Let’s not fight over Manila’s faults, mayor tells traders

MINDANAOANS should not fight each other due to policies crafted in Manila, said Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte even as he warned of a fresh round of violence over the fate of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). “We are all from Mindanao, why are we going to kill each other?” Duterte said during the just-held 9th National Palm Oil Congress in General Santos City.

Duterte pointed out that Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chair Al-haj Murad, Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Teresita Deles and even President Aquino himself all separately warned of “war” if the BBL does not push through.

He said this was what prompted him to go around the country to promote federalism which he said is acceptable to the different Muslim groups, including the rival factions of the Moro National Liberation Front headed by Nur Misuari and Muslimin Sema.

Duterte said Filipino Muslims like Misuari and other Tausugs do not want those in Central Mindanao, like the MILF, to lord it over them, vice versa.

“Manila people and leaders think of the situation in Mindanao as just another insurrection,” Duterte said. Duterte, who said Mindanao leaders were not consulted prior and during the drafting of the BBL, blamed Manila’s “ignorance and arrogance” over the threat of violence in the country’s second biggest island.

He said people in Manila “never really bothered to ask what’s the culture,” he added, noting that even before the Christians came, the Muslim groups already had their own dynamics in Mindanao.

Duterte has actively campaigned for the BBL despite his opposition to at least two provisions.

“I support the BBL to buy time and to bide time,” Duterte said in a previous federalism forum. The mayor said he foresaw the problem when he first the saw the draft which prompted him to go around the country to promote federalism which he insists is the “last card” for peace in Mindanao.

“I am the only one holding the card of federalism,” he declared before the oil palm stakeholders. Among those who attended the congress in Gen. Santos was MILF vice chair Jaafar Ghadzali.  Duterte pointed out that law and order is a vital ingredient in the development of the country. According to industry sources, the country imports $600 million worth of palm oil from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Mindanao, due to its geographical location, is most suitable to palm oil like Malaysia which palm oil developers said has benefited greatly from the industry.

This potential, however, would have to wait. “Unless there is peace and order, we cannot hope to develop the entire island into a productive place,” Duterte said. (chito fuentes)