Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez on Friday urged the public to turn away from any action that would destabilize the country, including former President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for Mindanao to secede from the rest of the country.
“When we, as Filipinos, are united, there is peace, development and prosperity. But when we, as a people, are divided, there is instability, underdevelopment, and disorder,” Galvez said in a statement.
“Let us therefore turn away from any call or movement that aims to destabilize our beloved nation, especially to separate Mindanao from the rest of the country,” he added.
The move to separate Mindanao is anathema to the Constitution and would go against the present administration’s push for unity across the country.
Galvez, a former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, also called on the public to continue supporting the administration’s push for peace, reconciliation, and unity.
He said that even members of former revolutionary groups are already helping the government in pushing for true peace and sustainable development in the Bangsamoro region through inclusive, people-centered moral governance.
“Mindanao has already shed its image as a land of volatility, violence and armed struggle. It has now become a symbol of hope, mutual understanding, and solidarity, and most of all, a shining example that good things come to those who choose the path of peace,” Galvez said.
“We cannot afford to go back to square one,” he added.
“The dividends of peace are upon us and are now being felt by everyone,” he said.
Galvez’s remarks came days after Duterte called for a separate and independent Mindanao at a press conference in Davao City.
Galvez’s call for unity was echoed by Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, who urged the public to continue supporting the Marcos administration and help protect the gains of the peace processes.
“Let us continue to support the current administration and allow peace and civility to reign over the affairs of our land,” Ebrahim said in a separate statement.
Ebrahim said that as the current head of BARMM, he stands “firmly on adhering to the faithful implementation of the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Signed in 2014, the CAB became the basis for crafting the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which was passed in 2018 to allow the creation of BARMM.
“Although more has yet to be done, parties to the CAB have made great strides in the implementation of its components that are ultimately beneficial to the Bangsamoro people,” the BARMM leader said.
“We remain grateful for, and acknowledge, the significant contributions made by past and present presidents of the Philippines in arriving at the peaceful settlement of the Bangsamoro question.”
Senator Imee Marcos, who has tried to smooth strained relations between her family and the Dutertes, said she doesn’t see the former president’s call for secession as a threat to the administration.
“I don’t like to see it as a threat because I heard [about] secession of Mindanao many, many times. Out of sheer frustration and anger at the abject lack of equity, injustice really, it’s been historical and every Mindanaoan will tell you the same,” Marcos said on ANC Headstart.
Earlier this week, former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio disparaged Duterte’s call for a separate Mindanao, describing it as “foolishness” and “sloganeering.”
Carpio, who also hails from Davao, said the idea of Mindanao seceding from the Philippines through a process based on gathering signatures, as Duterte suggested, is against the 1987 Constitution.
“This is just a slogan. There is nothing to secede, it is against the Constitution. That is threatening the integrity of the national territory,” Carpio said in an interview with GMAnews.
On Tuesday, Duterte said it was Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez who first pushed for seceding from the Republic of the Philippines.
“There’s a process, I think, before the UN [United Nations] wherein you would gather signatures from all sorts of Mindanao verified under oath in the presence of so many people [to] decide that we want a separate… [state]” Duterte said.