Pangilinan: SWS survey on federalism should make gov’t rethink its proposal

After the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that most Filipinos were unaware of what federalism was, opposition Senator Kiko Pangilinan said this could be enough reason for the government to slow down on its proposal.

READ: Federal system what? 75% of Filipinos not aware – SWS survey

“Maliwanag sa resulta ng SWS survey na tatlo sa bawat apat na Pilipino ang hindi alam ang panukalang pagpalit ng sistema ng gobyerno sa pederalismo na hindi pwedeng pwersahin ang Chacha,” Pangilinan said in a statement on Thursday.

“The latest survey result is consistent with past survey results, which also showed little knowledge about the planned new form of government,” he added.

According to SWS, only one of four Filipinos adults or 25 percent said that they know the federal system of government, while 75 percent only knew about it during the survey.

However, 37 percent of the respondents agreed with the proposal, and only 29 percent disagreed with it.

Charter change

Pangilinan said the previous discussions in the Senate have tackled several issues revolving Charter change, although the next hearings will focus on the actual Chacha proposals.

“Our previous hearings sought to answer the following questions: Is there a need to change the Constitution? If yes, what provisions and why?” the senator said.

“Who should amend the Constitution? Legislators as a constituent assembly? Or elected delegates in a constitutional convention? If con-ass, should the Senate and the House of Representatives vote jointly or separately?” he asked.

For the lawmaker, the government needs to heighten and strengthen its programs for the majority of the public to understand federalism deeply.

“Paano mauunawaan ng mamamayan nang malaliman ang federalismo kung wala namang maliwanag at konkretong mungkahi tungkol dito?” Pangilinan said.  /vvp