Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo
MANILA -- Despite President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier admitting that he is inclined not to push for federalism, Malacañang said that hope for a shift to a new system of government is not completely lost.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the chief executive still had three years left before the end of his term so anything was possible.
“Palagay ko 'di mawawala ‘yan. May tatlong taon pa naman tayo (I think the effort to push for federalism won’t just go away. We have three years left),” Panelo said in a radio interview.
“There is always the light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.
Panelo pointed out that the problem between the two chambers of Congress is that they failed to agree on convening a Constituent Assembly.
However, he said that Congress could still open its doors to a Constitutional Convention.
“Nagkaroon sila ng problema dahil 'di nila alam kung paano nila ico-constitute ang kanilang sarili. 'Yung Senado at 'yung members ng House of Rep hindi sila magkaunawaan kung paano diskarte nila (They had problems because they didn’t know how to constitute themselves. The Senate and members of the House of Representatives cannot agree on what to do),” Panelo said.
“Eh 'di lang naman 'yan ang pamamaraan ng pag--amyenda ng saligang batas, puwede namang Constitutional convention (A Constituent Assembly is not the only way to amend the Constitution, they can also try a Constitutional Convention),” he added.
A Con-Con allows delegates to be elected per region while a Con-Ass involved the Congress proposing amendments to the Constitution.
On June 26, Duterte said he will no longer insist on pushing for federalism but would still prefer to make “changes” in the 1987 Constitution but did not elaborate what he meant.
“If you do not want federalism, fine,” Duterte said in his speech during the oath-taking of newly-elected senators and local officials endorsed by the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) in the recent mid-term polls.
“But change the Constitution that would really change this nation,” he added. (PNA)
