Hontiveros: Duterte admin’s federalism bid will go against proposed BBL

Senator Risa Hontiveros has branded as “fake” and “anti-Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL)” the proposed federalism of President Rodrigo Duterte’s political party.

While stressing that she is in favor of a federalism that would “redistribute political power and disperse economic development,” Hontiveros said the proposed federalism of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is the “opposite of this.”

“I support a federal set-up where accountabilities are clear and decentralized, and, government institutions are made more accessible and brought closer to citizens,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“However, President Duterte’s federalism is the opposite of this. It is fake. Ultimately, I fear that Duterte’s version of federalism, which his allies plan to achieve through an undemocratic and Senate-less constituent assembly and subsequently, reward themselves with term limit extensions, might be used as a monkey wrench to defeat the Moro people’s legitimate aspiration for self-determination as embodied in the BBL,” she added.

Hontiveros also said the passage of the BBL should be prioritized first before the deliberations on Charter change (Cha-cha) and federalism continue.

The Cha-cha being proposed in Congress could lead into a shift to a federal form of government, which was one of Duterte’s campaign promises.

The BBL, meanwhile, seeks to address the longstanding issues of self-determination and peace in the southern region, by instituting a parliamentary type of government to replace the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).       /kga