CHARTER CHANGE

Duterte federalism campaign goes online during pandemic

RAMBO TALABONG

MANILA, PHILIPPINES
The Duterte government gives a quota of at least 100,000 signatures per region
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread in the Philippines, the Duterte government has migrated online
its signature gathering campaign in support of revising the 1987 Constitution. 
Through the website constitutionalreform.gov.ph, the Philippine government, through the Department of the
Interior and Local Government (DILG), is gathering signatures from Filipinos to press Congress to back
constitutional reform, or what the government calls “CORE” for short.
A signatory just needs to provide their name, region of residence, email, photo, and, if any, the civil society
organization they are associated with.
The goal is to get two million signatures by July 2020. These will then be submitted to Congress to pressure
them to pass the proposed amendments. 
“Ang paglagda kalakip ng aking pangalan ay tanda ng aking taos-pusong pagsuporta sa isinusulong ng ating
gobyerno patungkol sa Constitutinal Reform o pag-amyenda ng ating Saligang Batas. Payak at walang halong
pag-aalinlangan na ako ay tutulong sa abot nang aking makakaya para sa adbokasiyang ito tungo sa ikauunlad
ng ating sambayanan. I am for CORE!,” the pre-drafted statement for signatories says.
(The inclusion of my name is proof of my whole-hearted support for the government’s advocacy for
constitutional reform or amendment. Plainly and with certainty, I will, to the best of my abilities, support this
advocacy towards the development of our nation. I am for CORE!)

The CORE website contains explainers for signatories to read ideally before they sign, primarily the summary of
the amendments being pushed by the government. These include empowering regional development councils,
banning turncoatism, limiting political dynasties, and opening up the national economy to foreign investments.
The DILG also proposes increasing funding for local government units by putting into law the Supreme Court’s
Mandanas decision, which ruled that the source of funds for local governments should be all national taxes, not
just money collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The continuing campaign even amid the pandemic is meant to make up for lost time after the House of
Representatives in the 17th Congress passed a draft constitution but was frustrated by senators, who declared the
House draft as “dead on arrival” and did not finish tackling the bill before the session ended.
A quota system
Collecting two million signatures involved the DILG imposing quotas for its regional directors to achieve.
Before the lockdowns, they collected signatures both online and in person.
All regional directors were “requested” to collect 100,000 signatures each, based on their population. The
following regions were given higher quotas given their population size:
• Calabarzon (216,859)
• Metro Manila (176,865)
• Central Luzon (170,742)
• Central Visayas (123,659)
• Western Visayas (120,221)
The quotas were given through a memorandum circular dated March 27 from the office of DILG Undersecretary
Jonathan Malaya, who oversees the federalism campaign.