In calling for the secession of Mindanao from the Republic, former President Rodrigo Duterte is treading on dangerous ground.
First of all, it is definitely against the 1987 Constitution. Article I defines the national territory as the Philippine archipelago with all the islands and waters embraced therein.
Second, if he and his followers insist on secession, he will have to deal with the Armed Forces of the Philippine whose duty is to secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory, as provided for in Sec. 3 of Article II.
While Duterte can openly advocate secession and organize people behind their advocacy as part of freedom of expression, it is another matter if they use coercion, intimidation or even advocate the use of force to pursue their misbegotten project.
Even as the Charter recognizes the right to self-determination, it refers to our relations with other states as part of an independent foreign policy.
It does not refer to a group of people within the jurisdiction of the national government seeking to declare independence.
Duterte and his rabid supporters believe their move is based on a supposed process of the United Nations that would allow them to launch a signature campaign among people in all parts of Mindanao who want to set up a separate state.
This, the former president said, was suggested by Pantaleon Alvarez, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who would also go around Mindanao to gather signatures similar to a people’s initiative for Charter change.
Duterte and Alvarez are both lawyers, yet they would rather spit on the 1987 Constitution and tear it to shreds in their lust for unbridled political power.
But Duterte’s dream of an independent Mindanao is not likely to gather steam, as it has been roundly rejected by right-thinking people in and out of government.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, a native of Mindanao’s Bukidnon province, stated that “right now the last thing tis for our country to be chaotic and divided.”
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, the minority leader from Mindanao, is unequivocal in his stand against secession of any part of the country’s territory.
Former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who also hails from Davao, dismissed Duterte’s call for a separate Mindanao, describing it as “foolishness” and “sloganeering.”
“This is just a slogan. There is nothing to secede, it is against the Constitution. That is threatening the integrity of the national territory,” he pointed out.
We agree completely.