Independent Mindanao?

FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte has disclosed plans to separate Mindanao from the Philippines through a signature campaign.

Duterte, in a press conference in Davao City on Tuesday night, said Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez was among the first to push for the “desirability of Mindanao seceding from the Republic of the Philippines.”

He said the move is neither a form of rebellion nor sedition as there are precedents of such a move in other parts of the world.

“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 separate,” he said.

The former president said nothing has happened to the Philippines even after so many presidents.

“Gusto ko talaga. Gusto ko na, nagsawa na ako. (I really want it now, I already want it, I have had enough),” he said, adding that Mindanao is rich and can survive independently from the national government.

He said it has sufficient resources and can even send help to Luzon and the Visayas when calamities happen.

Alvarez, who was present during the media conference, said the idea is to make Mindanao a separate and independent country, similar to what Singapore did when it separated from Malaysia.

But Duterte’s disclosure was immediately rebuffed by senators, with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who is from Bukidnon, saying that as a “Mindanaoan,” separating Mindanao from the Philippines is “the last thing that we want” since it will cause a lot of problems.

“With respect to the former president, I think right now the last thing that we want is magkagulo-gulo at magkawatak-watak ang ating bansa. Ang akin diyan, i-slowdown natin ang away ngayon kasi ang importante diyan ay ang kapakanan ng taumbayan. And I think all these infightings between the different groups is not going to be good for our country (With respect to the former president, I think right now the last thing that we want is to be divided. For me, we should slow down the infighting because the most important thing right now is the welfare of our people. These infightings between the different groups is not going to be good