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Province of North Cotabato v. GRP Peace Panel [ SEPARATE OPINION REYES, R.T., J. ]

THE PROVINCE OF NORTH COTABATO, duly represented by GOVERNOR JESUS SACDALAN and/or VICE-GOVERNOR EMMANUEL PI?OL, for and in his own behalf, Petitioners, versus THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES PEACE PANEL ON ANCESTRAL DOMAIN (GRP), represented by SEC. RODOLFO GARCIA, ATTY. LEAH ARMAMENTO, ATTY. SEDFREY CANDELARIA, MARK RYAN SULLIVAN and/or GEN. HERMOGENES ESPERON, JR., the latter in his capacity as the present and duly-appointed Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPEOPLE) or the so-called Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Respondents. [ SEPARATE OPINION REYES, R.T., J. ]

G.R. No. 183591 | 2008-10-14

SEPARATE OPINION


REYES, R.T., J.:


Nemo dat quod non habet. You cannot give what you do not have. Hindi mo maibibigay ang hindi sa iyo.

This maxim forcefully applies in these consolidated petitions and petitions-in-intervention for mandamus and prohibition which in the main seek the nullification of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) entered into between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP Panel) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The issues may be compressed as follows: (1) whether the petitions and petitions-in-intervention have become moot due to supervening events; and (2) whether the...