SC’s ruling on homeland agreement cheers Zambo officials
By QUEENIE CASIMIRO, ABS-CBN Zamboanga | 08/05/2008 10:48 AM
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | 
Share your views
Zamboanga City officials expressed their appreciation to the Supreme Court on its decision granting a temporary restraining order to the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on ancestral domain between the peace panels of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Less than a day before the scheduled signing, the SC issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) which was supposed to be held Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The TRO was in response to petitions filed by local officials of North Cotabato and Zamboanga City seeking to stop the signing on the ground that they were not consulted on the Memorandum of Agreement.
City Mayor Celso Lobregat said he is happy to know that the High Court’s decision also grants them the right to receive a copy of the MOA especially the portions which contain where the areas which are being asked by the MILF to be included in the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity are indicated.
He stressed that they will be seeking for the removal of the eight villages in Zamboanga City from the list of areas that will compose the proposed expanded Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. These villages include Busay, Landang Laum, Landang Gua, Manalipa, Pasilmanta, Tigtabon, and Zones 3 and 4.
The City Hall of Zamboanga City and a part of its commercial district are situated in Zone 4 while the ancestral home of the Lobregat family is located in Zone 3.
