Following President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders, Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno on Friday said that the barangay (village) assemblies scheduled across the country Saturday should push for federalism.
Sueno said the scheduled barangay assembly would be an appropriate venue to highlight “PHederalism,” which he described as a Philippine version of federalism that takes into account the “cultural particularities and sensibilities” of the country’s diverse cultural communities.
The barangay assemblies are expected to “draft” a resolution supporting a shift in the country’s form of government.
“PHederalism is our own indigenized federalism experience that reflects the identities of our people while deriving and learning from the best practices of all federal countries, thus, we reserve to attain an evolving type of federalism that is fully unique to the Philippine experience,” Sueno said in a statement.
Emily Padilla, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) undersecretary for legislative liaison and special concerns and focal person on federalism, urged barangay officials to be “consistent partners” of the government in its drive for federalism.
Padilla said federalism will only come into fruition with the support of the barangays through consistent discussions within their localities and being “firm contributors to the vision of the government in pushing the country to progress.”
“Let us help our government. Let us help our President. Let us bring down the concept of federalism in our barangays,” Padilla said.
“Federalism is our last card to attain peace and progress in our country,” she added./rga
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