By Lilian C. Mellejor
DAVAO CITY, Dec. 2
(PNA) -- President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to work for the realization of a
federal form of government even if it requires him to campaign nationwide in
order to prevent full-blown revolution or extremism to thrive beyond this
generation.
Speaking before the
more than 400 participants of the 3rd Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) Local Government Summit at SMX Convention Center late Thursday
afternoon, President Duterte said a federal set-up is the other acceptable
structure especially in Mindanao.
The other - is
extremism, which he said should be avoided by every Muslim “because it is not
our idea.” Otherwise, if extremism originated in Mindanao, he said, “I will be
the first to call upon the Moro people to a total revolution.”
“Wag tayong pumayag ng
ganito (We should not agree to this – extremism) whatever may, how long it may
take, whatever are the costs kasi hindi ito talaga para sa akin (because this
is not really for me).
The President vowed to
campaign for the federal structure. “Maybe I’ll just campaign for it, for its
approval among the Visayans,” he said. He said he will also campaign among the
Moro people.
He recalled there have
been many proposals in the past to solve the dynamics of Mindanao like
separation and autonomy, but nothing has come out of it and instead of unifying
the Moro people, these have become divisive measures against the Moro tribes or
groupings.
“And all these years,
lahat dito nagsa-suffer (everybody here suffered). We are suffering because
there seems to be no cohesive action on the part of the Moro people and the
central government,” said the President, adding that there have been a lot of
meetings and attempts including the creation of the Southern Philippines
Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD).
The SPCPD was created
by the government and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). It was supposed to
be an avenue for a political settlement of the 24-year Bangsa Moro armed
struggle. Some people believed that the SPCPD was the best way of arriving at a
conclusion to the armed struggle.
“Hindi ko malaman kung
saan talaga ako papunta (I really don’t know where to go). But I think the only
acceptable arrangement, as of today, this moment of our generation, and of the
lives of the Moro people is federalism. Other than that, bakbakan ‘to (there
will be fighting),” he said.
Mr. Duterte said the
time is now for the Moro people, including the Maoist Communist Party of the
Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People’s Army (CPP-NDF-NPA) to seize
the opportunity that he is the president.
“I am not saying I am
the indispensable factor in this island. But what I’m saying, the most, maybe
not really golden but the most appropriate opportunity at this time of our
generation, tayong buhay ngayon (we who are still alive), will be now,” he
stressed.
According to him, it
is only the Filipino people who can solve the country’s problem without foreign
influence or intervention.
“Then by the grace of
Allah, you might find a good solution for this land. But right now, we have to
act,” he said.
The President admitted
he has been receiving different signals on what would be the reception of the
people on the federal set-up. Two congressmen, he said, asked to him to fix it
otherwise it will lose in the plebiscite.
He told the
participants that his only wish is “a semblance of your territory, your
governance and the happiness of the Moro people.” (PNA)
