Duterte pitches federalism as alternative to BBL

Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

DAVAO CITY – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte urged the grand imam of Davao to help him make a pitch for federalism among the Moro people as an alternative to the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Duterte told Imam Mohammad Pasigan, during Thursday’s distribution of food assistance to the city’s Muslims in connection with the fasting month of Ramadan, that the reality is that the BBL that was being cooked in Congress was not what the Moro had desired, therefore, it would not achieve what was being aimed for – the resolution of the Bangsamoro problem.

“Don’t hope too much on it,” he said.

READ: Duterte to Aquino: BBL doomed, plan B needed

Duterte, who has been open about his support, with reservation, to the version drafted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-led Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), said the problem lies with the “ignorance of Manila” on the root of the Moro problem.

“What I don’t like about Manila is they make wrong decisions for Mindanao. They act as if they know everything about our land, and then put us in jeopardy,” he said.

Duterte said he had already foreseen that “one day, we will face hostilities in the east and west side.”

“Do you think the MILF will accept a diluted version? What about the other factions? I think we will be counting body bags as President Aquino had warned,” he told Pasigan during a brief talk at the city’s mosque at Ecoland Subdivision in Matina here.

READ: MILF: No 2nd phase of arms, forces decommissioning if BBL is not approved

Duterte said there are also other sectors who did not want the BBL and they too could cause trouble.

“If it becomes bloody then the UN (United Nations) will come in and these people will ask for their right to self-determination,” he said, adding that it would result in a fragmented country.

But under federalism, Duterte said that everyone will be happy.

“It is the viable alternative to the prevailing antiquated system and to effect meaningful political and social changes in the country,” he said.

READ: Duterte: Federalism to end Mindanao colonization by Manila elite

Duterte said with federalism, the wishes and aspirations of the various tribes and peoples in Mindanao would be addressed.

Under a federal system, sovereignty and power are divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units. Federalism is also a system based on democratic rules and institutions.

“I saw that this is the answer so I agreed when Reuben Canoy (founder of Radio Mindanao Network and one of the strong advocates of federalism) and Senator (Aquilino) Pimentel, the father, asked me to help in pushing for federalism,” he said.

Duterte has been on a listening tour across the country and will visit Catanduanes anytime this month “for the last leg of the federalism campaign.”

Reacting to the Inquirer’s question about the need to have a president that would carry forward the federalism campaign after his listening tour, Duterte said “God will provide one.”

He then went on to say that he was not running for president in 2016 despite the result of the latest Pulse Asia survey that showed him just seven percentage points behind Vice President Jejomar Binay’s 22 percent.

READ: Poe zooms past Binay

“I did not say that I will run if I surpassed Binay’s ratings. What I said was that I might run if I get 91 percent in the surveys,” he said.

Duterte also downplayed TV commercials perceived as campaign ads elsewhere in the country, and the sprouting of giant billboards of him campaigning for safe driving.

“Somebody spent for it,” he said, adding that many people “with their own agenda” rode on his federalism campaign and pushed for his presidency.

“Mine was just federalism, they have their agenda and wanted me to run. I have said it many times over, I’m not interested, I have no money, I’m too old for that and my family did not want it,” Duterte said.

Asked if he would reconsider his decision should somebody provide the campaign fund, Duterte shook his head.

But unlike in the past when his face would turn red, he just smiled when Pasigan and other Muslim religious leaders present at the mosque called him “Mr. President.”