Pimentel sees shift to federal system under Bongbong Marcos admin

CHANGE IS EASIER TO ACHIEVE UNDER A PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM: Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III expresses belief that adopting a parliamentary form of government would be beneficial for the Philippines as it is more suitable for the Filipino culture. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Saturday expressed confidence that the country will begin shifting to a federal form of government under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Pimentel, who is an ex-officio member of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, noted that Marcos is chairman of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, which is pushing for a federal form of government in the country.

“So kung tunay sila sa pangalan ng kanilang partido, dapat yung kanilang standard bearer na presidente na, dapat once in a while kung hindi nga, dapat parati minemention ang federalism as plataporma ng kanyang partido,” Pimentel said over DWIZ.

(So if they will stay true to the name of their party, their standard bearer should mention federalism once in a while, if not often.)

“So baka may chance tayo, early days pa naman naman ng Marcos administration, may chance siguro tayo sa administration na ito,” he added.

(So maybe we have a chance, it’s still early days of Marcos administration, we  may have a chance in this administration.)

However, Pimentel recognizes that the shift to the federal form of government will take time.

“Pero ang attitude ko kasi dito sa constitutional change na federal system, parliamentary form ano ito matagal ito, kailangan ito ng pasensya talaga,” he said.

(My attitude on this constitutional change for a federal system and parliamentary form is that, this will take time, and we need patience.)

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