No more chance for federalism under Duterte’s watch – Sotto

Vanne Elaine Terrazola | Manila Bulletin | June 26, 2019

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the proposed shift to a federal form of government may no longer have any chance within the last three years of President Duterte’s administration.

Instead, Sotto is proposing amendment to the Local Government Code to enable local government units (LGUs) to have full autonomy.

Sotto said he shares the sentiment of Duterte, who declared on Tuesday that he will accept if his campaign promise on federalism would not push through.

“I’m of the same thinking. The transition period to federalism will take too long,” Sotto said in a text message Wednesday.

“It’s better to simply amend the Local Government Code to give full autonomy to LGUs,” he added.

The Senate leader said he is also open to amending economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

In a speech after administering the oath of the winning Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) senators in Malacañang, Duterte conceded that he may not be able to fulfill his plan for the government to shift from a unitarian form of government to a federal set-up.
But he stressed that the Constitution should be revised, if people really want to push for change.

“It’s not for me, in my generation, somebody else’s. But you should change the Constitution actually. Not for anything. If you do not want federalism, fine. But change the Constitution that would really change this nation,” Duterte said.

Even the President’s allies in Senate doubted that federalism will hurdle the 18th Congress, as they noted that public still lacks understanding on the proposal.

“It’s quite a long shot but [we’d like to focus] more on education campaign first, because the public has to know the benefits that it will bring,” Senator-elect Christopher “Bong” Go, who admitted that he is not yet decided whether to file a measure on the matter, told reporters on Tuesday.

But the Cabinet-level Inter-Agency Task Force on the Federalism and Constitutional Reform (IATF) remains committed in supporting the President’s effort to realize his dream of a federal Philippines. The IATF is headed by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año

The task force has vowed to work lengthy hours to inform and educate the people of the merits of federalism once the new Congress opens its session next month.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said he believes the “President was merely acknowledging the dearth of knowledge and understanding among many Filipinos on the proposed shift to a federal system when he spoke about the possibility it may not happen within his term.”

“The President was just being realistic. He understands that federalism is a profound change. He merely underscored the need for more information dissemination so it will gain greater public support. But it does not mean that he’s abandoning the advocacy,” Malaya said.

Malaya noted that their studies have shown that the “more people understand federalism, the more support it gains.”
“Thus, the DILG will relaunch the information campaign next month,” he added. (With a report from Chito Chavez)

Source: https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/06/26/no-more-chance-for-federalism-under-dutertes-watch-sotto/