For now, Bato dela Rosa rejects bid for a separate Mindanao

For now, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa is rejecting a proposal of his ally, former president Rodrigo Duterte, to separate Mindanao from the rest of the country, as the idea of him having to get a visa to visit his grandchildren in Batangas is making him think twice (File photo from the Senate Social Media Unit)

MANILA, Philippines — The idea that he would need a visa just to visit his grandchildren in Batangas is making Senator Ronald Dela Rosa think twice about having an independent Mindanao.

Hence, for now, dela Rosa said he is not supporting the “separate and independent” Mindanao proposal of his ally, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Both the senator, who was police chief during the early part of the Duterte administration, and Duterte hail from Mindanao.

“On my part, personally, right now I don’t want to because I don’t want to get a visa if I go. I will visit my grandchildren here in Batangas,” dela Rosa said, speaking partly in Filipino, when asked if he is in favor of the “One Mindanao” proposal.

“From Davao, lilipad ako dito. Kukuha pa ako ng visa dahil ibang bansa na pala itong Luzon at saka Visayas,”  he added during an interview at the Senate on Tuesday.

(From Davao, I will fly here. I will have to get a visa because it turns out that Luzon and Visayas are already different countries.)

Dela Rosa surmised that proponents of One Mindanao were just sending a message that they would be forced to encourage a separate state if pushed to the wall.

READ: Duterte now wants ‘separate, independent’ Mindanao

However, he said he is almost certain that One Mindanao movers will not use violence just to push for it.

“If they separate, maybe they have their own legal plans to do it not by use of force, not through violence,” he said.

In the end, dela Rosa said the decision on whether or not to have a separate state would still be up to the people of  Mindanao.

“As we always say, supremacy resides on  the people,” he said.

“Eh kung sabihin ng mga tao doon na gusto na naming maghiwalay (If the people there say that we want to separate) through peaceful means, through legal means then, gawin nila ‘yun kung ano gusto nilang gawin, nararapat nilang gawin (let them do what they want to do, what they should do),” he said.