President Rodrigo Duterte ‘wasn’t laughing’ while watching Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson’s viral video of malice-laced chant on federalism, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque clarified on Tuesday, August 7.
Roque said that while Duterte did not laugh over the “Pepedederalismo” chant that social media personality Drew Olivar did in his online show with Uson, the president was “cool” in his reaction.
“He wasn’t laughing. He was, as I said, ‘cool’. It was freedom of expression. He is a staunch advocate of freedom of expression kaya nga mahilig magmura,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing.
Roque, however, noted that Duterte wanted a more rational approach in disseminating information on federalism.
“To him, it was not really a big thing. He would want a more rational approach… He found it unconventional to get the people’s interest in federalism,” Roque said.
Roque added that now the issue on federalism is popular among Filipinos, the challenge now is to translate the issue into something “positive”.
“Now, everyone knows about federalism, but it’s not exactly in the manner that we wanted it. Let’s just transform the debate into something substantive,” he added.
The video, which has been shared 5.6 million times on Facebook, faced backlash after its “malicious” content.
Several senators have also expressed their dismay over Uson’s video.
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said:“Di ko lubos akalain na bababuyin pala nila ang kawsa [cause] ng pederalismo. Ilayo na si Mocha sa pederalismo. Mag-aral muna siya nang mabuti. Mag-leave muna siya.”
Meanwhile, Senator Nancy Binay also weighed in on the issue, lamenting that the seriousness of the discourse was “downgraded to the lowest of forms.”
“Dapat malinaw sa ating lahat na federalism is not an amusement piece, nor is it a comedy material. Sa totoo lang, even the most educated university professor finds federalism as a complicated subject,” said Binay.
