Is
Federalism still on the agenda of president Rodrigo Roa Duterte in the second
half of his term?
The answer
is Yes, Presidential Spokesperson and concurrent Presidential Legal Counsel
Atty. Salvador Panelo said federalism is still on his agenda but it is up to
Congress to propose what method should be used in amending the 1987 Constitution.
“Ang federalism palagi namang nasa agenda ni
Presidente iyon (Federalism has always been in the President’s agenda),”
Panelo said in a Palace press conference.
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“But as I repeatedly said, ang bola nasa Kongreso eh (the
ball is in the Congress), federalism will entail an amendment to the
Constitution,” he added.
Atty. Panelo further said the two chambers of Congress
(Senate and the House of Representatives) should first agree on a method of
amending the Constitution - either by Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) or
Constitutional Convention (Con-Con).
“Hindi proposed legislation ang federalism
(Federalism is not a proposed legislation). That is an amendment to the
Constitution, you will change the charter eh,” Panelo said.
“Kaya kailangan iyong dalawa mag-agree muna sila (So the
two should first agree) how to propose amendments to the Constitution by
calling itself as a Constituent Assembly,” he added.
However the Presidential Spokesperson admits that
if Congress would fail to agree on amending the 1987 Constitution, there is
also the option of changing the government code.
“There have been some issues raised relative to the
installation of a federal form of government. Some quarters are saying that we
don’t even have to do that, because the Local Government Code would suffice,
there’s only a need for certain refinements and amendment to the same,” Panelo
said.
“I suppose members of Congress would be looking at that
angle. If they cannot agree on amending the Constitution, then they can—that’s
a fall back, they look at the government code and see what is need to be done,”
he added.
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Report from PNA
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