MPC has been successful in positioning itself as a key player in the talks, having been officially recognized as an observer in the GRP-MILF peace talks, which is unprecedented in the series of talks conducted since 1976.
Bantay Ceasefire is a monitoring mechanism developed by MPC in 2003. Its volunteers do monitoring and field work to help deescalate violence and prevent conflict on the ground. in cooperation with the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) of the GRP and the MILF and with the International Monitoring Team.
Since its creation, part of MPC's mission has been to provide support and advice to indigenous people living in areas affected by conflict stemming from contested ownership of ancestral domain. In helping to resolve conflict within the community, MPC members are not merely involved in public advocacy on question of relief and rehabilitation; rather, they have also been developing local peace agreements bringing military, church, local governments and communities themselves at the negotiating table.
Mindalinaw is an independent, non-partisan and inclusive radio programme on peace initiatives. It serves as an ordinary person's forum. It is a combination of live and canned broadcasting that runs weekly for an hour in Cotabato, Maguindanao, Lanao and Sulu areas. Life Springs from a small cassette tape wherein the talks, commentaries, music, advertisements are pre-recorded.
In light of the raging crisis in Mindanao that has put the ongoing peace process in danger of caving in, it is imperative upon the youth to come together and collectively take action. The youth component of MPC takes an initiative to collaborate with other youth network that has also with the same inspiration towards peace and development in Mindanao.



Have you read the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)?




View Results
 

Peace Talks - MOA-Ancestral Domain

 

Untitled Document

Some Questions About The MOA-AD

(Third of a series)

+ Orlando B. Quevedo, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Cotabato
August 9, 2008

To all of us who were not privy to the intense discussions in the peace negotiations, the MOA-AD has a lot of ambiguity as well as questionable presentation. Muslims, Christians, Lumad would want such issues to be clarified, before saying yes or no to the consensus points.

It is nowhere stated in the MOA-AD that the MILF acknowledges the authority and sovereignty of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines over all the territories covered by the term "Republic" in the Constitution of the Philippines . It has been reported, of course, that the MILF does not recognize the Philippine Constitution. So here are some questions.

2.1.Abstracting from the reported MILF rejection of the Constitution, Filipino citizens would want to know in clear terms: Does the MILF recognize either de iure or de facto that the Republic of the Philippines holds authority and sovereignty over the whole of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan ?

2.2.Does the MILF, with the MOA-AD, as a stepping stone intend to set up an independent State? In other words, is the MOA-AD an initial process of dismembering the Republic of the Philippines ?

2.3.Did the Lumad people agree to being coopted into the Bangsamoro? By virtue of the IPRA Law, do they not in fact have their own ancestral domain? What happens to this Lumad ancestral domain when they are coopted by virtue of the MOA-AD into the Bangsamoro?

2.4.What do the negotiating panels mean by "associative relationship and associative arrangements"?

2.5.Does the use of the term "central government" in the MOA-AD connote the idea that the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity recognizes the authority of a central government over it?

2.6.Does the term "shared authority and control" in the MOA-AD connote the exercise of power by two equal authorities, or is it a recognition that in the sharing there is a "primus inter pares" principle?

2.7.Is the MOA-AD faithful to the idea repeatedly reported that negotiations would take place while safeguarding the sovereignty of the Republic?

2.8.What happens if the Congress of the Philippines is unwilling to make the necessary changes in the Constitution envisioned by the MOA-AD? What happens if the MNLF and/or the ARMM do not agree with the MILF vision?

2.9.Why did the peace panels agree to include in Category A many barangays that are obviously Christian-dominated and thus make the MOA-AD unacceptable?

3. At present, I give the MOA-AD and the two peace panels the benefit of the doubt. They have worked at the agreement for years, painstakingly hammering out every word and every phase, every concept and its implications. I know that they have the interests of their respective constituencies always in mind. Right now, despite the ambiguities of the MOA-AD, I sincerely believe that both parties, given the complexities of the situation, have admirably attempted a remarkable balancing between Bangsamoro aspirations for self determination and GRP conviction in its own national sovereignty.

4. Therefore, my present interpretation of the MOA-AD is that it attempts to apply a treasured social principle called the Principle of Subsidiarity. Enshrined in the social teachings of the Catholic Church, the principle of subsidiarity may be expressed in the following way: a member of the social organism may do everything it is capable of, in freedom and self-determination, for its own good and for the good of the social organism. It is only when the member fails to do so that the social organism intervenes and provides the necessary assistance. The principle of subsidiarity is a principle of governance, authority, decision-making, etc., for the secular community. Nowadays Catholic scholars prefer to use an analogically similar principle called the principle of "communion" as more applicable to the Church community.

5. The answers to the questions posed above may prove me wrong about the MOA-AD as a concrete application of the principle of subsidiarity. But if the answers prove me right, then it is my contention that the peace process is going in the right direction.

 
3
 

 
     

Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain Download
Annex (Category A)
Annex (Category B)
Maps

Related Readings (in MS-Word format)

Primer on MOA-AD (Most Frequently Asked Questions)
MPCs' Intervention in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court Ruling on MOA-AD

Home | About MPC | Member Organizations | Areas of Operations | Press Releases | Galleries | Downloads | Contact

© 2009 Mindanao Peoples Caucus. Design by Typetool All Graphic Publishing.