DILG laments disinformation on federalism

“I am not surprised over the deluge of misinformation circulating today about federalism. Now that awareness is spreading, there have been attempts from some groups to counter our efforts by spreading misleading information on proposed constitutional reform,” DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said in a press statement issued Tuesday.(Photo; Jonathan Malaya/Facebook)

MANILA–Amid growing awareness on the administration’s campaign for constitutional reform, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) cried foul over disinformation spreading about federalism.

“I am not surprised over the deluge of misinformation circulating today about federalism. Now that awareness is spreading, there have been attempts from some groups to counter our efforts by spreading misleading information on proposed constitutional reform,” DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said in a press statement issued Tuesday.

Malaya cited the recent Pulse Asia survey on the increasing public awareness on constitutional reform.

“Upon closer inspection, the Pulse Asia survey actually shows that more people nationwide know about the proposals to change the 1987 Constitution,” Malaya said.

According to the Pulse Asia survey results released Monday, awareness on constitutional reform has increased to 55 percent in June from 49 percent in March.

“This is clear evidence that our public awareness efforts have been gaining traction and yet we have just begun,” Malaya said.

The DILG spokesperson said the Consultative Commission (ConCom) just submitted its draft federal constitution to President Duterte last month.

“In fact, we just began our federalism roadshow last month in Dumaguete City so the fact that awareness already increased since the last survey is encouraging to us. However, we still have a lot of areas to cover,” he said.

While the survey reveals a positive trend on awareness, Malaya lamented the way Pulse Asia crafted the rest of its survey questions as it led to misleading information on the people’s support for federalism.

“The survey states that 69 percent know little or nothing about the proposed federal system of government. And that’s understandable because ConCom just finished its draft federal model. But to claim that majority oppose federalism when only 69 percent understand it is not only contradictory but illogical,” Malaya said.

“The questions in the survey were crafted in such a way that makes it seem that Filipinos are vehemently against federalism. In fact, the survey does not even show whether or not people are actually for or against federalism,” he said.

Instead of asking clear-cut questions like: “Are you in favor of Constitutional Reform? Yes, No, or Don’t Know?” Pulse Asia made the choices “Yes, Now,” “No, not now,” “Never,” and “Don’t know.”

Malaya added that while the survey reveals that only 18 percent wants to change the 1987 Constitution now, it also shows that 30 percent say the Constitution may be amended in the future or a total of 48 percent are actually open to the possibility of Constitutional reform.

“This leaves only 37 percent who are adamantly against constitutional reform and we can work on the remaining 14 percent who are undecided to decide in favor of charter change,” he said.

The survey also showed that 56 percent are actually in favor of the shift to federalism now or in the future, and only 34 percent are against it now or in any other time, he said.

“They interpreted the results unfairly because they considered the 28 percent who said that the system may be changed in the future as giving a no to federalism, when in fact, this segment of the population are actually open to reforms,” Malaya said, noting that the DILG will meet this challenge head on.

“We just began our campaign. Now that the Consultative Committee has submitted its draft to the President, we expect support for federalism to increase once President Duterte endorses the proposal during his State of the Nation Address on July 23,” Malaya added.

During the conduct of fieldwork for the Pulse Asia survey on June 15-21, the DILG also began its roadshow for federalism.

The DILG has been crisscrossing the country to spread awareness on federalism. It has so far taken the roadshow to Dumaguete, Baguio and Legazpi, where the ConCom also conducted its regional consultations. The DILG intends to visit all regions of the country before the end of the year.

After the President’s endorsement of the proposal, Congress is expected to deliberate on ConCom’s model for a federal shift. This will then be followed by a plebiscite. (DILG PR)