ISABELA CITY, Basilan –
Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas stressed that
the Philippine Government has been treating the Sabah incident with utmost care
and sensitivity, giving priority to saving lives.
Speaking before hundreds of spectators at the
39th Founding Anniversary of Basilan province on March 7, the
interior chief explained the position of government in treating the Sabah
incident, saying that there are underlying principles that guide the decision
of President Aquino III, including the actions of those under his
administration.
Roxas said that he was saddened by the
propaganda that spread around Basilan against the President and his
administration. He dismissed the accusation that the President is “anti-Muslim,
pro-Malaysia, anti-Filipino, indifferent, and does not care for
fellow-Filipinos.”
“Itong mga paninirang ito ay parang nahiwa
ang aking puso sa sakit dahil masasabi ko po sa inyo, peksman po ito, na ang
ating pangulo ay walang humpay at walang tigil…sabi nga niya sa akin ang
pinaka-priority natin ay maisalba natin ang buhay ng ating mga kapwa-Pilipino
(These accusations really breaks my heart. I would assure you and attest to you
that the President has been working so hard. He [the President] said to me that
his priority is to save the lives of our fellow-Filipinos),” Roxas said.
He further explained that the decisions and
pronouncements of the President were based primarily on what is best for most
Filipinos.
“Di lang ito buhay ng dalawang daang mga tao
sa Sabah, dagdag pa rin diyan ang buhay ng halos walong daang libong mga
kababayan natin na tahimik na naghahanap-buhay doon sa Malaysia. Dagdag pa doon
ang buhay, paghahanap-buhay at katahimikan at progreso ng halos isang daang
libong mga Pilipino na andito sa ating bansa (It is not just the lives of 200
people in Sabah, but also the lives of some 800,000 Filipinos that reside and work
in Malaysia. Added to these are the livelihood, peace, and progress of hundreds
of thousands of Filipinos affected here),” the DILG chief said.
Roxas said that there is a difference between
propaganda and performance. He likened propaganda with playing Ping-Pong, with
just hitting on both sides. “But this is not a game. This is not just
propaganda; the lives of the people are at stake here.”
He said the President will defend the very
principle that must reign in the context of the Sabah issue, which is the
“primacy of the person”, the value of every person. “It is the primacy of the
person and not propaganda and politics,” he said.
Roxas said that the President likened this
principle to how this government empathizes with the victims of calamities and
to those OFWs trapped in conflicts abroad like in Syria where the government
would do everything in its power to save them.
He explained that the president and his
administration deeply understood the sensitivity of the situation that is why
the president allowed two weeks of earnest negotiations with the Kirams before
he released a statement to the media.
“And since the Kirams insisted and stood firm
on their cause, the President then decided in humility to appeal to the Kirams
through the media since they don’t anymore listen to the emissary sent by the
President. That is why on February 25 the President released a statement.
“The President said that time is of the
essence and we are running out of time. Let us solve this issue soon before
anybody else gets hurt because we know what will happen and the magnitude this
will affect us if we pass through the deadline set by Malaysia and there will
be bloodshed,” Roxas said, explaining that this is not an act of arrogance on
the part of the president but an act of humility being the Father of the
nation.
He called on the people of Mindanao not to be
swayed by the confusion, propaganda, and deception of those who use the Sabah
issue to discount the president and his administration for their own vested
interest.
“Ang ating pangulo, ang pamahalaan at inyong
mga lideres ay iisa po ang aming patakaran ay kung ano ang ikabubuti ng aming
mga ‘boss’ (The President, your government and your leaders have one common
policy, i.e. for the betterment of our ‘boss’, the Filipino people),” he
concluded. (PIA9)