DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 January) – After a failed bid to change the 1987 Constitution and shift to a Federal Philippines during his six-year Presidency, former President Rodrigo Duterte now wants an independent Mindanao.
It will not be a bloody separation from the Philippines and they would go all the way to the United Nations, he told a press conference Tuesday night.He said he wants former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who was seated beside him at the Blue Chateau room of the Grand Men Seng Hotel, to head the “Davao grouping, not necessarily a party” to start the machinery that would campaign for Mindanao independence.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte and former House Speaker Pantalon Alvarez Jr. at the press conference Tuesday night, 30 January 2024, in Davao City. MIndaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
Earlier in the press conference, he announced they would form a new political party that a few minutes later had transformed into a “Davao grouping, not necessarily a party” and much later was referred to as a “movement.”
Duterte, who is turning 79 in March, provided vague details about what the still unnamed “party” or “movement” would do and what their timeline is. “We will take our time. We are not in a hurry,” he said.
After the press conference, he told MindaNews he does not expect an independent Mindanao to happen within his lifetime.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte talks about an independent Mindanao during a press conference on Tuesday, 30 January 2024 in Davao City. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
Duterte, the first Mindanawon to be elected President and now adviser to the still unnamed group, said he chose Alvarez, Representative of the 1st district of Davao del Norte, to head it because Alvarez, House Speaker during the first half of Duterte’s Presidency, was among the first advocates of the “desirability of Mindanao seceding from the Republic of the Philippines.”
In November last year, Alvarez said Mindanao should advocate for independence if the administration drags the entire nation “towards the prospect of war.” The Manila Bulletin quoted him as saying that if the Philippine government keeps on “challenging China instead of seeking a balanced and sound approach that prioritizes national interest, I guess it is better to advocate for the independence of peaceful people of Mindanao and free the people of the south from a miserable devastation, as dictated by the north, so that we Mindanawons can be allowed to chart our own destiny.”
Mindanao, the country’s food basket and richest in mineral and oil resources, has a population of 26.3 million as of the May 2020 national census, spread across 28 provinces and 33 cities in six regions.
“Di naman rebellion, hindi yan sedition. There’s a process in that, I think before the United Nations where you would gather signatures from all sorts in Mindanao, magpirma, verified under oath, in the presence of so many people, we sign that we want a separate (Mindanao),” Duterte, a lawyer, said.
“Under public international law, the territories of states are sacrosanct. Secession is neither allowed nor encouraged. It happens only when there is a successful armed uprising and the new state is recognized by others, former Law dean and law professor Antonio La Vina, told MindNews.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, a Mindanawon, told reporters in Manila that “with due respect to the former president, I think right now the last thing that we want is to have the country divided.”
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, another Mindanawon, said he is “against any suggestion of secession or separation of part of the Philippine territory.” Pimentel III served as Senate President under the Duterte administration.
Federal Philippines
“Kung mag independent tayo, ako gusto ko talaga, gusto ko na (I really want, I really want us to go independent), Duterte said, adding that several administrations have passed since Cory Aquino took over as President after the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1986, but “walang nangyari sa Pilipinas” (nothing has changed in the Philippines).
Duterte was President from June 30, 2016 until June 30, 2022. He campaigned for federalism and promised to have the1987 Constitution changed to shift from a unitary, Presidential system to a federal system of government.
He issued Executive Order 10 in December 2016 creating the 25-member Consultative Committee (ConCOm) to review the 1987 Constitution. But he took so long in naming the ConCom members, appointing the first 19 in late January 2018.
Six months later, the ConCom submitted its draft Constitution for a Federal Philippines comprising 16 federated regions, the Bangsamoro, and the Federated region of the Cordillera.
Duterte said it was “not the right time to do it because may mga sporadic rebellion pa” and his administration pushed it then, “baka ituloy na lang talaga nila yung separation” (they might push through separation).
It is not clear what group Duterte was referring to then. In 2018, deliberations for the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the enabling law to implement the peace agreement between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, were going on while the ConCom was reviewing the Constitution. The law was passed in July that year, the same month the ConCom submitted its report to the President.
The Moro National Liberation Front was also being attended to by the Duterte administration then.
“Regrouping”
Earlier in the press conference, Duterte announced a new political configuration.
“There will be a sort of regrouping dito sa political arena dito sa Davao,” he said adding that it is “still in the works” but he is eyeing Alvarez to head the “partido (party).
He said they will try to figure out if they can have “isang boses” (one voice) “at least in Davao.
Apparently still smarting from how members of his super majority in Congress during his Presidency had quickly abandoned his Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP) and moved over to President Marcos’ political party, Duterte said “we do not accept people na walang prinsipyo, labaw na kung congressman ka, wala kang prinsipyo, wag ka nang pumasok” (unprincipled people, especially if you are an unprincipled congressman, do not join us).
He spoke of losing supporters in Congress. “Pati yung mga tao ko, ubos” (Even my own people, they’re gone), he said, except for his son Paolo, representative of the 1st district and Isidro Ungab, 3rd district representative.
“Kaya mag, we’ll try to make a political party,” he said, adding that he would insist on partymates who are principled and not just for convenience.
Only a few national and Mindanawon personalities showed up at the day-long Hakbang ng Maisug Leaders’ Forum last Sunday, even as the guest of honor was. Duterte. He did not show up at the forum. He proceeded to the rally.
Duterte explained that the campaign of this new “grouping” is “not a sub rosa thing. Hindi yanwhisper, talagang openly yan.”
According to Duterte, Alvarez “has been going around convincing people” to support their campaign because despite all the efforts, “the next president again will be as lousy as the old. “
Alvarez explained the need to “educate the people about this advocacy of a Midnanao independence. We have to talk to the leaders, convince them why we have to… and pag okay na, maybe we can form a solid group to push the realization of that advocacy.”
“At stake is the future of our children so mag-separate na lang tayo” (let us separate), Duterte said.
It was also at the Grand Men Seng hotel where federalism as a campaign platform for Duterte was launched on December 1, 2014.
Similar to the Hakbang ng Maisug Leaders’ Forum last Sunday, the Mindanao Leaders’ Summit on Federalism in 2014 gathered advocates of federalism to push for a nationwide campaign to change the country’s system of government, arguing it was “an idea whose time has come.”
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte pushes for a federal form of government during the Mindanao Leaders Summit on Monday (December 2) in Davao City. Mindanews Photo by Keith Bacongco
Duterte, then on his seventh term as Davao City mayor, said changing the form of government “is a thing we badly need” but acknowledged that “di alam ng mga tao na kailangan natin ito” (people don’t know that we need this).
The Summit paved the way for what the Duterte political strategists dubbed as “listening tours” on federalism, a platform to test the viability of Duterte’s running for President in 2016. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
