MILF chief negotiator Iqbal respects Leonen nomination to SC

Marvic Leonen INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—While they have yet to craft the final peace agreement, Mohagher Iqbal won’t stop Marvic Leonen from joining the Supreme Court.

“We’ve had good rapport,” said Iqbal, chief negotiator of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who had sat across Leonen, government peace panel chair, in a series of negotiations in Malaysia to craft the framework agreement signed on October 15. “But you can’t choose your partner.’’

The framework agreement, seen as a blueprint for a final peace deal, provides for the creation of the Bangsamoro entity with greater political and economic powers than the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Iqbal said he respected Leonen’s acceptance of his nomination to the high court to fill the vacant post of associate justice.

“That’s his personal preference. We respect his preference,” he said by phone. “I see Leonen’s entry [into the Supreme Court] as a positive development. I would not look at it as a negative development.” He did not elaborate.

The Judicial and Bar Council declared Friday that all the 15 aspirants for the vacant post, including Leonen, were qualified. It is set to vote on the three nominees for the shortlist on November 7, and submit this to President Benigno Aquino who is to announce his choice by November 22.

Malacañang officials declined to say whether they were prepared to let go of Leonen before the government and the MILF could craft the final agreement by year-end.

“That’s hypothetical,” Undersecretary Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson, said over government-run dzRB.

“Let’s wait for the shortlist to be decided on for the JBC to vote and then for it to be given to the Office of the President,” she said.

Both government and MILF panels are set to hold exploratory talks this month to tackle the framework agreement annexes on wealth-sharing, power-sharing and normalization, as well as the touchy issue of the decommissioning of MILF forces.

So far there’s no date yet for the exploratory talks.

Valte said the President would appoint the new associate justice based on the constitutional requirements that a member of the judiciary must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity and independence.

Of the aspirants, nine come from the judiciary, including Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., and Associate Justices Ramon Bato Jr., Rosmari Carandang, Magdangal de Leon, Isaias Dicdican, Jose Reyes Jr. and Noel Tijam of the Court of Appeals; Sandiganbayan Justice Ma. Cristina Cornejo, and former Davao City Judge Adoracion Cruz-Avisado.

The rest are University of Perpetual Help System law dean Jose Santos Bisquera, Leonen, former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, De La Salle University law dean Jose Manuel Diokno, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa and former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva.