Thursday, August 14, 2008 Mindanao should secede: prof
A PROFESSOR of economic and political dynamics at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies in Kyoto University, Japan expressed support for an independent Bangsamoro state.
Dr. Patricio Abinales, a native of Misamis Occidental, thinks the entire Mindanao should separate itself from the country. He said he is “in favor of Mindanao separatism.”
“There is no integration between Christians and Muslims in Mindanao, so everyone (in Mindanao) should secede,” he said in a seminar yesterday for political science students from different universities in Cebu.
Abinales is one of the authors of a book on Philippine politics, which tackled social stratification, decentralization and “isles of state strength.”
But his American co-author, Dr. Donna Amoroso, disagreed with him on the Bangsamoro issue. Amoroso is an associate professor of Southeast Asian Studies in Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
‘Weak state’
In their book, the authors called the Philippines a “weak but resilient” state, saying it has not collapsed despite its internal conflicts.
“The (Philippine) state has not broken apart. Its territorial integrity remains,” Amoroso told the students in the same seminar yesterday.
She said that because of this, Mindanao “should not secede.”
Abinales also spoke on the issue of going into a federal form of government, as their book weighs the consequences of centralization and decentralization in the Philippines.
“If you want the state to function effectively, then federalize,” Abinales said yesterday, citing the so-called “Ceboom miracle” that transformed Cebu.
He said that federalization may be a tactic of President Arroyo to “allow local power to exist while trying to establish national presence”.
“It (may be) a way to balance national authority with local power,” Abinales said.
Not the solution
Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said changing the Constitution will not solve the problems the country faces today.
Osmeña said the country’s problems are not caused by the Constitution but by mismanagement of government officials and poor implementation of government programs and policies.
Instead of pinning their hopes on a Charter Change, local government units should play a more active role in nation-building by providing services to their constituents, he said.
“I think there’s so much faith and hope that Cha-Cha will solve our problems. No, because our problems is not in the Constitution. Twenty percent of our problems are caused by poor implementation of policy and the other 80 percent by mismanagement. This is what is wrong with our country today,” Osmeña told a news conference.
He also complained that the role of local government units (LGUs) in nation-building is not clearly defined, so that there is not much coordination between the programs of the LGUs and the National Government.
“What I’m worried about is that we will pass a beautiful Constitution and the people will not be happy... Everybody is busy passing ordinances in the LGUs, which are designed to make life better. But after all the laws passed, are our lives better?” he asked.
Osmeña also said the provisions of the Constitution should not be changed all at once, to give the public time and chance to express their opinion and sentiments on what provisions should be changed.
Once amended, there should be a continuous process of improvements.
“Maybe they should only concentrate on 20 amendments at a time so people will be part of the thinking process. If you discuss the whole Constitution, the debate will be yabag,” he added. (LCR/KAB)
