MANILA - Former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. on Friday slammed Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III for supposedly pushing for a revolutionary government.

Densing, in a gathering of Mula sa Masa Duterte Movement members in Butuan City earlier this month, pushed for a revolutionary government to hasten the shift to federalism, saying people’s participation is necessary if the administration wants the transition to take place within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Mas lalong ‘di maganda ang proposal ng Assistant Secretary Densing to create a revolutionary government. My goodness!” Pimentel said in a Palace press briefing.

“Iyun ang iniwasan natin sa panahon ni Marcos. Revolutionary government ang gusto mo, kung saan ang karapatan ng taumbayan ay tanggalin at hindi irespeto? For heaven’s sake, I suggest that this government official should be more careful with his statements.”

Densing has defended his push for a revolutionary government as part of “freedom of expression,” even as he distanced the Department of the Interior and Local Government from the proposal.

"Again, my speech was about federalism and participative governance. The issue of ‘rev-gov’ came out only during the interview and the DILG has nothing to do about the rev-gov thing," he told ANC.

Densing said the group has been "moving all over the country these past few months to explain its objectives of pushing for a federal system and participatory governance."

The DILG, in a statement, said it was not leading a campaign to shift to federalism through a revolutionary government.

“The call for a revolutionary government is the personal opinion of Usec. Densing and not of the DILG. He was speaking as honorary chairman of the Mula sa Masa Duterte Movement (MMDM) and not for the DILG,” said DILG OIC Eduardo Año in a statement.

“We are advocating for federalism through constitutional means. The 1987 Constitution has clear provisions on how a change in the system of government can be effected. We abide by these provisions and will see to it that any change in the system of government goes through constitutional processes.”