<\/p>\n
THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) bucked some calls for the separation of Mindanao as it would bring no good for the Philippines and will degrade the territorial integrity of the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that \u201cthe Philippines must remain united and undivided\u201d to ensure a long-lasting and continued peace, progress and development in Mindanao.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSecession is not the answer to Mindanao\u2019s concerns,\u201d Abalos said.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt would violate the fundamental tenets of our Constitution. It would destroy the territorial integrity of the Philippines, and disrupt decades of painstaking effort to build a stronger union among all our peoples and ethnicities,\u201d he added.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Abalos said the people\u2019s right to self-determination, which means pursuing political, economic, social, and cultural development while respecting the state\u2019s territorial integrity and legal processes should be exercised within the framework of the State.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, the peoples of Mindanao have the freedom to make political choices or pursue economic, social, and cultural progress. Various mechanisms make manifest the government\u2019s respect and recognition for the development needs of Mindanao, such as the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM),\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe BARMM is a powerful example of addressing historical grievances and providing self-governance within the bounds of Philippine law,\u201d he added.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The DILG Secretary urged all stakeholders to uphold the sanctity of the Philippine Constitution for a strong, united, and undivided nation. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) bucked some calls for the separation of Mindanao as it would bring no good for the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3650,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions\/3650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}