Carpio says Duterte's secession plan not seditious

Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday said the plan of former President Rodrigo Duterte to separate Mindanao from the Philippines is not a ground for sedition nor does he see it as a threat for the Republic yet.

Carpio, who hails from Davao, said that Duterte might be serious with his statement, but it was only “laughable” because the Mindanao secession cause is “just impossible.”

He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which is tasked under the 1987 Constitution to secure the integrity of the national territory, will be the first to oppose the former President’s bid. Carpio also believes that no government official in the region who is impartial and who has no personal interest will follow Duterte as it would be against the Code of Conduct and could thus result in their dismissal from public service.

“Sedition requires an overt act, tumultuous, and you commit it through violence or intimidation, and he (Duterte) has not done that. In fact he said, we will conduct a signature campaign,” Carpio said in an ambush interview.

“The next thing is inciting to sedition already. But I don’t think this is inciting to sedition because nobody’s incited to commit unlawful activities,” he added.

Last week, Duterte raised the idea of Mindanao seceding from the Philippines through a process based on gathering signatures.

Duterte said it was Davao del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez who first pushed for the "desirability of Mindanao seceding from the Republic of the Philippines."

Camiguin Governor Xavier Jesus Romualdo and his father, Representative Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, however, warned Duterte and Alvarez that they could be held criminally liable for sedition for their “contentious and divisive secession movement.”

But Alvarez maintained on Tuesday that the plan is no criminal act and is a peaceful call to enable development in Mindanao.

The Revised Penal Code states that a crime of inciting to sedition is committed by “any person who, without taking any direct part in the crime of sedition, incite others to the accomplishment of any of the acts which constitute sedition, by means of speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems, cartoons, banners, or other representations tending to the same end, or upon any person or persons who shall utter seditious words or speeches, write, publish, or circulate scurrilous libels against the government, or any of the duly constituted authorities thereof."

Acts which constitute sedition also include “those which tend to disturb or obstruct any lawful officer in executing the functions of his office, or which tend to instigate others to cabal and meet together for unlawful purposes, or which suggest or incite rebellious conspiracies or riots, or which lead or tend to stir up the people against the lawful authorities or to disturb the peace of the community, the safety and order of the Government, or who shall knowingly conceal such evil practices." — RSJ, GMA Integrated News