ROXAS ON GRP-MILF MOA:
"I WILL DO EVERYTHING TO STOP THIS TRAITOROUS DEAL"

Senator Mar Roxas, Liberal President, said he is ready to defend the people's interests in the Supreme Court and in the Senate to stop the controversial GRP-MILF Peace Panel Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on Ancestral Domain from pushing through.

"We have to exhaust all resources possible and give the people a forum to understand the traitorous nature of this MoA. While in theory, creating a BJE [Bangsamoro Juridical Entity] has no legal basis whatsoever, this does not matter to a government that has shown no regard for the law of the land itself and is forcing its people to accept a deal that is disadvantageous to all Filipinos," said Roxas, who has filed with the Supreme Court his petition to cancel the MoA.

"Kailangang matigil ang katraydurang ito. Ide-depensa natin ang ating Saligang Batas. Our Constitution is not just a piece of paper. It is our nation's very substance and spirit," he added.

Roxas has already filed Senate Resolution No. 558 for an investigation of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in relation to the GRP-MILF MoA.

"Sa MoA na ito at sa iba pang mga kasunduang papasukin ng gobyerno, ang importante ay dumaan ito sa tamang proseso at pagkonsulta sa mga mamamayan. Kailangan nating malaman kung paano nakaabot ang MoA sa puntong ito, para hindi mangyari uli ito," he said.

He also discounted the government's arguments that the MoA was not final anyway and was still subject to a plebiscite, or even Charter change. "Ang pumipirma sa MoA ay pumipirma 'for and in behalf of the Republic of the Philippines.' Ibig sabihin kino-commit iyan ng ating gobyerno na maisakatuparan ang MoA na iyan, at sisikapin niya ang lahat upang maimplementa ang probisyon ng MoA. Tama ba naman iyan? Kinonsulta ba tayo ng gobyerno natin?"

The Senator also noted that although federalism may be worth discussing, the country may not be ready for it yet.

"Dapat hinay-hinay tayo rito. Siguro maganda na dagdagan natin yung kapangyarihan na nakapaloob sa bawat local government unit. Patibayin natin sila, palakasin natin sila, at sa darating na panahon, kapag nag-mature ang sistema, maaaring dumating tayo sa federalismo," he said.