SUPPORTERS of President Rodrigo Duterte launched last Sunday, October 23, the Kilusang Pagbabago with Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. at the helms.
The convenors and initial members of the Kilusan are those who campaigned for Duterte for the 2016 elections. It is an attempt to consolidate the people who contributed their time and effort to push Duterte amid the well-funded machinery of the opponents.
That the Kilusan was organized early into the presidency of Duterte is a welcome development as this will ensure the participation of the masses, and not just government officials, in pushing for the development agenda that Duterte promised during his campaign.
Around 3,000 participants joined the launching held at the Almendras Gym in Davao City.
“Buhaton lang ang tinuod na agenda alang sa kabag-ohan ni President Duterte, buhaton nako ang tanan aron pursigido ng makapakaylap ang pagpataas sa kahimatngon sa mga katawhan mahitungod sa kasiguruhan sa pagkaon, kalinaw ug pederalismo pinaagi sa pagpartisipar sa panggamhanan (I will perform the true agenda for change of President Duterte. I will do everything with determination to increase the awareness of the public in terms of food security, peace, and federalism through participating in the administration),” the pledge read.
While the President's war on drugs is what the mainstream media is focusing their tirades on, federalism could very well suffer the same fate if the masses are not properly informed.
Federalism, after all, changes the power structure that the opposition are very much against.
Thus, just as the campaign that won the Presidency for Duterte was waged, the campaign and eventual shift to a federal form of government will be waged at the grassroots level.
The same with the agenda for education, health, and peace and order.
There are positive steps towards it, just over a hundred days since Duterte took over, but the Kilusan will serve as the sounding board of whether these programs are indeed felt at the grassroots.
We have emerged as a country whose economy was flourishing while all other neighbors faltered. But we know, too well, that this robust economy was not felt by the masses.
This time, the Duterte administration wants this to be felt because that is what the previous administration failed to deliver -- the feeling of alleviation amid a booming economy. Instead, there was but a boom as measured by all economic indicators while leaving the masses wondering where that boom was.
This is a good start, indeed, now it is up to the people and the government to sustain the participation, this can only be done if government itself lives up to its promised agenda of real, palpable change.