DAVAO CITY — “We will secede from the Philippine Republic “This is the purpose of the Mindanao Independence Movement said former President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night as he named former house speaker and Davao del Norte First District representative Pantaleon Alvarez to lead the group and start town hall meetings.
Fed up of the imperial Manila bureaucracy and always left behind in terms of development, Duterte emphasized “It is time for Mindanao to thrive, we need to follow all the legal process and consult the people. I don’t want bloodshed, I want it to be a peaceful exercise.”
What triggered?
Alvarez told Newsline, “Thanks to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, he triggered the revival of MIM. Early January, I talked with the former president and discussed the MIM because Chacha (Charter Change) is being pushed and he said, we will get out of the republic, so that started it all.”
“The long plan is to secede/separate from the national government, just like what Lee Kwan Yew did to Singapore when they seceded from Malaysia Secessionist “When you separate from a country, that is a secession,” Alvarez explained.
Duterte during the press conference Tuesday night said, he wants Alvarez to move around and educate people “Explain to them our purpose, I want everything to be done in a legal way, ayaw ko lang gulo (I don’t want trouble).
The MIM, Alvarez clarified, is different from “Hugpong ng Maisug. “Hugpong ng Maisug is about people’s initiative while MIM is about separation from the national government..”
The model of the planned new government is Singapore.
Lee was elected Prime Minister of Singapore for 31 years, making him the longest-serving prime minister in the world in his time.
What history tells us
The Mindanao Independence Movement was first launched on May 1, 1968, months after the bloody Jabidah massacre, through a manifesto issued by the late Cotabato Governor Datu Ugtog Matalam, Congressman Rashid Lukman, Senator Domocao Alonto.
The Manifesto for the declaration of the Muslim Independence Movement sought for an independent Muslim state from the Philippines comprising Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan regions.
But the movement’s was slow-paced prompted Dr. Nur Misuari, who was then a professor at the University of the Philippines and some members of the MIM founded the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1971.
The MNLF became strong and dominated Muslim provinces in Mindanao and later confronted the government through a guerilla war.
Sensing the dedication of the group, the Philippine government in 1973, initiated a peaceful settlement to resolve the conflict in Mindanao which led to the signing of the Tripoli agreement on December 26, 1976, between the MNLF and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
It led to the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Misuari sat as the first governor.
As it is now, , the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao operates under the government of the republic but has been given the autonomy to rule its region in terms of resources and policies.
The late broadcast tycoon Reuben Canoy also pushed for Mindanao Independence but the campaign died with his demise.
Duterte said, “People must understand the purpose and they will only sign if they fully understand, there should be no money involved in asking for the support of the people.”
The communities
The plan, according to Alvarez, is to conduct a grassroots information education campaign all over Mindanao, especially among the youth, “because they must understand it first.”
Although in its initial stage, Alvarez is hopeful that the campaign will be launched soon and the planned Mindanao tour will be done in six months as the 2025 mid-term elections are in the offing.
Mindanao being the food basket of the country will be able to feed its people, Duterte said “We will make sure that our Muslim brothers and sisters will have the equal opportunity as the Christians because we are one island.”
People of Mindanao, according to Duterte “Must enjoy the bounty of Mindanao and we will be self-sufficient.”
Mindanao Senators
However, this early, Mindanao Senators are not amenable to the plan.
In a report published by ABS-CBN, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr said the plan “needs more study,” saying he is not supportive of the idea.
“I am against any suggestion of secession or separation of part of Philippine territory. We have to work tirelessly on making this nation function as a working effective state,” Pimentel said in a text statement to ABS-CBN.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, in the same report said “With due respect to the former President, I think, right now, the last thing that we want is magkagulu-gulo at magkawatak-watak ang ating bansa.”
“Ang akin diyan i-slow down natin ang away ngayon kasi ang importante diyan eh ang kapakanan ng taumbayan.”
Sen. Imee Marcos meantime acknowledged Duterte’s discontent about what is happening in Mindanao.
