Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity Carlito Galvez Jr. on Friday urged the public to reject the call of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to secede Mindanao from the Philippines, saying it would only lead to destabilizing the Philippines.
"When we, as Filipinos, are united, there is peace, development and prosperity. But when we, as a people, are divided, there is instability, underdevelopment and disorder," Galvez said in a statement.
"Let us therefore turn away from any call or movement that aims to destabilize our beloved nation, especially to separate Mindanao from the rest of the country," he added.
Galvez said the call for the separation of Mindanao is against the Constitution, adding that it goes against the principles of the country that is already benefiting from the comprehensive peace process that ended the decades of armed conflict in Mindanao.
He then urged Filipinos to keep their support to the peace, reconciliation, and unity agenda of the Marcos administration.
On Tuesday, Duterte bared his plan of separating Mindanao from the Philippines through a process of gathering signatures similar to the current heated discussion over the People's Initiative for Charter-change (Cha-cha).
During a press conference in Davao City, Duterte, who served as mayor of Davao City for years, bared that it was Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez who first pushed for the "desirability of Mindanao seceding from the Republic of the Philippines."
"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 want a separate," he said.
"Kaya ko siya inilagay, so that we can pursue. By this time you would know the wherewithal. Hindi naman rebellion, hindi 'yan sedition...," he continued
