Con-com member abashed by Mocha ‘ipederalismo’ video

A member of President Rodrigo Duterte's Consultative Committee (Con-com) on Monday said she was "abashed" by the controversial federalism video posted on the blog of presidential communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson.

"I am rather abashed at what they showed. 'Di siguro maganda, at tama yung sinabi ni Secretary [Harry] Roque that it should be treated with greater seriousness because the Constitution, any constitution of any country, is by way of being the bible of a country," lawyer Susan Ubalde-Ordinario said in an interview on GMA News TV's News To Go.

"So siguro dapat medyo seryosohin natin ito," she added, suggesting that the public should instead be first taught their rights under the Constitution, the "social contract between the state and the citizenry."

In a brief portion of a video aired on Uson's Facebook page last week, one Drew Olivar, who claims to post "satire posts" on his own page of 278,000 followers, performed a jingle where he said "I-pepe, i-pepe, i-dede, i-dede, pepe pepe pederalismo" while gesturing to his crotch and chest.

Meanwhile, another Con-com member, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, called the "ipederalismo" video "disturbing." Asked how federalism should be taught instead, he said: "Intelligently, by one who knows the draft thoroughly."

It was the Con-com, led by former chief justice Reynato Puno and former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., that drafted a proposal for a federal Constitution. Ding Generoso, the spokesman of the Con-com, said the committee may link up with Uson as part of its pro-federalism public information drive.

But Generoso said such a jingle was "certainly not the way to present federalism."

"It is not a part of the information campaign which is still being crafted, and the mechanics of which are still being finalized," Generoso said in a statement.

"What we envisioned is an information campaign that dwells on the benefits that federalism will bring to ordinary citizens, particularly those in the far-flung regions and provinces, areas that have remained lacking in opportunities for growth because of the overconcentration of powers and resources in Metro Manila," he added. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News