ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Pumunta kaya siya sa Mindanao': Adiong dares Panelo after lecture on secession

'Pumunta kaya siya sa Mindanao': Adiong dares Panelo after lecture on secession

Published Feb 13, 2024 08:31 am

At A Glance

  • Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong issued a simple challenge to former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo, after the latter branded certain people's reactions to the proposed Mindanao secession as having "gone ballistic".

(Left) Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Right) Former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo (PPAB, OPS/MANILA BULLETIN)(Left) Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Right) Former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo (PPAB, OPS/MANILA BULLETIN)

Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong issued a simple challenge to former presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo, after the latter branded certain people's reactions to the proposed Mindanao secession as having “gone ballistic”.

“Pumunta na lang kaya siya sa Mindanao at doon siya tumira sa mga conflict-stricken communities at sabihin kaya niya na mag-independent siya,” Adiong said in a press briefing on Tuesday, Feb. 13, referring to Panalog, a Bicol native.

(Why don't he just go to Mindanao, live in the conflict-stricken communities there and then he can say that he is for independence.)

“Obviously, former [press] secretary Panelo is not from Mindanao because ‘pag sinabi mong (when you say) secession and independence, these are not mere words for us,” he added.

Panelo, who served in the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, recently claimed that the notion behind a Mindanao secession cannot be “absolutely said to be doomed to fail”.

Panelo claimed that reactions to Duterte’s support for an independent Mindanao has been blown out of proportion by its critics, with the feedback ranging from “over-reaction to the utterly absurd”.

“Na-experienced namin andaming namatay, andaming giyera (We've experienced many deaths, many wars). Of course when you hear these issues again popping up out of nowhere of course it will remind you of your past experiences before. And it doesn’t sit well in our memory,” said Adiong.

“Obviously he’s not from Mindanao so he does not know why we reacted this way,” the lawmaker stressed.

While Adiong said he respects Panelo’s right to express his opinion, he warned the former chief legal counsel about his pro-secession stance given that it threatens to disenfranchise certain areas away from the Philippines.

“You are threatening not only the geographical composition of the Philippines but you are threatening the existing institutions which, by the way, institutions are very, very working now,” he noted.

President Marcos recently thumbed down the Mindanao secessionist movement and stated that calls for an independent Mindanao were “doomed to fail”.

Related Tags

Independent Mindanao zia alonto adiong salvador panelo Mindanao secession
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.