JUSTICE Secretary Leila M. De Lima said although Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal may have violated the law when he used a nom de guerre, he cannot be charged due to the ongoing peace talks.
In a position paper issued on Friday, De Lima said Article 178 of the Revised Penal Code provides that those who use a false name to conceal a crime, evade judgment or cause damage to the public interest will be fined up to P500,000 and imprisoned for up to six months.
But De Lima said Iqbal cannot be prosecuted because he is covered by the agreement on safe conduct and security guarantees that protects rebels who are negotiating with the government.
De Lima said these guarantees include the grant of safe conduct along with the freedom from seizure, detention, restraint or harassment while the peace talks are ongoing.
In short, she said, the government approved Iqbal’s use of a nom de guerre as “a confidence building measure” to pursue peace talks with the MILF.
At the same time, she said the agreement signed by Iqbal is voidable but not invalid.
For the agreement to take effect, she said, a requisite under the Civil Code is the consent or approval of the parties in the contract.
She added that the Civil Code did not say that the use of an alias by one of the parties will be a reason to void the contract.
But Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on local government, said his panel will investigate who notarized the peace agreement and documents signed by Iqbal, who signed them with an alias.
He noted that under the law, notarized documents should be signed by persons using their real names, and not a nom de guerre.
“This is entirely the first peace agreement in the world which a government negotiated with a fictitious person,” Marcos said.
Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday said he is 100 percent sure that Datucan Abas is Iqbal’s real name based on his criminal records and school records from the Manuel Luis
Quezon University in Manila where he graduated.
He also said government documents signed by then Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina and former Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) chief
Eduardo Ermita showing that Iqbal used the name Datucan Abas.
Although Marcos recognizes that rebels use nom de guerre, he believes these cannot be used in legal and civil transactions, such as the one entered into by Iqbal with the Philippine government.
“Who is really responsible? Who really binds the MILF in this peace negotiations knowing full well that the other side gave a person who claims to be this person when in fact, he is not the person known and registered under the Philippine civil registry?”
Marcos also said there is no assurance that the very one who led the negotiation is a Filipino, and not a Malaysian, or holding dual citizenship.
He pointed out that this places the entire peace process under a cloud of doubt.
During last Monday’s resumption of hearings on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Iqbal refused to reveal his true identity despite being pressed by Marcos and the other senators.
The MILF chief negotiator said “Iqbal” was the name he used in negotiating with the government. It is “one amongst many names” he uses.
Marcos has maintained that using a nom de guerre, and claiming to represent the MILF, Iqbal places the entire peace process in jeopardy because he lacks the legal status to even represent and negotiate with the government.
“What is the civil status of this person? Do we grant this person the authority to even use his nom de guerre in say, entering into a bank account with a Philippine bank and even issue checks under his name?” asked Marcos.
“And in the event that the Philippine government gives funds to the Bangsamoro Transitional Council of which this “person known as Iqbal” heads as chairman, which name would he then sign those voluminous financial documents? Will he still use Iqbal, a name without civil and legal status in the Philippines?” he added.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, on the other hand, toed the Palace line that Iqbal’s use of an alias would have no legal implications on the peace agreement that he signed.
“The use of a nom de guerre by Iqbal in signing the peace agreement does not constitute any legal violation, for both parties involved fully recognized Iqbal as the MILF’s chief negotiator in the peace process,” he said.
“What is important is that the MILF will honor and fulfill its obligations under the peace agreement,” he added.
Still, he urged Iqbal to reveal his real name to address misconceptions about the MILF’s commitment to the peace process.