What now Mindanao?

By
Atty. Benedicto Bacani
Institute for Autonomy and Governance
Cotabato City
(Remarks delivered during the Forum Getting Rody For Change: The Philippines in a
New Political Landscape organized by Publicus Asia, July 15, 2016, Club Filipino,
Greenhills, San Juan)

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I think that no one can dispute that Mindanao is central or at the very least special in
the Duterte administration. Why not? The President is from Mindanao, majority of
his cabinet members are from or closely linked with Mindanao, the incoming Senate
President is from Cagayan de Oro, the incoming House speaker is from the Davao
region. People are now talking about imperial Davao but in fact, one of the
Presidents campaign lines was to unshackle the countryside from the bondage of
Imperial Manila.

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Before the Presidents inauguration, many were anxious about Davao becoming the
new capital. He was in Davao all the time and the President didnt even attend his
proclamation in Manila. But developments after the Presidents inauguration
suggest that these fears are unfounded. So far, he has been visible doing his
Presidential duties in Manila as the nations capital. He relocated into Malacanang
and he has been going home to Davao only on weekends. As a master tactician, I
think the President knows that Manila is the center of politics and business and this
is the arena to start his agenda for change.
But Mindanao is special and critical not because it is the power center but because it
is the laboratory of two key policy reforms of President Duterte both having a
huge impact on business and the economy. Im referring to first, political and
economic decentralization leading to a federal Philippines and second, peace and
security.
Federalism, autonomy and decentralization are essentially a Mindanao ideology.
PDP was born in Mindanao and founded by Mindanawonsformer Sen Nene
Pimentel and others. Federalism was championed by Mindanawon leaders---in fact
the incoming speaker was one of the leaders of the One Mindanaw Movement.
The adage think global, act local is modified under President Duterte to think local,
act local. And Mindanao will be exhibit A of the windfall and benefits when there
is meaningful political and economic decentralization. We will see increased budget
especially in infrastructure to the regions especially in Mindanao to strengthen the
case for decentralization and federalism. We will see local solutions as templates for
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national problems. We have been seeing this---911 and anti-drug campaign of

Davao replicated nationally. The message is that as long as you have good leaders,
innovations can happen in local settings. The bottomline is that the windfall to
Mindanao under the Duterte presidency is only incidental to the long-term reform of
decentralization of development and governance and the end of the line for this is
the shift to a federal Philippines. So if you are only thinking short term such as
opening an office or a branch in Mindanao to be close to the power center, perhaps
you should rethink on a more long-term basis.

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If federalism will not fly, President Duterte will nevertheless put sustainable policies
in place to strengthen decentralization and regional centers. For the next 6 years
and beyond, there is no stopping decentralization. So businesses must not only
develop branches but resilient business enterprises in the countryside that will have
the capacity to grow under a distinct policy, political and cultural environment.

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Local capacities will be an issue moving forward and as early as now, companies
must help build capacities in the countryside. Special attention must be given to
building capacities to navigate local policies that may under a decentralized system
not uniform across all regions.

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Just to illustrate, one of the problems why autonomy is not developing in the ARMM
is that the region does not benefit from income derived from economic activities in
the region from companies with head offices in Makati. Income is derived from the
region but taxes go to Makati. But this will change under a decentralized system so
your people must have the capacities to deal with the Makati tax men and women
but also in regions where you operate.

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Let me now go to the second policy reform: Bringing about sustainable Mindanao
peace which is crucial for the sustainable economic take-off of the whole country.
If there is a President who can finally bring peace to Mindanao, it should be
President Duterte. He is from Mindanao and understands the root causes of the
problems of Mindanao. Rebel leaders are his personal friends. We dont have time
to discuss the peace process in detail but what is important is to understand is that a
peace process is a process and there is no magic pill that will bring peace overnight.
Ive warned the Duterte administration that if it does not play its cards right,
federalism may turn out to be the BBL of this administration.
Federalism holds great promise for real autonomy not only for Muslim Mindanao
but also all the other regions but we need to have the right framework and process
moving forward. While Moro leaders publicly support federalism, many are anxious
to put the Moro question in the Constitutional convention of diverse regional
interests where weak regions such as the ARMM may not have a strong leverage.
Thus, the road to federalism must be well thought off.

But whether federalism is realized or not, President Duterte has committed to

change the constitution to bring about real autonomy in the Moro region as a means
to peace. No other President has made that commitment. There is reason to be
optimistic that finally we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in our quest for
the elusive Mindanao peace.
So if you ask for my advise: Do you invest in Mindanao now or should you wait and
see?

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The time to go and invest in Mindanao is now. The Duterte administration may fail
in other issues perhaps even in federalism but I am absolutely sure that regions
outside the NCR especially the weak ones will be given more resources, and more
powers before the term of the President ends. Take this rare opportunity, to work
with local and regional leaders---in the case of Mindanao, with MINDA and the
business chambers and councils. By doing so, you are actually helping build a nation
with strong local centers. Business indeed can also be good when you think and act
local.