I am constantly being asked by friends and co-advocates for Mindanao about the position or place of Mindanao in the new government.

In the inaugural speech of PNoy, Mindanao got two lines and in his first SONA, Mindanao’s two lines became a paragraph. That is progress!

Many people in Mindanao are beginning to think that Mindanawons play second fiddle in the PNoy’s government. The word now in use is “saling pusa’.

Yet, the real thing is far from true as pointed out to me this week by a friend in PNoy’s Cabinet.

Cesar Purisima, the Secretary of Finance, is from South Cotabato and General Santos City then called Dadiangas. Dr. Enrique Ona, the Secretary of Health, is also from Mindanao. He hails from Pagadian City. The Chair of the newly created Mindanao Development Authority who is, by law, a member of the Cabinet, will definitely be a Mindanawon though his/her appointment is still to be announced. Then there is the Chair of the newly created National Commission on Muslim Filipinos who is also a member of the Cabinet. All in all there will be four (when completed) Mindanawons in PNoy’s Cabinet.

One of the great advocacies of Kusog Mindanaw of which I preside is an appointment of at least one Mindanawon USEC or ASEC in every department. There are no if’s and but’s. This is a question of belonging and participation in national governance.

Often, Mindanao’s ‘separatist’ politics is questioned by the peoples of Luzon and the Visayas. But the politics of separatism, while rooted in distinct and separate identity, arises in the context of poverty, neglect and politics of exclusion.

The opposite of the politics of exclusion is the politics of inclusion. And there is NO better way to demonstrate the politics of inclusion than Mindanawons being present at the table and participating in the discussion of issues that matter to Mindanao.

Mindanawons will NOT act as ‘saling pusa’! Either they are members of the family or they go and look for a new family. Yes, it is a question of belonging and being able to identify with the state where Mindanawons are full citizens and NOT second fiddle!

But the acid test of belonging, more than a post here and there, is the BUDGET ALLOCATION. PNoy’s government is preparing its first – the 2011 National Budget. ABANGAN!

Mindanao’s contribution to the national wealth is estimated at about 33%. In the past, beginning with President Fidel Ramos, there was a conscious and intentional push to increase the share of Mindanao in the National Budget. In some line agencies, Mindanao’s share in the national budget rose from 9% to 15% and in other agencies; it rose as high as 19%. But in the recent past, the share of Mindanao, practically dwindled back to its pre-Ramos level.

With PNoy’s assumption to the Presidency, a new hope emerges in Mindanao for a fair deal. Perhaps, Mindanao’s share will not dramatically rise to 33% of the budget of every line agency to be devoted to the development and upliftment of Mindanao but something near the said figure.

Among the private sector, Mindanawons hope that some of their corporate taxes are paid in the places where their plants, plantations and explorations, are located. Makati has become so progressive, simply because the mega-corporations that hold offices in Makati pay their corporate taxes in that city notwithstanding their plantations, mining operations and industries are located in Mindanao. The tragedy is the fact that these corporations dump their wastes and toxic materials in Mindanao yet they pay their corporate taxes in the City of Makati.

Another powerful symbol that Mindanao is in the agenda of PNoy is his physical VISIT to Mindanao in his first hundred days in office.

It is rather weird that when he weighed in the possibility of entering into the presidential contest, he rushed to Mindanao to seek guidance and counsel. Then when he was elected to office, he did NOT rush to Mindanao to share the joy and the fruit of the said guidance and counsel. Anyway, there are still few weeks left to his remaining 100 days...

In the same vein, the President, hopefully, holds an ‘Iftar’ dinner with Muslim leaders in Malacañang during the month of Ramadhan. Iftar dinner is a very powerful occasion of being together and sharing not only the table of the host but also his hospitality. I pray that the day comes where the President plays host to his Muslim constituency in a gesture of solidarity and welcome.