04/02/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly The use of municipal law rules for international judicial and arbitral procedure has been more common and more specific than any other type of application.[13] The International Court of Justice has accepted res judicata as applicable to international litigation.[14] The following observations by leading commentators on international law should give pause for thought: It is clear that, in general, judicial decisions (of national tribunals) in cases involving international law, domestic as well as international, can and will be cited for their persuasiveness by parties to an international legal dispute, the decisions of courts and other tribunals often being seen to affirm or announce a treaty-based rule or interpretation, a tenet of customary international law, or a general principle of law, international or domestic. Judicial decisions are seen as trustworthy evidence of what the law really is on a given subject; and this point is verified by most of the leading international adjudicative and arbitral decisions that have helped to lay the foundations of, and otherwise articulate, the substance of international law.[15] (Words in parenthesis and emphasis supplied) Thus, in my earlier submission, I stated that should this matter ever be referred to an international tribunal for adjudication, it is highly probable that a ruling based on mootness alone without more would be taken as an indicative endorsement of the validity of the MOA under Philippine law. That misimpression should be rectified for purposes that transcend the ordinary adjudicative exercise, I stressed. Firstly, is the MILF correct when it asserted that the MOA-AD may already be considered as binding on the Philippine government? Reference to the initialed but unsigned copy of the MOA-AD is useful.[16] There are three distinct initials that appear at the bottom of each and every page of the 11page MOA-AD: that of Garcia and Esperon for the Philippine negotiating panel, and that of Iqbal for the MILF. Page 11, the signature page, appears as follows: IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned being the representatives of the Parties hereby affix their signatures. Done this 5th day of August, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. FOR THE GRP FOR THE MILF (unsigned) RODOLFO C. GARCIA Chairman GRP Peace Negotiating Panel (unsigned) MOHAGHER IQBAL Chairman} MILF Peace Negotiating Panel WITNESSED BY: (unsigned) DATUK OTHMAN BIN ABD RAZAK Special Adviser to the Prime Minister ENDORSED BY: elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/47263 143/203