Nene pulls Rody one way, Alan the other

Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s push for a federal form of government is reportedly facing timing issues with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (left, inset) reportedly wanting it in the middle of his term, while former-Sen. Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel (right, inset) reportedly seeking the shift at the start of his tenure. INQUIRER FILES

Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte was urged on Tuesday to begin early in his term the shift to a federal form of government, as support for it would still be strong early in his administration.

Former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. made the call to the incoming president as he and fellow advocates began their bid to educate people about federalism, which Duterte promised to bring about under his administration.

“It’s good if it’s done immediately because the glamour of the president will still be fresh in the minds of the people. It’s easier to convince people now than later,” Pimentel told reporters at Club Filipino in San Juan where he and newly elected Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas led a forum on federalism.

However, Duterte’s actual timetable differed from Pimentel’s suggestion, according to Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Duterte’s running mate who was said to be helping him craft his legislative agenda.

Cayetano told Senate reporters on Monday the Duterte administration planned to start the motions for shifting to federalism in the “middle of (his) term.”

He said Duterte wanted a “massive consultation” since he noted that “federalism” was not a simple issue.

Aside from the executive branch, Cayetano said they would “either operationalize the consultative mechanism of the committee on local governments or of peace and reconciliation (in Congress) or the joint executive-legislative consultative body” to undertake the consultations.

“But the target is to time the plebiscite with the 2019 (midterm) elections,” he added.

Told that Duterte was planning a plebiscite on federalism in 2019, Pimentel said this might be too late, but it was really up to the incoming administration as he was just voicing an opinion.

Pimentel said he had not presented the federalism proposal he was pitching to Duterte although people close to the incoming president were aware of it.

For his part, Mandanas said there was a need to rush the shift to a federal form of government because “we have to deliver basic services as soon as possible.”