"ancestral Domain Memorandum Of Agreement" In The Southern Philippines Peace Process

Muslim ancestral domain is the region in South Philippine where muslim lived since the 13th century. The conflict in south area caused by muslim ancestral domain problem is a critical issue to central government for several decades."Moro National Liberation Front" (MNLF), the main opposition organization, had seeked to establish self-government in the region from 1970s to 1990s. Long-term armed conflicts caused more than 100,000 people died. After protracted negotiations, the Philippine government and MNLF reached a peace agreement in 1996, MNLF fighters merged into the army and set up the South Philippines Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. However, "Moro Islamic Liberation Front" (MILF), another opposition organization splited from MNLF, Still adhere to the separatist position.The key issues of peace negotiation between Philippine government and MILF are territory, resources and governance of muslim ancestral domain. So the two sides held several peace talks during this decade, and reached a draft agreement about muslim ancestral domain. They also decided to sign "the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain" (MOA) on 5 August, 2008. According to this memorandum, "Bangsamoro Juridical Entity"(BJE), a new self-government region, will be established. BJE has its own system of law, bank, education, as well as its defence force.However, the local officials submitted petitions to Supreme Court to expressed that the peace talk did not consider Catholic opinions and interests. in response to petitions, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on 4 August, prevented the signing of MOA. That injunction in turn led to renewed conflicts between the army and MILF.This paper provides analysis to process of peace talk in South Philippine, as well as the reasons and influences of restraining order to MOA.