Nur Misuari, chairperson of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) openly expressed his support for a revolutionary form of government during a Federalism for Peace State of Luzon Summit held at the Kb Gymnasium inside the provincial capitol compound in the City of Malolos on Saturday.
The summit was a joint effort of the MNLF and the People’s Solidarity Federal Party of the Philippines, chaired by Joel Obar wherein thousands of supporters from Northern Luzon joined the peace summit.
The MNLF chairman explained during the summit that with the current form of government of the country, it is imperative that a change of the form of government be made to address the current woes that the country is facing
Thousands of Misuari’s supporters from the different parts of Luzon cheered and unisonly shouted for “RevGov, RevGov” repeatedly to show their support for the change of the country’s unitary form of government to a federal form of government.
The launching of “Misuari-Duterte Tandem for Federalism for Peace” was chosen to held in Malolos because of its historical signifinace.
The unitary form of government has spawned political dynasties that lead to corruptions, poverty and war, Misuari noted.
Misuari said that to have genuine peace, the country must get rid of political dynasties that tend to be the main source of corruption that enable politicians to engage in vote-buying during elections and in return becomes corrupt in public office to amass wealth.
He urged participants to the summit to help them end political dynasties and work together and end the unilateral form of government and establish a federal form of government that would create an even distribution of wealth for the islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao by having its federal states to collect their own taxes to be spent on their own people and not the national government dictate where the taxes would be spent.
Before the summit ended, a signature campaign for their manifesto was conducted that urges President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the people to establish a federal system of government that embodies the inalienable right of the people to self-determination through the confederation of equally free and democratic nations that dismantle that dismantles the imperialistic unitary system.
“we demand for the formation of a transition mechanism by establishing the State Parliaments of Luzon, Visayas and the Bangsamoro homeland respectively with President Rodrigo Roa duterte as head of state whose term shall be coterminous with the completion of the covenant or until an election is called under the federal set-up,” Misuari said.Sara Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday said in one of Hugpong ng Pagbabago’s (HnP) campaign sortie in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi that she was opposed to federalism, because wider political and fiscal autonomy, when granted to areas long held by political clans, could spell trouble.
She added that Mindanao is filled with ‘kingdoms’ of local politicians, local warlords and she don’t think it’s right that they will be granted wider powers.
The President’s daughter, however, noted that the decision to shift to federalism rests with Congress and the President.