CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM GENERATES SUPPORT IN BUKIDNON

To generate support in the Province of Bukidnon towards Constitution Reform (CoRe) in the country, a Provincial Roadshow, including a series of activities, was conducted at Hotel de Susana Resort and Valencia City Gymnasium and Cultural Center, in Valencia City, Bukidnon.

Activities include Media Briefing, Town Hall Meeting, CoRe Talk and CoReCon, packed with information that promote, advocate and campaign a modified unitary federal form of government.

Said media briefing was participated by Bukidnon-based Media while Local Chief Executives, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, and Representatives of different sectoral groups of Bukidnon was invited to the Town Hall Meeting and Dialogue where open-ended clarificatory questions were properly addressed by Prof. Alfredo S. Sureta, Jr., resource speaker and expert on Federalism and Constitutional Reform.

For a thousand participants

Despite the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Bukidnon on November 18 in the evening which gave a lasting fright to its constituents until the following day, the second day of the activity was still attended by approximately a thousand participants.

The CoRe Talk in the morning was primarily participated by student leaders from various schools, out-of-school youths, SK Federation Presidents and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of Bukidnon.

For the CoReCon in the afternoon, aside from the morning participants who represented the youth sector, different sectoral groups also attended. This include the Women’s Sector, Persons with Disability (PWD) Sector, Senior Citizens and various accredited CSOs that represented other marginalized sectors like farmers and vendors. National line agencies as well as members of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Family were also present on the said event.

The push for Constitutional Reform

The event served as an avenue for people of Bukidnon to be clarified on issues involving party-list system, Sangguniang Kabataan, CSOs, and situs of taxation in a federal form of government.

The reform pushes a unified message through its four pillars: (1) Pagyamin ang Probinsya, Paluwagin ang Metro Manila, (2) Gobyerno Para sa Tao, Hindi Para sa mga TraPo (Traditional Politicians), (3) Bukas na Ekonomiya na ang Lahat ay May Pag-asa, and (4) Bagong Konstitusyon Para sa Bagong Henerasyon. 

Its priority concerns include providing more opportunities for the provinces to develop, elect leaders who cares for their constituents, further bring the government closer to the people, and having a constitution that is reflective to the needs of the new generation. 

Held on November 18-19, 2019, the activity was spearheaded by the DILG-Bukidnon Provincial Office, in coordination with the Center for Federalism and Constitutional Reform -Project Management Office (CFCR-PMO).