EDITORIAL – Listening Tour to ‘Listen to us’

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s “Listening Tour” shifted momentarily to a “Listen to us” call as we brace ourselves for the fallout of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
BBL’s doom is inevitable. The national angst over the Mamasapano incident, the questionable constitutional issues and the people’s fears once the BBL is passed could all be the final nail on the coffin for the controversial law.
Mayor Duterte’s question to the national government in not consulting Mindanao leaders on the BBL mirrors the same sentiments of most Mindanao leaders who are in the best position to understand the Mindanao situation and the cultural uniqueness of the different ethnicities in the island.
“Why were we not consulted?”
“Why don’t you talk to us, Mr. President?”
These are the questions hurled by Mayor Duterte while in his Listening Tour in the Visayas. Politics aside, Mayor Duterte, like the rest of Mindanao’s leaders, deserves to be consulted on the future of Mindanao being one of those who really know Mindanao by heart.
The way it stands now, the BBL is likely to be rejected in Congress and even in the High Court should constitutional issues be brought there. These include the questionable provisions in the proposed law like the establishment of an almost independent police and security force in the Bangsamoro territory. With the spectre of rejection looming in the horizon, Duterte thinks the national government should come up with a fallback plan in order to prevent an outbreak of violence.
Problem is, the national government is acting like they know Mindanao better and apparently closing its ears on Mindanao leaders.
We are not surprised at all. The President has a reputation to listen only to the men around him and men like suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima whom he knows from way back. He did say he listened to sacked SAF chief Getulio Napenas in the Mamasapano operation and paid dearly for being led on by the latter.
Mayor Duterte and the leaders of Mindanao are not the kind who will lead the President on. Afterall, the high stakes of this Mindanao imbroglio fall on the shoulders of the mayors and governors of Mindanao, and the brunt of repercussions, if at all, shall cascade on the people of this island.
Mindanao is an issue unique best understood by its very own people. The President has long been led on by his own warped belief.