MANILA - The push for federalism will face more challenges due to the negative publicity produced by the controversial "pepederalismo" video, the spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte's committee that drafted a federal charter said Tuesday.

Ding Generoso, consultative committee spokesman, said while the panel was disappointed with the video posted on the Facebook page of Communication Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, he hopes that at the very least it helped promote awareness on federalism.

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"Something good may come out of this. Like for instance, before all this thing happened, only 3 of 10 Filipinos, according to surveys, say they have heard of the word federalism. But now somehow, the word 'pederalismo' almost became a household word because of this incident," he told ANC.

Generoso earlier said in a statement that "pepedederalismo" was not the way to promote federalism. He said the consultative committee has been crafting strategies for the campaign, which will include fact sheets and reading materials.

The video, which shows blogger Drew Olivar cheering for federalism using references to female body parts while doing a lewd dance, drew flak not just from social media users but also from several lawmakers.

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Uson had clarified that the video was just part of an online game show and was not part of the government-funded information drive on federalism. The official also said she has not been officially tapped to be the spokesperson or ambassador of federalism.

In a video posted Sunday night, Olivar slammed those who criticized the video, saying it is them who are putting malice in his cheer and dance. He also said he was not paid to that because he is already rich.

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