The Philippines' president-elect, rough-talking city mayor Rodrigo Duterte, has announced plans for an overhaul of the country's system of government that would devolve power from "imperial Manila" to long-neglected provinces.
Duterte's spokesman, Peter Lavina, told a news conference on Tuesday that the new president would seek a national consensus for a revision of the constitution which would switch from a unitary form of government to a parliamentary and federal model.
The proposal to devolve power from Manila fits with Duterte's challenge as a political outsider to the country's establishment, which he has slammed as self-serving and corrupt.
"The powerful elites in Manila who will be affected by this system will definitely oppose this proposal," said Earl Parreno, an analyst at the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms.
Duterte's spokesman said he would also seek peace agreements with rebel groups in the south of the archipelago, where the outgoing government has been using force to quell militancy.
In an early indication of his unorthodoxy, Duterte told reporters on Monday that if he became president he would seek multilateral talks to resolve disputes over the South China Sea.
The outgoing administration of President Benigno Aquino has asked a court of arbitration in The Hague to recognise its right to exploit waters in the South China Sea, a case it hoped could bolster claims by other countries against China in the resource-rich waters.
Duterte said negotiations should include Japan, Australia and the United States, which is traditionally the region's dominant security player and contests China's development of islands and rocky outcrops in the sea.
One of his advisers told Reuters spending on education would be lifted to benefit "disadvantaged regions" and rural development will be prioritised to spread wealth more evenly across the country.
"Everything seems to be in imperial Manila," said Ernesto Pernia, professor emeritus of economics at the University of the Philippines. "He wants to give more attention to the lagging, the backward regions."
Pernia said the pursuit of tax evaders and corrupt officials should bolster government revenues to fund extra spending.
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