President Rodrigo Duterte was “cool” to the controversial jingle and dance video on federalism posted on her blog by Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson.

“He wasn’t laughing. He was cool,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said of Duterte’s reaction to the “Pepedederalismo” video that several lawmakers and netizens found to be disgusting.

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“It’s freedom of expression. He’s a staunch advocate of freedom of expression kaya nga mahilig magmura,” Roque said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

According to Roque, Duterte believed that Uson might have had “good intentions” when she posted the video blog entry but added that there should be “substantive discussions” on federalism.

On the other hand, Roque acknowledged that most people are now aware of federalism through Uson’s viral video, but it was not exactly the way they intended to promote it.

“Now, everyone knows about federalism, but it’s not exactly in the manner that we wanted it,” Roque said. “Let’s just transform the debate into something substantive.” /cbb

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