President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his promise to give way to the new president if federalism is achieved.
President Rodrigo Duterte repeated his willingness to step down from office as soon as the framework for a federal type of government had been realized.
Duterte, who was elected by more than 16 million Filipinos on May 9, 2016, has been campaigning about federalism even before he filed candidacy.
“I give you my word, if the framework is already there I will resign to give way to the new president,” Duterte said on Saturday.
According to him, he would not wait for his term to end in 2019 if there would be an assurance from the Congress that federalism would be fully implemented.
“Accelerate federalism and let us find a configuration of government where the regions are more powerful,” Duterte said. “I will not wait for six years. Just hurry up.”
He expressed that as the chief executive, his dream had always been to give more power and capacity to local governments and to decentralize the national government, as the set-up right now under the unitary form.
He cited the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which has a lot of potential for development, especially Liguasan Marsh, believed to have a large oil deposit.
The trick and challenge would be for the Bangsamoro people to elect good officials that would lead their federal state, he said.
“You elect men who are really honest, those who have fervor to help their fellow Moros,” he said.
He also called to the Moro people, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), to work together to attain peace and unite to lead their own region.
He also appealed to those who continue to wage war against the government to “stop it.”
Duterte added the Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist groups should already stop the attacks, including bombing, so that Mindanao will develop.
If they wouldn’t, he said he would gladly help them “go to the ISIS.”
“I’ll buy you a ticket,” Duterte added.
“Things will improve and you will have your own share of development money,” Duterte said as he called hostilities in Mindanao to end.