Task force gets P40M to spread awareness on federalism — Roque

An initial amount of P40 million was allotted for an intergovernmental task force tasked to raise public awareness on federalism, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Thursday.

“I can confirm that there is an intergovernmental task force created. We have met already, if I’m not mistaken, two days ago,” Roque said in a media briefing in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Roque explained that out of the initial amount of P40 million alloted for the task force, P10 million was set aside for the Presidential Communications Operations Office’s “production materials.”

“Ang initial, P40 million pero P30 million lang ang pupwede gamitin because 10 million will go to PCOO. Apparently, Consultative Commission has savings of about 50 million. They are finding a way to use the remaining funds of the Consultative Committee for dissemination purposes,” he said.

According to Roque, they have already “agreed on a strategy, including spreading information to the grassroots level.

“We will bring down our dissemination level to the level of the baranggay. We will focus on training the trainers and we will utilize mass media as well for this dissemination,” he said.

The information campaign comes after a recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s push for a federal government, only one in four Filipino adults are aware of federalism.

READ: Only 1 of 4 Pinoys aware of federalism, says survey

“We repeat that the survey, so far, confirms that there’s a need for dissemination. It shows an overwhelming majority still do not know anything about federalism,” Roque stressed.

“We have accepted the challenge and we will embark on this massive drive,” he asserted. —Syrah Vivien Inocencio/INQUIRER.net Intern

/vvp