INQUIRER FILES
DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — Several local business groups, including foreign chambers of commerce, welcomed the lifting of the state of national emergency in Mindanao, saying it would augur well for more investments to pour into the island.
“To me it’s not just important, it is a milestone,” said Nilo Claudio, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CCCP)-Davao, of the issuance of Proclamation No. 298 that was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 25.
CCCP is one of the foreign chambers that have been seeking the help of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to help change the negative perception of the security situation in Mindanao.
“The perception about Mindanao is giyera tayo dito (we have a war here). There is a national state of emergency and this has created problems among the business sector. With this proclamation, Mindanao is officially no longer in a state of national emergency. We’re really welcoming this,” Claudio said during the SM Kapehan here on Monday.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 55 on Sept. 4, 2016, due to “lawless violence perpetrated by private armies and local warlords, bandits, criminal syndicates, terrorist groups, and religious extremists” in Mindanao.
Proclamation 55 gave the Armed Forces of the Philippines a big role in securing the national highway and key establishments and facilities in Mindanao, even bringing in more troops from Luzon. Their conspicuous presence along the highways and urban centers have made many visitors and outsiders uncomfortable.
Changes
Under Proclamation 298, President Marcos noted the government had significantly restored peace and order in Mindanao “through successful and focused military and law enforcement operations and programs that promote sustainable and inclusive peace,” hence the decision to lift Proclamation 55.
Claudio said he expected some changes, such as the redeployment of forces and the reduction of the number of checkpoints and detachments in Mindanao following the proclamation.
“If there will be no change in the next few months, it will still feel as if Proclamation 55 has not been lifted. This is a challenge to our AFP and PNP (Philippine National Police),” Claudio said.
Keisuke Nakao, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Mindanao, added Proclamation 298 was “a very big step” hailed by the local business sector, as he had been often asked by other Japanese businessmen about the negative advisories from foreign embassies involving Mindanao, particularly the Davao region.
For Antonio Peralta, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines in Southern Mindanao, they need to amplify Proclamation 298: “We have to convey this because we are losing [those prospective investments] by default [because of] the kind of perception. We are portrayed in Mindanao that we are not a viable investment destination, which really we are. We have a lot of comparative advantages here,” Peralta said.
Lesson learned
MinDA Secretary Maria Belen Acosta said the proclamation would send a good signal to the international community, especially the foreign embassies that previously released travel advisories tagging Mindanao as a place to avoid in the country.
Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, commander of the AFP Eastern Mindanao Command, however, said during the same forum that the current deployment and security setup would continue despite the proclamation, citing a lesson the military learned in 1992 when they made a “mistake” by turning over all internal security operations to the PNP.
“Medyo nagkamali (it was wrong), our problem with insurgency resurged, [so our] operation will continue until the time that there will be no more threat from the armed groups,” he said.
“What is the current setup right now will still remain effective. There will be no pullout,” he said.
But Claudio believed changes in security setup would soon happen: “When the documents will be passed on to all the commands, I’m sure the AFP and PNP will meet and do some evaluations and assessments. I’m sure they will put real meat to this proclamation.”
He also noted that the AFP had already reported that the presence of rebel forces and terrorism had considerably weakened in Mindanao and that the President had spoken about refocusing the deployment of troops to the West Philippine Sea, leaving the handling of domestic threats to the police.