By Azer Parrocha/PNA
MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte is counting on having more pro-federalism senators elected to be able to keep his campaign promise of the shift to a new form of government before the end of his term.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said this as he emphasized that that the campaign to promote federalism continues in both regional and provincial levels with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) taking the lead.
“So mayroon pang isang hindi natutulak na pangako ni Presidente at na-implement — at ito iyong pederalismo (One of the campaign promises the President that has been not implemented yet is federalism),” Adanar said in an interview over Radyo Pilipinas on Friday (March 15).
“So mid-term elections, the President would need enough senators in the Senate para ma-realize natin iyong federalism na pangarap po ng ating mga kababayan (to realize the federalism dream of our citizens),” he added.
Andanar also expressed confidence that more Filipinos will support federalism.
“Ako naman ay naniniwala na napakadaming mga kababayan natin, I myself included, ang naniniwala sa pederalismo (I myself believe that many of our citizens, myself included, believe in federalism),” Andanar said.
Last month, DILG Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya urged voters to consider voting for candidates who will push for federalism in the next Congress.
He also urged voters to make federalism an election issue and vote for candidates on the basis of issues and not personalities.
In November 2018, Duterte created an Inter-Agency Task Force on Federalism (IATF) through Memorandum Circular 52 to take charge of “integrating, harmonizing, and coordinating ongoing efforts towards federalism and constitutional reform.”
Among the inter-agency’s tasks are to develop strategies and implement such activities necessary and proper to raise public awareness on federalism and constitutional reform and prepare an information dissemination and public communication plan to ensure an effective, efficient, and uniform undertaking of advocacy activities.
Moreover, the IATF will undertake consultations with the former members of the Consultative Committee, government agencies, the private sector, and the public in general concerning federalism and constitutional reform.
DILG is also set to convene 200 key representatives from 76 national government agencies for a two-day conference on federalism from March 18 to 19.
