MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government is "not giving away" the main southern island of Mindanao to Moro rebels, neither is it giving up sovereignty and territorial integrity when it enters into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the insurgents on their "homeland" or ancestral domain, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has said.

Esperon said the MoA with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), set for signing on Tuesday, was a "preliminary agreement" that would conform to the Constitution, and if required, it would be submitted for a plebiscite or Congress would enact the necessary laws.

"No, we are not giving [Mindanao] away, even if we accede territory to the new ARMM or the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity, the generic name; we are not giving away sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines," Esperon said.

"So what's the talk about giving away? Is it giving away or just enabling the Bangsamoro to be in one place, in one contiguous area," Esperon said in an interview at the Philippine Navy headquarters late Saturday.

The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or BJE is the working name for the expanded Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). A plebiscite will be held in 712 villages after the MoA is signed to determine whether or not they will be included in the BJE.

"Remember, the Memorandum of Agreement is a preliminary agreement that is needed before we go to formal peace talks," he said.

"We just have to remember that all provisions must be conforming to the Constitution, any attrition of territory or addition to the ARMM will be by plebiscite, and this plebiscite will not happen without the enabling law enacted by Congress," he said.

A report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday, which cited the MoA, said that a new state with a "defined territory and a system of governance suitable and acceptable" to the Bangsamoro people would be set up.

Esperon said the "maritime territory" of the BJE, which would be 15 kilometers from municipal waters, has yet to be defined. He said the number of villages in the BJE has not been finalized.

"You cannot define yet the waters because there will be a joint commission to determine that… It's very technical," he said.

Esperon said the BJE would have a "regional security force," which was provided for under the ARMM, but has yet to be implemented.

"What's wrong with that? [It's a] regional security force; defense will always be in the national government. That's the same as the MNLF agreement, they have the regional security force," he said.

The MILF broke away from the MNLF, when the latter forged a final peace accord with the government in 1996, paving the way for the establishment of the ARMM. Esperon also stood pat on his recommendation to postpone the August 11 ARMM elections. He said a problem would arise if a final peace accord was reached within the term of the newly-elected ARMM officials, which is good until 2011.

"Is there a way to cut that [terms of ARMM officials] short? What happens [if] we have an agreement but yet we cannot pursue it?" he said.

He said testing for the automated elections, which was set for the ARMM exercise, could be done during the plebiscites for the BJE.