The butuan declaration 10 nov 2014 - edited by sec

THE BUTUAN DECLARATION:

PEACE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE COUNTRY

SHOULD BEGIN IN MINDANAO

RECALLING THE TWO ASSEMBLIES CONVENED EARLIER BY THE

NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION COUNCIL IN LIPA ON AUGUST 27, 2014

AND CEBU ON OCTOBER 1, 2014, AND DESIRING TO SEIZE THE

MOMENTUM AND BUILD UPON THE GAINS ACHIEVED BY THOSE

ASSEMBLIES, WE WHO BROADLY REPRESENT THE VARIOUS

CONCERNED SECTORS AND CONSTITUENCIES OF EASTERN AND

NORTHERN MINDANAO, TOGETHER WITH OUR ALLIES FROM OTHER

PARTS OF MINDANAO, FROM BASILAN, THE SULU ARCHIPELAGO, AND

FROM LUZON AND THE VISAYAS, HAVE COME TOGETHER IN BUTUAN

CITY THIS 11TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2014, TO PROCLAIM OUR

SUPPORT FOR AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMMEDIATE REALIZATION

OF THE DECLARED AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE NATIONAL

TRANSFORMATION COUNCIL.

WE COMMEND THE INITIATIVES OF THE TWO PREVIOUS ASSEMBLIES,

EXPRESS FULL AND UNEQUIVOCAL SUPPORT FOR THE LIPA

DECLARATION—“AN URGENT CALL FOR NATIONAL

TRANSFORMATION”—OF AUGUST 27, 2014 AND THE CEBU

DECLARATION—“DEFINING THE FIRST STEPS TOWARD NATIONAL

TRANSFORMATION”—OF OCTOBER 1, 2014, AND BIND OURSELVES TO

UNDERTAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO HELP BRING THEM TO

FRUITION.

GATHERED HERE IN BUTUAN SO CLOSE TO THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY

OF SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN/YOLANDA, WHICH FLATTENED

TACLOBAN CITY AND DEVASTATED MUCH OF THE VISAYAS AND THE

CALAMIANES ON NOVEMBER 8, 2013, AND THE 7.2 EARTHQUAKE

THAT EARLIER DESTROYED CENTURIES-OLD CHURCHES, PUBLIC

BUILDINGS AND HOMES IN CEBU AND BOHOL ON OCTOBER 15, 2013,

THE BUTUAN DECLARATION: PEACE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE COUNTRY SHOULD BEGIN IN MINDANAO 11 NOVEMBER A.D. 2014 / 18 MUHARRAM A.H. 1436

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AND ON THE EVE OF THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE FLOODS

THAT KILLED AND INJURED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, AND DISPLACED

THOUSANDS PARTICULARLY IN DAVAO ORIENTAL AND COMPOSTELA

VALLEY ON DECEMBER 4, 2012, AND SHARING THE SUFFERING OF

THE VICTIMS OF THESE TRAGEDIES AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE

WAITED IN VAIN FOR ADEQUATE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT IN THEIR

RECOVERY AND REHABILITATION, WE RAISE OUR VOICES IN

SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF THESE COMMUNITIES TO THANK

ALL THOSE WHO CAME TO THEIR AID AND COMFORT DURING THEIR

HOUR OF GREATEST NEED, AND TO EXPRESS GRAVE

DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THE WAY THE AQUINO ADMINISTRATION

HAS FAILED TO RESPOND ADEQUATELY TO THESE CRISES.

WE JOIN THE PEOPLE OF TACLOBAN, THE VISAYAS, AND THE

CALAMIANES IN DEMANDING A FULL AND ACCURATE ACCOUNTING

OF THE MONEY AND OTHER FORMS OF ASSISTANCE, WHICH THE

AQUINO GOVERNMENT HAS RECEIVED FROM FOREIGN

GOVERNMENTS, MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS, AND OTHER

DONORS, AND HOW, WHERE AND WHEN THEY WERE USED FOR THE

BENEFIT OF THE VICTIMS.

AT THIS TIME OF SERIOUS DIFFICULTIES FOR THE PEOPLE OF

MINDANAO, WE EXPRESS GRAVE CONCERN OVER THE CAVALIER WAY

THE AQUINO ADMINISTRATION HAS TREATED THE “MINDANAO

PROBLEM.” WE ARE DETERMINED TO FIND A JUST AND LASTING

SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM, ONE THAT WILL BRING ABOUT TRUE

AND LASTING PEACE, AND A RADICAL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER IN

THE LIVES OF ALL OUR PEOPLE.

WITH GREAT SADNESS, HOWEVER, WE MUST SAY THAT THE

PROPOSED BANGSAMORO BASIC LAW (BBL), NOW PENDING IN

CONGRESS, IS NOT THE FRUIT OF HONEST AND SINCERE

CONSULTATIONS WITH OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS AND THEIR

CHRISTIAN FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.


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THIS THREATENS TO FALSIFY OUR PEOPLE’S DEEPEST LONGING FOR

GENUINE SELF-MANAGEMENT OF THEIR OWN AFFAIRS, AND INSTEAD

TO CREATE NEW DIVISIONS, DISUNITY AND DISCONTENT, BOTH

AMONG THOSE WHO ARE PART AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT PART OF

THE NEW ENTITY TO BE CREATED UNDER THE BBL.

WE THEREFORE ASK THE NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION COUNCIL TO

INTENSIFY GENUINE CONSULTATIONS WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS IN

ORDER TO COME UP WITH A REAL SOLUTION COMING FROM THE

PEOPLE THEMSELVES RATHER THAN FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES.

WE SPECIFICALLY ASK THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER ADVANCING THE

FEDERALIZATION AGENDA FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY AS THE

ULTIMATE MEASURE TO ENSURE THE MOST EQUITABLE,

SIMULTANEOUS EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF ALL THE

REGIONS, AND NOT JUST OF THOSE IN MINDANAO ALONE.

AS CONTINUED HOSTAGE-TAKING FOR RANSOM AND OTHER

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES BY THE ABU SAYYAF GROUP IN THE SULU-

SIPADAN AREA THREATEN TO TURN OUR REGION INTO AN UGLY

COUNTERPART OF SOMALIA, THE HOME COUNTRY OF THE MOST

NOTORIOUS PERPETRATORS OF PIRACY AND KIDNAPPING IN THE

INDIAN OCEAN AND THE HORN OF AFRICA, WE CALL UPON THE

NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION COUNCIL TO DEMAND A CREATIVE

APPROACH TO THIS PROBLEM THAT WILL DRAW THE VARIOUS

GROUPS INVOLVED IN THESE ACTIVITIES INTO LAWFUL AND

LUCRATIVE PURSUITS, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE VARIOUS

COMMUNITIES IN THE AREA.

AS THE WORSENING ENERGY SITUATION THREATENS TO THROW

MINDANAO BACK INTO A NEW DARK AGE, WE LIKEWISE CALL UPON

THE NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION COUNCIL TO INTERVENE AND

DEMAND A SOLEMN COMMITMENT FROM THE AQUINO REGIME THAT


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IT WILL PUT AN END TO MONOPOLIST ACTIVITIES WHICH IS TRYING

TO SEIZE CONTROL OF POWER DISTRIBUTION IN MINDANAO AND

BEYOND, THROUGH THE USE OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE,

INTIMIDATION AND FORCE.

IN DIRECT RELATION TO THE FOREGOING PROBLEM, WE MANIFEST

OUR SOLIDARITY WITH THE MILLIONS OF MEMBER-CONSUMERS OF

AUTHENTIC ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY,

WHOSE RIGHTS OF OWNERSHIP BY VIRTUE OF THEIR CAPITAL

CONTRIBUTION ARE BEING IGNORED AND VIOLATED BY

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WHO ACT TO PROTECT SOME BIG

BUSINESSES RATHER THAN THE PEOPLE’S INTEREST. THE

ACTUATIONS OF THIS REGIME’S OFFICIALS SHOW THEIR CONTEMPT

FOR THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT AND THE LATTER’S FUNCTION

OF CORRECTING SOCIAL INEQUITY, PROMOTING SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND

ENABLING THEIR MILLIONS OF MEMBERS TO ATTAIN

SUSTAINABILITY IN THEIR ENDEAVOR TO ENJOY THE BASIC LIFE-

BLESSINGS THAT MAKE FOR A DIGNIFIED LIFE OF FRUGAL COMFORT.

IN THE FACE OF THE EVIDENT INCREASINGLY SEVERE

DETERIORATION OF THE MORAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FABRIC OF

OUR SOCIETY, WE CALL UPON THE NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

COUNCIL TO SPEED UP ITS EFFORT TO COMPEL PRESIDENT BENIGNO

S. AQUINO 3RD TO RELINQUISH HIS POSITION, SO THAT THE EARNEST

WORK OF NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION COULD BEGIN. MORE THAN

EVER, WE BELIEVE THAT PEACE AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE

COUNTRY MUST BEGIN IN MINDANAO.

DONE IN THE CITY OF BUTUAN, THIS 11TH DAY OF NOVEMBER A.D.

2014 / 18th DAY OF MUHARRAM A.H. 1436.


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Government & Nonprofit

The butuan declaration 10 nov 2014 - edited by sec