capital after Dansalan in what is now Marawi City,” he added.

The creation of the Bangsamoro sub-state is now being pushed by the MILF, which has dropped its separatist stance.