MANILA – Sen. Grace Poe requested a Senate inquiry into the information campaign of the Consultative Committee (ConCom) and the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) for the proposed shift to federalism.
Poe’s request came after PCOO assistant secretary Mocha Uson’s federalism video has drawn negative reactions.
Poe filed Resolution 821, stating that “public office is a public trust and officials must, at all times, exercise professionalism in the performance of their functions.”
She noted the ConCom tapped Uson as a campaigner for federalism due to her strong presence in social media.
The Palace communications official, in turn, vowed to simplify the explanation of federalism.
The senator said some P90 million in public funds have been allocated for the information drive.
She said Uson’s latest antics “reek of impropriety and disrespect to the Concom nor it helps alleviate public discourse.”
“The video which showcased toilet humor on a rather serious issue does not help explain federalism to the people, especially at a time when only 37 percent of Filipinos support the shift to a federal system of government and only one out of four Filipinos are even aware of what federalism is while another survey indicated that 62 percent of Filipinos reject a change to federalism for now,” the senator said.
During the budget hearing, senators asked why a fund has already been allocated when a federalism program has yet to be approved.
Several other senators have expressed readiness to scrutinize the budget of PCOO.
Poe has challenged the PCOO to justify its P100 million proposed budget increase.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, who defended the 2018 budget of the PCOO last year, predicted that the budget will face rough sailing.
Sen. Joel Villanueva also said he will make sure that PCOO deserves every peso it gets. (With a report from GMA News/PN)
