By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Echoing President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s earlier statement that the push to make Mindanao a separate country is “doomed to fail,” a top official of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Saturday asked the “Mindanao independence” proponents led by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez about their economic rationale.
NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon made the statement a few days after Duterte’s ally Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who’s a Davao resident openly rejected calls for a “separate and independent Mindanao,” citing the hassles of getting a visa if he has to visit his grandchildren in Batangas.
“You need popular support. What is the economic rationale for this?” Ediilon asked, adding that Mindanawons are likely to suffer social costs if calls for the secession of the country’s second-largest island prosper.
“More than the economic cost, it is the social cost,” Edillon noted in a press conference in Quezon City.
“Yung mga taga-Mindanao din, parang talking about cost of doing business, madadagdagan yung cost of doing business nila,” she added.
The NEDA official also cited the impracticality and hassles of having a separate “Mindanao republic.”
“We dont want a situation na kapag pupunta tayo sa Mindanao, we need a visa or a passport,” Edillon said.
She noted that many Mindanawons working in Luzon and the Visayas have relatives in Mindanao.
Dela Rosa earlier said he does not support the “separate and independent” Mindanao proposal of Duterte.
A staunch Duterte ally, Dela Rosa was the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief during the early part of the Duterte administration.
“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.
(el Amigo/MNM)
