Duterte knew some members of group pushing for RevGov, DILG exec says

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III. INQUIRER file photo / EDWIN BACASMAS

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte knew some of the members of the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC), a pro-Duterte group pushing for a revolutionary government (RevGov) under the Duterte administration, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday.

“Kilala niya (Duterte) po yan, ang namumuno niyan si chairman, ang chairman niyan ay si dating TESDA chief Gene Mamondiong so kilala niya ho yan. ‘Yung ibang miyembro ng MRRD-NECC nasa gabinete … so kilala niya yung grupo,” DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said over dzBB, reacting on the President’s previous statement distancing himself from the clamor for a revolutionary government.

(He knows them, former TESDA chief Gene Mamondiong is leading that group so he knows them. Other members are from the Cabinet so he knows that group.)

Mamondiong is former director-general of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Densing said Cabinet members of MRRD-NECC, “did not necessarily join the RevGov.”

Department of Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Emily Padilla, who is also a member of the MRRD-NECC, said she had nothing to do with the recent proposals for a revolutionary government.

On Tuesday, Duterte distanced himself from the group, saying he has no knowledge of the group’s movement to support a revolutionary government which will speed up federalism in the country.

“Wala akong pakialam diyan, wala akong kilala sa mga tao na yan at hindi ko yan trabaho,” Duterte said in a taped speech aired on Tuesday morning.

(I have nothing to do with that, I do not know anyone from them and that is not my job.)

Densing also clarified that the MRRD-NECC did not join the movement of pushing for a revolutionary government in 2017, which he also supported.

“Itong grupo hindi namin sila kasama nung 2017. Si Bobby (Brillante) kasama namin pero yung grupo niya, MRRD, wala sila ng 2017,” the DILG official said.

(This group did not join us in 2017. Bobby Brillante joined us but his group was not present in 2017.)

Brillante is currently the national coordinator of MRRD-NECC.

Densing, meanwhile, reiterated that the recent push for RevGov is untimely as the government is still addressing the coronavirus disease pandemic.

“Hindi timely, kasi lahat tayo ‘yung buong bansa naka-focus ngayon sa pagpapacontain ng COVID-19 sa termino ni Duterte,” he said.

(It is untimely because the whole country is focusing on containing the COVID-19 under the term of Duterte.)

In 2018, Densing was one of the main guests of the Mula sa Masa Duterte Movement, which urged Duterte to declare a RevGov that will give way to the country’s shift to a federal form of government.

JPV