Sitoy
NAMFED LAUNCHED IN CEBU
Local officials, community leaders and leaders of various groups convened in Cebu City on December 9 to launch the National Alliance of Movement for Federalism Inc. (NAMFed) for the Visayas, an alliance advocating Federalism for development of the region.
Adelino Sitoy, presidential adviser on Legislative Affairs, also administered the oath to NAMFed officials led by its president and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Danilo Lim.
“It is an exciting time to be a Filipino because of the present administration’s commitment in improving the lives of the Filipinos. If Federalism is the way to achieve this, our task is to make it possible. Our mission is to provide step by step assistance until this becomes a reality for the country and its people,” Lim said in his message.
Sitoy, a historian, said that Federalism is the form of government “where sovereignty is constitutionally shared between central governing authority and constituent political units called states of region.”
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has committed his administration to a formal shift to Federalism as a form of government to address the general issue of poverty and underdevelopment especially in the regions and to solve the long history of armed separatist Muslim movements in Mindanao and to cure the disease of graft and corruption,” Sitoy added.
Tuburan Mayor and League of Mayors of the Philippines (LMP) Cebu Chapter Head Aljun Diamante said that with “the government’s drive to advance Federalism as one of its centerpiece program, NAMFed and other regional alliances was formed to be able to consolidate various groups and individuals, and spearhead the promotion and advocacy of Federalism as the answer to the people’s long cherished dread of progress and development in a peaceful and secured society.”
Diamante is the executive vice president of NAMFed and president of the Visayas Alliance of Federal Movements Inc.
The Cebu gathering was organized by the Cebu Movement for Federalism Inc. (CeMFed) headed by Cordova Mayor Therese Sitoy – Cho, the daughter of Presidential Adviser Sitoy.
Other CEMFed officials are Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Allan Cesante – vice president, Sogod Mayor Lissa Marie Durano – Streegan – secretary-general and former Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong – treasurer.