MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday (Feb 8) that calls for independence for the country’s southern island of Mindanao were a “constitutional travesty” and “doomed to fail.”
It is the first time he has addressed the issue since his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, called for his home island to break away, as his alliance with Marcos collapsed very publicly amid insults and disagreements over constitutional reform.
“The new call for a separate Mindanao is doomed to fail, for it is anchored on a false premise, not to mention a sheer constitutional travesty,” Marcos said in a speech on Constitution Day without naming his outspoken predecessor.
“I strongly appeal to all concerned to stop this call for a separate Mindanao. This is a grave violation of the constitution,” he said. “This is not the new Philippines that we are trying to mould. Rather this would destroy the country.”