PNP chief rejects call for Mindanao independence

PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON)

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for a separate and independent Mindanao should not be entertained, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said on Monday. 

“Let us be united, let us not entertain these ideas,” Acorda said during a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Acorda said that the nation should remain united to honor the sacrifice of the country’s heroes.

“Marami na pong buhay at dugo na nasakripisyo…” Acorda said. (So many lives were sacrificed and blood shed.)

“It’s not good, after all the sacrifices of our heroes and other kababayans and now that we are enjoying peace,” he added.

Acorda earlier said that chaos may ensue if the former president’s call for a separate Mindanao pushes through, but there is no cause for alarm as of now.

On January 31, Duterte claimed that local political forces would regroup in the Davao Region to start a movement for Mindanao’s independence.

The new movement, he said, “won’t be a bloody one” and would be headed by Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.