Inverted federalism: Not a solution but a much bigger problem

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd is “alarmed” that 73 percent of those allegedly polled by one propaganda pollster know nothing or so little about the 1987 Constitution. He shouldn’t be. The late former President Cory Aquino did not know much about her own Constitution when she submitted it to the people for ratification. B. S. Aquino 3rd, who followed his mother as president 18 years later, showed not much better understanding of it either.

Koko should be more alarmed that the people do not seem to mind that President Duterte would like to change the state’s unitary structure, which they know so little about, into a federal system, which they know absolutely nothing about, and that he expects the nation to fall in line, just because he is proposing it. Indeed, Koko should be more alarmed that the President, without any constitutionally assigned role in the process, is threatening Congress with dire consequences if it fails to dance to his beat.