The group proposing the formation of a revolutionary government may not be cited for inciting sedition as its advocates are merely exhibiting their freedom of expression.
This was the assessment of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing in an interview with ANC on Tuesday.
Densing said inciting sedition “must be done with force and intimidation while sedition is meant to really block the government from executing laws and their major functions.
“It is far away from the definition of pushing for a RevGov (revolutionary government) because they are just freely expressing themselves. There is no force and intimidation. They are not stopping government function but simply want to transform to a new system,” Densing said.
But Densing stressed the RevGov proposed by the supporters of President Duterte is “untimely” as the country is faced with the COVID-19 crisis.
“In my opinion, the call for RevGov at this point in time is very untimely. All of us in government are focusing our attention in addressing the COVID-19,’’ he added.
Pro-Duterte group leaders Bobby Brillante and Arlene Buan led some 300 individuals who trooped to the Clark Freeport in Pampanga to call for a revolutionary government under the current administration.
On August 22, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) insisted that calls for a revolutionary government should be “discouraged and denounced” emphasizing other ways to address the pressing issues in the country.
“A revolutionary government is repugnant to constitutionalism,” IBP national president Domingo Egon Cayosa said.
“There is no legal, factual, practical, or moral basis for a revolutionary government under the present circumstances,” the IBP said in a statement.