QUEZON CITY, June 17 -- A total of 559 first-time governors and city and municipal mayors are expected to join the basic orientation training program for newly minted local officials to be conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Outgoing Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento said the ‘Basic Orientation: The First 100 Days’ is part of the long-running Newly-elected Officials (NEO) Program of the DILG through its training arm, the Local Government Academy (LGA) which is a term-based, comprehensive Capacity Development Program for local governments.

DURING the course of the presidential campaign, now President-elect Rodrigo Duterte had repeatedly stated that he was a left-of-center socialist. Although he sympathized with some elements of the ideology of the extreme left, he did not agree to the use of violence as a way to achieve structural reforms in our society, to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth.

The government sets a benchmark today with the start of full implementation of the senior high school program, centerpiece of the contentious K to 12 education reform program of the Aquino administration.

Around 25 million students are expected to return to private and public elementary and high schools, including some 1.5 million who will join the first batch of students in Grade 11, which ushers in two additional years in basic education in the country.

Rappler - Former members of the 2005 consultative commission from CDPI on Vimeo.

MANILA, Philippines – Eleven years after a consultative commission (ConCom) was formed to study amendments to the 1987 Constitution, its former members are backing the proposal of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to shift to a federal form of government.

Academicians and former members of the 2005 ConCom discussed the features of the proposed charter change during a conference organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Centrist Democracy Political Institute (CDPI) on Friday, June 10.

A COUPLE of days ago, I stumbled across a pile of books I bought while I was a student of political science in Germany. The questions those books dealt with (and also the thesis I had to write) could be summarized as: “What is good for development and prosperity in democracies?”

Growing up in Germany does not necessarily lead you to believe that everything we have is perfect just because we’re one of the richest countries in the world.

A Conference that will focus on the imperatives of pursuing a Federal Republic of the Philippines with a Parliamentary Government will ensue before President-Elect Rodrigo assumes public office this July 1.

Entitled “Pursuing Federalism: A Shift from Unitary - Presidential to Federal - Parliamentary Government”, renowned Federal advocates in the Philippines are expected to attend. Some members of the 2005 Consultative Commission for the Amendments of the 1987 Constitution Dr. Jose Abueva, Atty. Raul Lambino, Ms Carmen Pedrosa, Prof. Alex Magno, and Atty. Rita Jimeno, CDPI President Lito Monico Lorenzana and PCCI Chairman Emeritus Amb. Francis Chua have confirmed their participation in the dialogue. Speaker of the House, Hon. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez and PDP-Laban President Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, were invited to give their commentaries on the administration’s initiatives.

THERE’S A variety of incantations being offered to break the spell of poverty in our provinces. These include “anticorruption,” “antidynasty,” “federalism,” and many other magic chants.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has made known that “federalism” is his choice of incantation to spur economic development and to help stamp out poverty in the countryside.

Dr. Jose Rizal put this idea forward in an essay published in La Solidaridad in 1889-1890. “Las Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos (The Philippines a Century Hence)” is deemed the national hero’s most prescient essay for a number of predictions he boldly made, most of which have come to pass.

This particular prophecy, however, inched snail-paced down the century, prompting remarks that Rizal had failed with this one. Today, his prognosis is catching speed toward the finish line of probable fulfillment with the election of Rodrigo Duterte as the 16th President of the Philippines.

A meeting between the CDPI President, Lito Monico Lorenzana and staff, including the members of the Concilium has ensued to discuss on the future initiatives of the Institute as it moves forward parallel to the incoming Duterte Administration.

The CDPI has been in five years working relevantly for political education efforts, among others to strategize on the promotion of a Federal Republic of the Philippines, Duterte’s primary reform agenda which has been one of the Institute’s core advocacy since its establishment.

DEMOCRACY is said to be “less a specific set of government institutions and more a cluster of values, attitudes, and practices that the nation share a common understanding of and agree with.”

These values, attitudes and characteristics include, though may not be limited, to the following: