Palace: We will exert more effort to inform, educate citizens on federalism

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. JOAN BONDOC/Philippine Daily Inquirer

Malacañang admitted Monday there is a need for an intensified information drive on federalism after majority of Filipinos said they had “little to no knowledge” about the federal system of government.

In the latest Pulse Asia survey, 69 percent admitted little knowledge about federalism while 67 percent were against current moves to change the 1987 Constitution.

READ: 67% of Filipinos oppose Charter change, says Pulse Asia survey

“We would like to point out that only 55% of respondents have heard, read, or watched anything about the proposals to change the 1987 Constitution before the survey was conducted or only during the time the survey was held,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

“For this reason, we cannot expect our people to support an initiative, which they know only little about,” he also said.

The Palace official said there “is clearly much work to be done in terms of spreading awareness and knowledge on the aforementioned issue.”

“We will therefore exert even more effort to inform and educate our citizens about federalism since the approval of the proposed changes in our current Charter ultimately lies in the hands of the Filipino people,” he said.  /kga