Philippine court ruling deals blow to peace agreement with Muslim militants

Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that one government soldier was killed Thursday in clashes with rebels.

That follows the wounding of eight soldiers Sunday, and the deaths of two soldiers, one policeman and two Muslim militants in fighting Saturday, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.

In its close, 8-to-7 decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Aug. 4 deal was unconstitutional both in content and process, the Inquirer reported. It would have created an illegal partition of the Muslim autonomous area, the court ruled, and was drafted without due consultation with affected communities. The report quoted from the ruling:

"The [deal] cannot be reconciled with the present Constitution and laws. Not only its specific provisions but the very concept underlying them....

The furtive process by which the [deal] was designed and crafted runs contrary to and in excess of the legal authority, and amounts to a whimsical, capricious, oppressive, arbitrary and despotic exercise."

The Court said the government erred in promising constitutional amendments in order to put the deal into effect, the Manila Bulletin reported.

The Supreme Court also pointed out that the agreement usurped Congress's power to amend the Constitution by issuing guarantees that constitutional amendments would be made to put the illegal provisions of the agreement into effect.

The Supreme Court said not even the president can make such guarantees to amend the Constitution.

GMANews.TV, the website of GMA News and Public Affairs, reported that bishops in Mindanao – the violence-racked island where MILF is based – hailed the court's decision but also called for the peace process to continue.

In a commentary in the Business Mirror, Ernesto Hilario argued that the MILF had no choice but to come back to the negotiating table. The Aug. 4 deal was flawed from the start, Mr. Hilario wrote.

The MILF must face up to the reality that the [agreement], while the product of long and arduous negotiations with the other side, is not a "done deal" as it insists, but rather a deal doomed from the start because it would have established a state within a state.

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