Duterte threatens to put up ‘revolutionary’ government

PRESIDENT DUTERTE has again threatened to establish a revolutionary government in order to “correct everything” from corruption to rebellion and violent extremism and to his latest tirade against water concessionaires in Manila.

Duterte said he prefers the installation of a revolutionary government rather than to declare martial law or support a military-led coup if he cannot complete his six-year term.

“You know, I said if I do not make it, huwag ninyong bitawan ito. I’m not saying you initiate something like coup d’état. Huwag, kasi hindi na yan tanggap ng Pilipino. If you want an outright (solution), huwag martial law. Mag-revolutionary government ka na lang. Diretso na. Tapos you start to correct everything,” he said.

Duterte had previously threatened to declare a revolutionary government if communist rebels and other political opponents tried to destabilise his rule.

Sulu

Early this year, an influential ally of Duterte and now Sulu Governor Sakur Tan urged the President to establish a revolutionary government and eventually establish a federal form of government.

Tan’s statement came ahead of the ratification of the controversial Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) on January 21 and February 6 in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The BOL was eventually approved and replaced ARMM with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and ruled by Murad Ebrahim, chieftain of the rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front which signed an interim peace deal with Manila in 2014.

“Only through federalism you can configure the territories that will constitute the federal states and not cluster only the laggards together like the five provinces in the ARMM. Now they say that (BOL) it is also federalism na i-isang region ang gagawin sa BOL, but it is not, it is an isolation, because it will only be constituted by five provinces that are laggards, so it is only through federalism that you can mix the laggards with the affluent, otherwise, these laggards will never progress.”

“Kaya para mas mapadali ang federalism, dapat mag-declare na tayo ng revolutionary government to make things easier. So anong nangyari, sandali lang ay nagawa na yun Constitution natin. So the President can now appoint members of the commission that will draft the new Constitution and then come up with the new government and then come up with the form of government that we will have. Instead of a unitary form of government then we can have a parliamentary-federal system of government,” Tan said.

Duterte has repeatedly vowed to push for a change in form of government – from presidential system to federal – and even threatened to make Mindanao a federal region if lawmakers fail to amend the Constitution to pave the way for new federal government.

He said the current unitary system has spelled so much trouble. When he was mayor in Davao City in southern Philippines, Duterte had been strongly campaigning for the establishment of a federal form of government and in many of his public appearances and speeches the President said federalism is the next best thing for the country.

Duterte also vowed to step down – even before his term ends on 2022 – as soon as the new federal government is fully functional. “Do not be afraid of a dictatorship because I will not be the one,” Duterte said.

He also cited the precedent set by Corazon Aquino, who established a revolutionary government soon after leading an uprising in 1986 that ended the Marcos dictatorship. Aquino sacked all elected officials, abolished Congress and tore up the 1973 Constitution in favor of a provisional charter. She handpicked a commission to write a new Constitution, which was ratified by plebiscite in 1987.

Tan said majority of the municipal mayors in Sulu are also supporting the establishment of a federal government, including the 5 influential sultans - Sultans Ibrahim Bahjin, Muizuddin Jainal Bahjin, Muedzul-Lail Kiram, Mohammad Venizar Julkarnain Jainal Abirin and Phugdalun Kiram.

“More than half of the mayors or 15 out of the 19 municipalities overwhelmingly (approved this) and joined me in this clamor for federalism and if need be, call for (the establishment of) a revolutionary government. The legitimate Sultans of Sulu will also join us and I am very sure of that. As their Spokesman and Special Envoy, I speak for the Royal Council of the Sultanate of Sulu comprising the five Sultans of Sulu,” he said.

Tan said even before Duterte became president, he is already pushing for the establishment of a federal form of government and even went around the country campaigning for it. “Everybody knows about that. In fact I read a magazine shown to me by a professor of President Duterte, lawyer Sixto Brillantes, which quoted President Duterte that if he wins the presidency, he will declare a revolutionary government.”

“So President Duterte is just being true to his words and he means what he said. If you want a federal system, you must declare a revolutionary government now. Federal system through revolutionary government and if we have to declare it, the sooner the better,” Tan said. (Mindanao Examiner)

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