NEGROS ORIENTAL -- All eyes will be on Negros Oriental as the first regional consultation on the concrete proposals and design of the federal system takes place on Monday, June 18, where an expected 500 participants will gather and give feedback to the proposed draft Constitution that will be presented by the Consultative Committee (ConCom) to review the 1987 Constitution.
Invited participants will come from the various sectoral groups, including women, farmers, the academe, the Church, business, and representatives of local government units and regional line agencies in Central Visayas.
Created under Executive Order 10, the ConCom, which is tasked to review the 1987 Constitution, has completed its task and has formulated a draft of the proposed Constitution to present to the people during a series of regional consultations throughout the country.
Stakeholders are encouraged to give their inputs during the forum following the presentation of the proposed federal Constitution.
An assigned ConCom member will lead the presentation of the proposed federal Constitution after which, an open forum will immediately follow. The event will start at 8 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m.
A press conference is scheduled at the Southview Hotel in Dumaguete City at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The venue of the regional consultation is at the Negros Oriental Convention Center. After the consultation process, a media briefing is again slated to be held at 2 p.m. on June 18.
The Presidential Management Staff is the lead agency for the regional consultations with the active involvement of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Presidential Communications Operations Office - Philippine Information Agency.
Next stop for the regional consultations will be in Baguio City on June 25-27, and in Legazpi City, Albay on July 5-7.
Meanwhile, a federalism roadshow launch will be conducted on June 18 with two big events, namely the Town Hall Meeting and the Federalism Convention Rally at the Macias Memorial Stadium in Dumaguete City.
The Town Hall Meeting at 9 a.m. will hold a dialogue between multi-sectoral leaders and local officials with federalism resource persons.
Topics to be tackled include federalism and the Negros Island Region, the proposed changes in the 1987 Constitution, the envisioned federal government, and the federated regions.
Some 5,000 participants on the other hand, will assemble for the Federalism rally. (PIA)
