Presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo (File photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Government officials who vowed to “crush” any secessionist movements in Mindanao are simply “overreacting.”
So said former presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo.
Panelo was visibly annoyed by fierce comments about threats to seize Duterte.
He defended former President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal to separate Minanao from the rest of the Philippines.
He believes the former leader’s pronouncement was merely a suggestion.
“To those who are saying this, you are overreacting. OA!” Panelo said in Filipino, referring to Duterte’s detractors, on Monday.
“What are you going to crush? What are you going to crush? What secession are you talking about?”
“The secession that is being articulated by the former president is just an idea,” he clarified his program over Sonshine Media Network International.
He said such a proposal would not even fall within the crime of sedition as Duterte did not rise “tumultuously” against the government.
Panelo, a former presidential adviser, said this condition must exist before an action could be considered a crime.
This requirement follows the Revised Penal Code, he pointed out.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re all too OA. It’s annoying,” he said.
He then directed his ire at Duterte’s former Cabinet members who, according to Panelo, were now singing a different tune.
“It’s annoying because those who are speaking are former cabinet members of President Duterte. You’re all too eager to please Malacañang,” he noticed.
While Panelo did not name a former Cabinet member, it was National Security Adviser Eduardo Año had warned that the government would not hesitate to use force to quell any attempts to divide the nation.
Año served as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government from 2018 to 2022 during the term of Duterte.
Duterte made his proposal known in a press conference on Jan. 31.