ADVOCATES are continuously reaching out to villages in the hope to get support from the residents to shift the current government to federalism.
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) public relations chief Adrian Tamayo said village councilors are pitted as front liners in campaigning for federalism.
Tamayo said since villages are the closest form of government that render services to the people, village officials could help the federalism movers, led by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and some accredited federalist groups, in promoting and explaining in simple terms the benefits of having the need to shift to a new type of government.
He admitted that reaching out to different villages, including far-flung ones, is a huge struggle for advocates considering the shortness of time.
“This is the first step that they will do, to give the information about federalism to each barangay (village) council. It is because they are the ones who have a direct contact to the people and they have the authority to disseminate the details. Barangay council is the smallest political unit in our country,” Tamayo said during the Davao Media Forum at Basti’s Brew in Victoria Plaza.
Meanwhile, DILG-Davao federalism focal person Benjamin Velarde said barangays must adopt a resolution to support the current administration’s push for federalism.
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte created the Inter-Agency Task Force on Federalism (IATF), tasked in “integrating, harmonizing, and coordinating ongoing efforts towards federalism and constitutional reform”, in October 2018.
Velarde said barangays must cooperate with the government’s action since they are also affected with the country’s current problems that can be attributed to the current unitary government setup.
“The Barangay council has a direct contact in the communities and constituents. So kinahanglan ang atong mga kuminidad aware sila about sa federalism, ug ang channel nato niini mao ang mga punong-barangay, mga local functionaries nato sa barangay,” he said.
Velarde said Barangay Callawa in Paquibato District is the barangay in Davao City that made the first initiative through a resolution filed and approved by the barangay council last March 12.
He hopes that other barangays would also show support to the government’s move. (Arrianne Kate S. Arilla and Jessa Mae B. Reston, Usep interns/With reports from Ralph Lawrence G. Llemit)