1. Province of North Cotabato vs. Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GR no.

183591)
FACTS:

On August 5, 2008, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF,
through the Chairpersons of their respective peace negotiating panels, were scheduled to
sign a Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) Aspect of the GRP-
MILF Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Such memorandum of agreement stemmed from recognized birthright of all Moros and all
Indigenous peoples of Mindanao to identify themselves and be accepted as Bangsamoros.
The Bangsamoro people are acknowledged as having the right to self-governance.
Correspondingly, the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity was provided in the memorandum to which
it grants the authority and jurisdiction over the Ancestral Domain and Ancestral Lands of the
Bangsamoro.

The MOA-AD provides among others the BJEs capacity to enter into economic and trade
relations with foreign countries, the commitment of the Central Government to ensure the
BJEs participation in meetings and events in the ASEAN and the specialized UN agencies, and
the continuing responsibility of the Central Government over external defense. Moreover,
the BJEs right to participate in Philippine official missions bearing on negotiation of border
agreements, environmental protection, and sharing of revenues pertaining to the bodies of
water adjacent to or between the islands forming part of the ancestral domain.

ISSUE: Whether by signing the MOA, the Government of the Republic of

the Philippines would be BINDING itself to create and recognize the Bangsamoro Juridical
Entity (BJE) as a separate state, or a juridical, territorial or political subdivision not recognized
by law.

RESOLUTION:
The provisions of the MOA indicate, among other things, that the Parties aimed to vest in
the BJE the status of an associated state or, at any rate, a status closely approximating it.

The Constitution, however, does not contemplate any state in this jurisdiction other than
the Philippine State, much less does it provide for a transitory status that aims to prepare
any part of Philippine territory for independence.
The BJE is not merely an expanded version of the ARMM, the status of its relationship with
the national government being fundamentally different from that of the ARMM. Indeed, BJE
is a state in all but name as it meets the criteria of a state laid down in the Montevideo
Convention, namely, a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and
a capacity to enter into relations with other states.