The push for federalism will likely face more challenges due to the negative publicity produced by the controversial “pepederalismo” video, the spokesman of President Rodrigo Duterte’s committee that drafted a federal charter said Tuesday.
Ding Generoso, consultative committee spokesman, said while the panel was disappointed with the video posted on the Facebook page of Communication Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, he hoped that it at least helped promote awareness of federalism.
In other developments:
*The labor group Partido Manggagawa on Tuesday said it will file a libel case against blogger Drew Olivar for maliciously posting PM leader Ver Estorosas as a “wanted” man and for spreading fake news.
The group said Olivar will also face cyber libel for the controversial “Pepedederalismo” video together with Uson.
PM national chairman Rene Magtubo said Olivar, in a Facebook post on Sept. 30, 2017, accused Ver Estorosas, a PM leader, of absconding after allegedly receiving P8 million to mobilize people for a Sept. 21, 2017 rally at the Luneta.
*The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo plans to file a criminal complaint against Olivar.
“Our legal team is currently looking into the possibility of filing a criminal complaint. Do stay tuned,” Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said in a tweet.
He did not further elaborate.
Last year, Olivar in a video that went viral bashed and questioned Robredo why she was in South Africa, where she was the special guest in a keynote address in a women’s forum.
*Senator Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday expressed concern over the controversial video and jingle on federalism posted Sunday by Uson to raise awareness of the proposed shift to a federal form of government.
Pacquiao said federalism was a serious issue and should be discussed in a serious manner.
“Talk about federalism, that’s a serious topic so its awareness should also be taken seriously,” Pacquiao said.
*The Palace said Tuesday there was no basis to campaign for a zero budget for the Presidential Communications Operations Office following the backlash the agency received over Uson’s video of the federalism jingle.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the PCOO provides an indispensable role in relaying the President’s message to the people and the removal of its budget would inhibit it from performing its mandate.
Said Generoso: “Something good may come out of this. Like for instance, before all this thing happened, only three of 10 Filipinos, according to surveys, say they have heard of the word federalism. But now, somehow, the word ‘pederalismo’ almost became a household word because of this incident.”
Generoso earlier said in a statement that “pepedederalismo” was not the way to promote federalism. He said the consultative committee had been crafting strategies for the campaign, which would include fact sheets and reading materials.
The video, which shows Olivar cheering for federalism using references to female body parts while doing a lewd dance, drew flak not just from social media users but also from several lawmakers.
Uson had said the video was just part of an online game show and was not part of the government-funded information drive on federalism. The official also said she had not been officially tapped to be the spokesperson or ambassador of federalism.
In a video posted Sunday night, Olivar slammed those who criticized the video, saying it was they who were putting malice in his cheer and dance. He also said he was not paid to do that because he was already rich.