Now that the ball has been passed to (or should I say was “taken” by) the Supreme Court ever since issuing the TRO last Monday, August 4 — it has been clear that the BJE MOA on AD is in for a long deliberation — possibly ultimately leading to its abolition — if its existence is to be recognized in the first place. It has been predicted that this might take longer than usual — even forever. And knowing that we are in the Philippines, this doesn’t seem like an exaggerated prediction.

True to our expectations, the Supreme Court seems to be having its sweet time deliberating on it. Not that it’s bad or wrong anyway — but longer just the same. And I’ve written before that the clock is ticking — time is of the essence here. The longer we wait, the longer it takes for Mindanao to move forward. The longer it takes for real “help” to arrive. We can’t just send doctors on a medical mission to a hostile territory. We can’t pave roads while there is serious threat to practically anybody crossing the street. Investors will not dare put up businesses where fighting can ensue anytime.

I was hoping the TRO will be lifted — although I was almost sure it would not be. The Supreme Court, as you may have realized, is so predictable. Even the OSG’s request for deferment of the oral arguments was denied. What’s this? Due process applies to all but the government? Associate Justice Velasco made perfect sense when he told Sereno (counsel for the petitioners),  that “The problem here is that there is no consummated act yet. Why can’t you wait for the signing of the agreement?“. It makes sense right? How can it possibly be a “blatant” violation of the Constitution when it has not even been signed yet? But of course, I’m sure you will argue that the “mere act” of drafting the MOA — the contents of which are outside the bounds warranted by the Constitution is sacrilege in itself. Your argument has weight and I recognize that. Which, by the way, prompts me to ask, if, for any reason I expressed intention to kill someone and wrote it on a piece of paper, but never really gotten around doing it, then someone sees that paper, do I go to jail for that?  Do I even get tried first if I “technically” wanted to kill the person? I’m not a lawyer though so I’m sure I’d always be wrong with my analogy so forgive me.

So, anyway, it is disappointing to accept that the peace talks have reached an impasse. Personally, I don’t see any significant “movement” towards peace or the resolution on the BJE MOA issue even if  the TRO gets lifted. There will always be people who will rain in our parade. Also, as expected, oral arguments, considering how many people want to do some grandstanding, err, speak their mind — will take a long, long time to finish. And so, yes, the hearing has been reset to August 22 at 9 a.m. More talks, more deliberation, more evaluation…blah, blah, blah.

To us, that means more news to read. To the media, that means more stories to cover and tell. To the Palace, that means more convincing, data gathering and planning. To those in opposition, the same thing. And last, but definitely not the least — to the unarmed people of Mindanao, *drum roll please* … more wait, more uncertainty and more suffering. Great. What have we got to show for all this? A triumph for the “static” and “rigid” Constitution and a defeat for the people? Isn’t the Constitution supposed to work for the people? To protect? To help? To uphold their rights?

Wherever this BJE MOA began or came from, whoever drafted it, whoever was witness to its “initialing” or whoever conceptualized it in the first place — all these won’t matter anymore. It’s like giving them all impunity for the blame. Because the ball is now in the Supreme Court, the buck stops here. Whether this BJE MOA gets ditched or not, the SC will go down in history as the determinant of this peace process’s triumph or failure. And boy, would Malacanang be happy, that for the first time in the history of Gloria, someone else takes the blame. Someone else takes the responsibility. The question now for the Supreme Court is, how’s it gonna be?

This was a project which took years in the making. And we are just throwing it all away. We won’t even be able to start from where we left off. If we ditch this, we start all over again. From scratch. Ab initio. Oh, yes — the buck stops here. But hopefully, our desire for peace does not.