Is it fair for Ompong?

The Iligan City Council passed a resolution this month declaring Prof. Rudy Rodil as “persona non grata” for his role in the drafting of the botched Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

According to the resolution, he has been declared “persona non grata” for his alleged participation in the “grand conspiracy to fool the people, cut Iligan City into pieces and of the biggest blunder the Philippine government has ever made which is the carving and giving of a big chunk of Mindanao to a rebel group, just to attain the simple word ‘peace.’”

According to MindaNews, in its feature report today “Rodil, retired professor, historian, author of at least 10 books and monographs and at least 100 articles on Mindanao History and Contemporary Situation, especially on Moro and Lumad affairs, recipient of several awards and vice chair of the dissolved government peace panel that negotiated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from 2001 until the panel’s dissolution on September 3, was declared persona non grata in a resolution passed unanimously by Iligan’s City Council.” Read full report here.

Is this a fair move?

I don’t think Sir Ompong deserves the decision since he apparently made some consultations and also, he did not “give” any part of Iligan City since there is a provision for plebescite in the proposed MOA.

So, it is the people of Iligan (or the people in those barangays listed in Category A) now who has to decide on the inclusion, right?

The council has made its decision but is it the right decision? Anyway, Ompong is also protected by the Constitution. Let’s see where this will go.