00:00 The plan to separate Mindanao from the Philippines will not succeed.
00:04 That is the statement of President Bongbong Marcos, who is calling for the end of the secession.
00:11 Maris Umali and Rafi Timah are witnesses.
00:14 [Music]
00:18 The new call for a separate Mindanao is doomed to fail,
00:22 for it is anchored on a false premise,
00:25 not to mention a sheer constitutional travesty.
00:29 This is the most clear statement of the President's decision on the call for a separate Mindanao from the Philippines.
00:34 President Bongbong Marcos made the statement in front of businessmen,
00:38 diplomatic corps, and the biggest companies in the country
00:41 on the occasion of the Constitution Day of the Philippine Constitution Association
00:45 and Manila Overseas Press Club or MOPC.
00:48 His call for the secession of the country was heard.
00:51 Former President Rodrigo Duterte's call for a secession or separation of Mindanao
00:56 was heard by the people's initiative.
00:59 I strongly appeal to all concerned to stop this call for a separate Mindanao.
01:04 I have said it before and I will say it again here.
01:07 Our national territory will not be diminished.
01:12 We will continue to defend it.
01:14 This is my guarantee, not only throughout this term, but up to my dying breath.
01:20 The President also took the opportunity to give a statement on the hotly debated change in the Constitution.
01:26 The President clarified again that his administration's goal is only to talk about the economy
01:31 in the implementation of the amendment to the Constitution.
01:34 I will neither hinder this dialogue nor encroach on the prerogatives of Congress
01:39 and the sovereign will of the Filipino people.
01:42 Our bicameral Congress and our built-in system of checks and balances are wonders to behold.
01:47 We must allow our democratic institutions and their mechanisms,
01:51 made possible by our constitutional order, to take their natural course.
01:57 Former Chief Justice Renato Puno, Chairman of the PhilCons, was also present at the meeting.
02:02 In the midst of the calls for a change in the Constitution,
02:05 the former President of the Philippines reminded the President and the leader of the low-ranking Congress,
02:10 Speaker Martin Romualdez.
02:12 We have yet to see the fullness of its transforming effects.
02:19 The cascading effects of this transformation necessarily demand a no-nonsense look
02:32 on the need to amend or revise our 1987 Constitution.
02:41 Here, in front of the leaders and the Bansamoro government, President Marcos spoke.
02:47 A new Philippines is incomplete without a Bansamoro rising along within it.
02:53 A stronger BARMM means a stronger Mindanao.
03:00 A stronger Mindanao.
03:02 A stronger Mindanao means a stronger Philippines.
03:08 Bringing us closer to achieving our agendas.
03:11 The former leaders of the Bansamoro government say they do not agree with the removal of Mindanao from the Republic of the Philippines.
03:19 This is what Chief Minister Ahud Ebrahim said earlier.
03:22 The paramount objective for the Bansamoro government remains
03:27 the establishment of an autonomous region that is functional, ready,
03:34 and thriving in an ever-changing and competitive society.
03:40 It is imperative that we fast-track all pending work and beat the deadlines we have set
03:50 without compromising on the integrity of the hard-won peace agreement.
03:58 For GMA Integrated News, Maris Umali,
04:02 your Rafi Pimang, Saksi!
04:04 Kapuso, let's be Saksi together!
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04:11 and for Kapuso abroad, join us on GMA Pinoy TV and www.gmanews.tv.
04:18 [Music]
