DILG ‘not surprised’ by ‘misinformation drive’ on federalism

DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya. INQUIRER file photo / Dexter Cabalza

Pieces of information meant to mislead the public on the issue of federalism are being spread by some groups to counter the campaign of the government, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Tuesday.

“I am not surprised over the deluge of misinformation circulating today about federalism,” DILG Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

“Now that awareness is spreading, there have been attempts from some groups to counter our efforts by spreading misleading information on proposed constitutional reform,” he added.

According to Malaya, the recent Pulse Asia survey on federalism betrays the awareness of the people, as the research firm allegedly crafted its questions in a manner which would lead to a misleading information.

“The questions in the survey were crafted in such a way that makes it seem that Filipinos are vehemently against federalism. In fact, the survey does not even show whether or not people are actually for or against federalism,” he claimed.

On Monday, Pulse Asia released a study which said that two out of three Filipinos are against the possibility of a Charter change, while 69 percent admitted to have “little to no knowledge” about a federal system of government.

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

In the statement, the DILG said that instead of providing answers such as “Yes, No, or Don’t Know?”, Pulse Asia used ‘Yes, Now,’ ‘No, not now,’ ‘Never,’ and ‘Don’t know’, which are supposedly vague choices.

Malaya added that Pulse Asia’s results contradict itself, as it showed that people oppose federalism without enough knowledge of it.

“The survey states that 69% know little or nothing about the proposed federal system of government. And that’s understandable because Con-com [Consultative Committee] just finished its draft federal model,” he said.

“But to claim that majority oppose federalism when only 69% understand it is not only contradictory but illogical,” he explained.

Room for improvements

While he acknowledged areas that the government can improve on regarding its information drive on federalism, Malaya said that the roadshow has already raised the awareness of the public, according to the same survey.

“In fact, we just began our federalism roadshow last month in Dumaguete City so the fact that awareness already increased since the last survey is encouraging to us. However, we still have a lot of areas to cover,” Malaya said.

“Upon closer inspection, the Pulse Asia survey actually shows that more people nationwide know about the proposals to change the 1987 Constitution. This is clear evidence that our public awareness efforts have been gaining traction and yet we have just begun,” he added.

According to DILG, the department has just began its roadshow when Pulse Asia conducted its field work on June 15 to 21. Aside from Dumaguete, the DILG has presented federalism before people in Baguio and Legazpi, and plans to visit other regions before the year ends.

Malaya said that these “bumps on the road” are challenges that the DILG is willing to meet to fulfill the administration’s plan.

“We just began our campaign. Now that the Consultative Committee has submitted its draft to the President, we expect support for federalism to increase once President Duterte endorses the proposal during his State of the Nation Address on July 23,” he said. /jpv