DUMAGUETE CITY – Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya disclosed Monday that a trainors’ training on the proposed shift to a federal government will be held in Negros Oriental.
Malaya , the Administrator of the Center for Federalism and Constitutional Reform (CFCR), made the announcement as the 1st Regional Consultation on the proposed constitutional reform reeled off in this Central Visayas province at the Negros Oriental Convention Center (NOCC) in Dumaguete City, the province’s capital.
“Andami kasing gustong mag advocate ng federalism, ang problema iba-iba kasi ang sinasabi kasi andaming grupo (there are many who want to advocate federalism, however, the problem is that there are many groups saying different things),” he said.
Malaya disclosed that they at DILG will be returning to Negros Oriental to call for a meeting with the different groups to give them updates on the move to shift to a federal form of government.
According to him, the DILG will update the groups on what President Rodrigo Duterte wants as well from the DILG and the Consultative Committee.
Malaya said the trainors’ training will run for two days with different resource speakers, to include Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, a lawyer, who is strongly backing the proposed shift to a federal form of government.
The DILG official also announced that they will undertake information and education drives to reach out to as many people as possible to explain further the move for a constitutional reform, and on the draft federal constitution.
“Ang batikos kasi ng mga kritiko ng federalism ay yung mga tao ay di naman naintindihan ang federalism na iyan (the tirade of critics on federalism usually point to the people not fully understanding what it is),” Malaya said.
The challenge now for the DILG is to have as many people understand what federalism is all about, he added.
“And we have to replicate ourselves; we have to duplicate ourselves so the way that we can do that is by getting a lot of speakers who can talk about it in the barangay and in their respective areas,” Malaya said.
While he is confident that Negros Oriental is largely supporting federalism, the DILG still has to ensure that the people here are well informed about it.
He, however, did not say when the DILG will undertake the trainors’ training.
The next regional consultations will be in Baguio City and Tacloban in Leyte, to name a few places. (Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA)