Marcos: Call for separate Mindanao 'doomed to fail'

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Thursday that separating Mindanao from the Philippines is a grave violation of the 1987 Constitution.

Speaking at the observation of "Constitution Day 2024" in Makati City, Marcos said the call to separate Mindanao is "doomed to fail, for it is anchored on false premise not to mention a sheer constitutional travesty."

“I strongly appeal to all concerned to stop this call for a separate Mindanao. This is a grave violation of the constitution,” Marcos said.

It was his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who floated the idea of separating Mindanao from the country through a process based on gathering signatures.

Duterte has been actively criticizing Marcos after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV said last month that investigators from the International Criminal Court (ICC) had already conducted interviews in the Philippines regarding their investigation on the former president's drug war.

'Destroying' a nation

In his speech, Marcos said Duterte's call was not aligned with the Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) brand of governance that the President's administration is forming.

"Bagkus ito ay pagwasak sa ating bansang Pilipinas (Instead, this is destroying our nation). The Constitution calls for a united undivided country. It calls for eternal cohesion," Marcos said.

"For this reason, unlike in other constitutions, there is nothing in ours that allows the breaking up of this union, such as an exit provision. On the contrary, the Constitution does not recognize the right to rebellion, while our criminal laws punishes it," he added.

Marcos vowed that the country’s territory would not be diminished, even by one square inch.

"We will continue to defend from any threats, external and internal. We will not allow even an iota of suggestion of its breaking apart. On this part of the Constitution, there is simply no dynamism or flexibility. This is my guarantee not only throughout this term but up to my dying breath," the President said.

Support from the south

Marcos noted that the current leadership of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) "has repudiated this preposterous proposal."

Amid Duterte's call for the secession of Mindanao from the Philippines, BARMM Chief Ahod Ebrahim expressed support last Friday for the Marcos administration and the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB). The CAB paved the way for the creation of the BARMM.

On the same day, the governors of Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao affirmed their commitment to achieving "full-scale development" of the provinces under their jurisdiction.

Established in 2019, the BARMM was created under the Bangsamoro Organic Law, replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. It is composed of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi and 63 barangays of North Cotabato.

With the Bangsamoro elections coming up in 2025, Marcos also said Thursday that forces outside the democratic processes should not be allowed to "deviate our dreams."

For his part, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU), recently appealed to the public to reject any calls that would "destabilize" the country including the separation of Mindanao. — NB/ VDV, GMA Integrated News