A self proclaimed "international lawyer" who tried to seek the presidency twice has questioned before the Supreme Court the historic Bangsamoro Framework Agreement, which newly appointed Associate Justice Marvic Leonen helped craft. In his petition, lawyer Elly Velez Pamatong asked the high court to invalidate and declare as unconstitutional the agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front because the peace talks between the two were facilitated in Malaysia and with the help of Malaysians, who the petitioner claimed stand to benefit the most from the deal....
Pamatong questioned the role that the Malaysians played in the peace talks, stressing that Malaysia is competing with the Philippines in claiming Sabah island. He said the agreement could well be considered a "deed of sale over Mindanao in favor of Malaysia. It is a treaty of surrender to the... Malaysian invasion of the Philippines."......
Pamatong said the agreement should be declared unconstitutional, stressing that it has been "generated by foreign and local interests." "The framework... concerns paramount governmental and national interests that have not been subjected to open and serious public discussions and mandatorily required by applicable provisions of the fundamental charter," he added. He said since the Mindanao population is made up of around 90 percent Christian Malays, the latter shouldbhave been consulted with. "The preparation of the Framework Agreement was secretly done in the plush hotels of West Malaysia, the capital city of the indubitably enemy country that previously openly seized and annexed two Philippine territories, viz.: North Borneo and a Spratly Island," said Pamatong.
He said Malaysia is the "real enemy" and not the the MILF and that the rebel group was merely as "Malaysian proxy." "Understandably, the "mediator" - which is definitely an enemy of the Republic of the Philippines - provided the Philippine negotiators with all the conveniences and amenities fit for Kings, Queens and other royal personalities and - who knows - billions of dollars that even the most moral and religious perspn could nor resist," he added. He said the agreement revolved around two "vital interests or forces" namely, Malaysia's alleged interest in taking over southern Philippines and the Moros' struggle to have a completely independent Islamic and Koran-based nation called Bangsamoro. Pamatong also claimed that the new Bangsamoro Framework Agreement was "substantially the same" as the Memorandum of Agreement-Ancestral Domain which was declared unconstitutional by the high court in 2008.
Who is Pamatong
Pamatong is a reverend at the Immortal White Rock Church of Enoch and Elijah, which is headquartered in Davao City. Pamatong was notorious for his pro-US rallies and disrupting traffic in Manila after scattering spikes on the road in 2004. A few months back, he was also seen publicly burning the Malaysian flag. He ran for president in 2004 but was declared a nuisance candidate. In 2007, he ran for governor but lost. He tried to join the 2010 presidential race by was again excluded by the poll body.
To characterize Pamatong as an ecentric would be a gross understatement. He has a checkered past as an immigration lawyer in the U.S. where he atttemted to argue that Filipinos born in the Philippines prior to 1946 were U.S. citizens.
ReplyDeleteHe reportedly wrote an autobiography entitled "American Birthright on Trial," in which he claimed that he was a member of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Sometime after he returned to the Philippines in the early 2000s he set up the Discovery Crusade of the Philippines in Manila to “defend” the United States Embassy from demonstrations by militant leftists. Setting up his base in an office across from the US Embassy, Pamatong recruited Filipinos who believed that the Philippines should be the 52nd state of the US.
He also had close ties to Nur Misuari, chairman of the Misuari faction of the Moro National Liberation Front. At one time he asserted that he had been appointed "ambassador" of the MNLF to the United Nations.
The positions that Pamatong takes in his Supreme Court petition are close to those being put forth by Misuari and the MNLF. Perhaps Pamatong is doing a favor for his old friend, "Maas" (Nur Misuari).