After two of the Philippines’ Economic Managers expressed their reservation about shift for federal form of government, another Cabinet official has also expressed doubts the Philippines is ready for federal form of government because everything still confuses him.
This is what Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana shared to the reporters about his observation, saying that the Philippines is “not yet” ready for the change in government system.
“There are so many who don’t understand it yet. It’s confusing,” Lorenzana said In an interview with the media in Camp Aguinaldo when he was asked for his opinion on the shift to federalism.
With this statement from Lorenzana, this also the same apprehensions expressed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and National Economic Development Authority chief Ernesto Pernia in a Senate committee hearing that the federalism shift can prove to be a “fiscal nightmare.”
“We still need more information and be educated further about federalism,” Lorenzana said, after admitting that he himself was still confused about how federal leadership would be implemented.
However, Lorenzana, made it clear that the military had no official position on federalism. He said in closing, “we haven’t conducted a survey on our troops, but our military will support whatever the Congress will pass, as long as it has been deliberated on”.