He is a legal luminary, no doubt.
But more than that, former Senate President Nene Pimentel was a renowned vanguard of the federalism movement.
Sadly, his dream of seeing the country becoming a federal state has not come in his lifetime.
His dream of federalism has died with him. But his legacy lives on.
In fact, he has written a book on federalism, citing among others, the shift would result to a better life for all Filipinos enjoying peace and security, responsive labor, quality education and much improved social services.
Pimentel’s last act as a public servant was signing the ConCom draft Bayanihan Federalism Constitution on July 3, 2018.
Sans his fragile state of health, Nene Pimentel trailblazed the proposal nom-stop for a federal system to develop the countryside.
Known as the Father of the Local Government Code, Pimentel had been pushing for federalism as a form of government in various fora elsewhere and everywhere — championing the autonomy of local governments and the power of the people.
His effort was a big step towards attaining decentralization and autonomy of the country.
His dream of federalism has died with him, yet he left a lasting legacy for all of us to carry on — onward to federalism! (ruffy44_ph2000@yahoo.com)
His legacy lives on!
