The Constitutional Commission (ConCom) tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution will focus on an information campaign on the proposed Federal Constitution after a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed yesterday only one of four Filipinos is aware of the Federalism move.

“Now that they finished the draft of the new Charter, we expect the next step of the commission is the information drive on the changes and benefits the people can expect,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

The survey showed some 37 percent, the biggest proportion of respondents, agree with the shift to a federal system despite the low awareness of the campaign.

The survey results indicated more Filipinos are expected to support the federal shift with an effective information and education campaign.

Malacañang admitted the government needs to work harder to inform Filipinos of the proposed change in form of government.

Roque said the government’s current information drive was not enough based on the results of the survey.

“We’ll need to work harder given that the shift to federalism is the cornerstone of the Duterte administration,” Roque said.

The survey results also showed stronger support for the federal system among those with much trust or are satisfied with Mr. Duterte as President, and those satisfied with his administration as a whole.

The survey also indicated strong support for the federal system among those whose economic situation has improved or the so-called gainers and optimists among the respondents.

The survey, done on March 23 to 27, found 25 percent of respondents have knowledge of the federal system while 75 percent learned about it only during the conduct of the poll.

Roque said “everyone” in the government, particularly the ConCom, should exert more effort in the information dissemination drive.

He said the information campaign should focus on the need to shift to a federal form of government and its advantages and effect on the daily lives of the ordinary people.

Roque added government remains upbeat that people will eventually support the shift from presidential to federal.

“That’s the cornerstone of the Duterte administration – together with the drive against corruption, the drive against illegal drugs, comfortable life for all, shift to federalism,” he said.

Support to the federal system was highest in Mindanao with a very strong net agreement score of +43 (59 percent agree, 16 percent disagree), followed by Metro Manila at a neutral +7 (38 percent agree, 31 percent disagree), Visayas at a neutral +2 (32 percent agree, 30 percent disagree), and Luzon at a neutral –8 (27 percent agree, 35 percent disagree).

Net agreement with the federal system was higher in urban areas at a moderately strong +11 (39 percent agree, 28 percent disagree), compared to rural areas at a neutral +4 (34 percent agree, 30 percent disagree).

SWS said the questions in the survey were: “If the system of government in the Philippines will be made federal, there will be new local governments that are higher than the provincial, but lower than the national government. Did you previously know this, or did you know this only now?”

Another question posed was, “If the new local governments will be called ‘states’ like the ‘states’ in the United States of America, what will be the name of your state in your locality – according to those who are pushing to make the system of government Federal?”

The last question was, “Are you for or against this Federal system of government?”