Presidential hopeful Faisal Mangondato to push for federalism if he wins

Presidential aspirant Faisal Mangondato said he will push for federalism if he wins in May's elections.

“Ang sistema nakita naming may problema. Sino man ang italagang pangulo sa sistema ay hindi pa rin makakamtan ang gustong pagbabago ng ating pamahalaan,” Mangondato said in a EuroTV interview that was aired on the Campaign S.A.F.E. Comelec e-Rally Channel on Tuesday.

(The system we see as problematic, as whoever is appointed president in the system, it will still not be able to achieve the desired change of our government.)

“Nais namin i-alok sa maraming tao dito sa Pilipinas ang pederalismo. Gusto namin ang pagtawid natin sa federalism dahil ilalapit namin ang ating pamahalaan sa mga tao para makapagsilbi at makagawa ng mga magagandang programa sa agrikultura, sa industry, sa tungkol sa kalusugan at sa programang edukasyon,” he added.

(We want to offer federalism to Filipinos. We want to shift to federalism to bring our government closer to the people, to serve and produce good programs in agriculture, industry, health and education.)

President Rodrigo Duterte has been pushing for a shift to a federal form of government as a means to address national economic and power imbalances.

Under the proposed shift, the country will be divided into states that will be formed from the existing regions.

Mangondato said that if he wins in May 2022 polls, he will push to shift the country’s form of government from unitary to federalism in three years.

“Sa amin pagiging gobyerno ng aming administrasyon kung kami ay papalarin, sa loob ng tatlong taon meron na tayong transition government dito sa ating bansa,” he said.

(Under our administration if I am elected president, in just three years we will have a transition government here in our country.)

Mangondato is running under Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi (KTPNAN).

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday launched a Facebook page that will provide a platform for free livestreaming of national candidates' online political rallies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Campaign S.A.F.E. Comelec e-Rally Channel on Facebook grants online airtime to candidates for President, Vice President, Senator and party-list groups ranging from three to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the official campaign period for Eleksyon 2022 candidates running for national positions officially started Tuesday, February 8, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Mangondato, however, has yet to announce details about his proclamation rally. — BM, GMA News