Federal charter addresses public's fear of local ‘warlords’ — Uson

Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson on Friday said the proposed Federal charter addresses the public's concern that the federate regions would end up being ruled by local "warlords."

"'Yung issue ng natatakot kasi 'yung bawat rehiyon na baka 'yung mga warlords ang mamumuno sa kanila, pero nu'ng napag-usapan po namin dito sa... 'yung draft ng ConCom (Consultative Committee) ay maiiwasan pala 'yun," Uson explained on GMA 7 news program "24 Oras".

However, pressed further on how exactly the federal charter prevented the creation of warlords, Uson explained she was still learning about federalism, and that she had just finished brainstorming with members of the ConCom, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the information drive for the proposed federal constitution.

"Marami pa 'yan, brainstorming pa lang po kanina at pinag-aaralan ko pa po ito bilang ordinaryong tao rin," she said.

The  information drive would cost the government P90 million, but ConCom spokesperson Ding Generoso clarified that Uson would not be paid an additional talent fee for participation in the information drive as this was part of her job as a PCOO Assistant Secretary .

Communications Assistant Secretary Marie Banaag added Uson would be joined by other speakers during the nationwide drive.

"We will have a speaker's bureau, we have people from the regions so that they can speak their dialect," Banaag explained.

The former entertainer-turned communications bureau executive had also been invited by Senator Nancy Binay to be one of the resource persons in a Senate hearing on the Duterte administration's push for a federal form of government.

Asked about the invitation, Uson had said "Pwede naman, why not?"

Generoso revealed that among the matters discussed during Friday's brainstorming session, among the promotion methods they came up with was school debates.

"Para madaliin natin 'yung mga millennials, no, 'yung mga estudyante. Mapag-isipan nila kung ano 'yung pederalismo," he told GMA News.

Generoso also appealed to members of the Senate to give the proposed federal constitution a chance, particularly since Senator Panfilo Lacson remarked that the proposal was "just waiting to be cremated at the Senate."

"Kung may cremation, from the ashes will rise (a) phoenix," the Concom spokesperson predicted.

Consultations, materials

Meanwhile, according to the DILG, up to P150 million from the agency's 2017 and 2018 budget was set aside to fund the country's proposed transition to federalism.

According to the report, the budget covered:

•     P29 million - Development of "communication materials"
•     P19 million - "Regional consultation" and "speakers training"
•     P6 million - research, studies related to federalism
•     P14 million - "Center for Federalism and Constitutional Reform"
•     P10 million - "Support" for DILG regional offices
•     P20 million - "Special program for barangay" or barangay-level campaign

"We're allocating P29 million for the development of communication materials so that means we will reproduce the Con-Con draft," DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya explained.

"Also, we are conducting regional consultations, speakers, trainings, consultative meetings an we allocated P19 million for that," he added.

The DILG planned to conduct 20 consultations and 12 policy forums for the administration's ongoing push for federalism. — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News