The Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives or Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (lit.'Province First
Development Initiative';[2]IPA:[prɔbɪnʃamuna]), abbreviated as PROMDI or Abag-Promdi, is a political party in the Philippines based in Cebu.
The 2004 election was dominated by two major coalitions: the pro-Arroyo K4 and the opposition KNP. However, PROMDI opted to join Aksyon and Reporma (former Arroyo supporters) to form a third smaller coalition, the Alyansa ng Pag-asa (Alliance of Hope). They supported the presidential bid of Aksyon's Raul Roco.[16] In 2010, Osmeña unsuccessfully ran for a Senate seat.[17]
In June 2021, Osmeña announced the revival of PROMDI and their plans to contest the 2022 election at national level.[18] Osmeña died the following month. His son, Mimo, became the new party president.[4][19] On September 18, PROMDI signed an alliance agreement with the Pacquiao–Pimentel wing of PDP-Laban and the People's Champ Movement (PCM), dubbed the MP3 alliance.[20][21] On September 26, Senator Manny Pacquiao took his oath as member of PROMDI and was named their honorary chairperson.[22] The party then nominated him as their presidential candidate for 2022.[23] When Pacquiao filed his candidacy on October 1, he declared PROMDI as his party, but asserted that he was not abandoning the leadership dispute of PDP-Laban.[24][25] Pacquiao's running mate, House Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza of Buhay party-list, also filed his candidacy under PROMDI.[26][27]
Name and symbols
Promdi is a Filipino slang referring to people from the provinces or rural areas.[28] It is derived from the accented pronunciation of "from the province" and it used to be a derogatory term for Filipinos living outside Metro Manila, who were stereotyped as unsophisticated or socially awkward.[29][30]
Political positions
In June 2021, PROMDI declared three major platforms: "the devolution of power and initiative, a responsive and relevant educational system, and advanced and tactical nuclearization".[1] The party calls for devolution "to ensure that decisions are made closer to the local people, communities and business they affect".[18] They criticize the unitary system of government based in Imperial Manila as "highly bureaucratic, inefficient, and unresponsive", accusing it of neglecting the provinces.[1] They also want to reform the education system to be "responsive to the needs and wants" of localities. As such, the imposition of national academic standards and assessments should be reviewed.[18] They encourage vocational education and call for the defunding of for-profit education. They also push for the transition to renewable energy.[1] Lastly, they call for the acquisition of nuclear weapons as deterrence, since the Philippines is a "small nation" that must defend itself from "advances by superpowers".[18]
Organization and structure
PROMDI claims to have 3 million members nationwide as of June 2021.[18]
^"Tagalog Slang". seasite.niu.edu. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
Teehankee, Julio C. (2006). "Consolidation or crisis of clientelistic democracy? The 2004 synchronized elections in the Philippines". In Croissant, Aurel; Martin, Beate (eds.). Between Consolidation and Crisis: Elections and Democracy in Five Nations in Southeast Asia. Berlin: LIT Verlag. pp. 215–276. ISBN3-8258-8859-2.
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