THE shift to federal form of government as espoused by President Rodrigo Duterte will take time, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Friday.
At present, Alvarez said the proposed Charter Change to effect federalism was still being discussed in Congress.
Similarly, Alvarez said Congress was awaiting an executive order to be issued by Malacañang creating a Constitutional Commission which shall compose an experts team of 25 tasked to review the 1987 Constitution.
“We will give them six months to review the Constitution and prepare the draft [amendments]. As soon as they have the final draft, Congress will then convene as a constituent body to debate on the draft amendments,” Alvarez told a radio interview.
“We will also conduct massive information and education drive up to the barangay level to educate the people on what the proposed amendments would be,” Alvarez added, stressing the referendum would be done in time for the 2017 mid-term elections.
Alvarez admitted that rewriting the Constitution toward federalism would take time and that the whole process would not be finished by 2017.
“The whole process of amending the Constitution will not finish by 2017. As soon as the President appoints members of the Constitutional Commission to prepare the final draft, that is the only time we will be able to convene into a Constituent Assembly…In about a year, we will be able to hold the referendum by 2019,” Alvarez stressed.
Alvarez said efforts on the part of the ruling PDP-Laban to explain Charter Change to the public by holding massive information drive campaign.
“The PDP-Laban has set up a sort of federal institute to campaign for federalism and explain to the people what is it about,” Alvarez said.
The Speaker expressed hope Charter Change would be widely accepted by the Filipino people, noting that Mindanaoans have responded well to the administration’s campaign for Charter Change.
“We are focusing our information drive in Luzon and Visayas; except in Bicol region where the campaign to effect federalism is a bit accepted. The same is true for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. So I guess our focus really would be in Luzon,” Alvarez pointed out.
Alvarez expressed belief Charter Change would advance the country’s economy and promote development as this will also address congestion in Metro Manila.
With the proposed federalism, Alvarez said they would look into the possibility of transferring the seat of government to the Visayas, such as the Negros Island which would be accessible to all.
“Definitely, this idea is workable—that Negros will be the state capital,” Alvarez said, adding the offices of both the Senate in Pasay City and the House of Representatives in Quezon City will also be transferred to Negros when Charter Change, specifically, federalism has pushed through,” he said.