The Philippine government Monday canceled a scheduled signing of an agreement with the country's separatist group after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO).
The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the halt in the signing of the agreement between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Monday, one day before the scheduled signing.
"We submit to the sound discretion of the Supreme Court. The signing set for Tuesday will not take place," Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told Xinhua.
The Philippine government is scheduled to sign the pact on Tuesday in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur with the MILF on the ancestral domain issue, the last remaining hurdle to a final political settlement that is expected to end the insurgency in the southern Philippines.
The ancestral domain covers the whole autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and some other areas in the country's southern region of Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. The ARMM, composed of provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, is among the poorest in the country torn by strife and clan wars since its creation in 1989. The MILF has been waging a bloody rebellion there for self-determination since 1978.
The Supreme Court decided to stop the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and set the hearing on August 15, the court's spokesman Midas Marquez told reporters.
"On a positive note, the TRO (temporary restraining order) will provide opportunity for every one now to dispassionately and objectively view and examine the draft MOA," said the Press Secretary, who is also President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's spokesman.
The order was considered a delay in the timetable of the peace process in Mindanao, according to the Press Secretary.
"Mindanao has waited for so long for this historic breakthrough on the efforts to bring peace. A little delay will not matter if ultimately we achieve what every Mindanaoan has long been dreaming of," he added.
The restraining order was issued by the Supreme Court after thousands of local residents, organized by local officials and Catholic priests, took to the streets in the Philippines' southern city of Zamboanga to oppose the agreement.
Reports say the agreement will grant the MILF an autonomous region, with its own legal, banking and education systems, civil service and internal security force.
The MILF, who had sent on Sunday a delegation to Malaysia for the signing of the pact, said the Supreme Court's decision will adversely affect the peace process with the Philippines' largest rebel group.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told local media that the court's ruling was a "setback" in the talks.
Meanwhile, Kabalu said the separatist group will allow the government panel to draw up measures on how to address the situation.
"It's a setback but we will let the panels to decide on whatever measures they want to take to address this recent development. Anyway, they are scheduled to meet tomorrow. They are supposed to sign the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain. So we will let them decide on what other measures they will take up to be able to counter this development," Kabalu told Philippine news network GMA News.
On the same day, government officials failed to convince senators to pass a law that would postpone the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. MILF negotiators had formally asked the government to delay the local polls, to be held on August 11, since many of the candidates are "rivals" who may try to scuttle the peace deal between the government and secessionist group.
"The postponement cannot be attained," Senator Juan Ponce Enrile told government peace negotiators led by Hermogenes Esperon, President Arroyo's peace adviser.
The lawmaker said the postponement of the ARMM polls should not be used as a precondition in the success of the ongoing peace negotiation with the rebels.
Enrile said that if the MILF is really determined in having the ARMM leadership replaced, its members should run in the election.
Enrile proposed that the final peace agreement between the government and the MILF be implemented in 2011, when the term of those elected on August 11 expires.
Enrile warned government negotiators to be careful in giving into the demands of the MILF.
"Be careful with this issue. The Christians in Mindanao are a factor to be considered. This is not an easy problem for you to handle," he said.
Esperon, meanwhile, told the Senate panel that the postponement of the ARMM elections would create goodwill and fastrack the peace negotiations with the MILF.
The House of Representatives is set to approve a bill providingfor the postponement of the ARMM elections, reports said.
A counterpart measure has yet to be filed in the Senate with only two session days remaining before next Monday's ARMM elections.
Source:Xinhua
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