PROMDI

The Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives or Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (lit.'Province First Development Initiative';^[2]IPA:[prɔˈbɪnʃaˈmuna]), abbreviated as PROMDI or Abag-Promdi, is a political party in the Philippines based in Cebu.

The party was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, a former governor of Cebu, for his 1998 presidential campaign. Their main ideology is devolution.

In 2021, PROMDI formed an alliance with Manny Pacquiao's PDP–Labanwing and the People's Champ Movement (PCM), dubbed as the MP3 Alliance. They officially nominated Pacquiao as their candidate in the 2022 Philippine presidential election.

PROMDI was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, who served as governor of Cebu (1988–1992) and chief economic adviser to President Fidel V. Ramos (1993–1997), and was Ramos' unsuccessful running mate in the 1992 presidential election.^[3][4][5] A former officer of Lakas, Osmeña formed PROMDI for his unsuccessful presidential bid in 1998; his running mate was former South Cotabato governor Ismael Sueno.^[4] In the House of Representatives, PROMDI won four district seats and a party-list seat represented by Joy Augustus Young.^[6][7][8]

In 2001, President Joseph Estrada was ousted in the Second EDSA Revolution and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ascended to the presidency. PROMDI joined the pro-Arroyo People Power Coalition (PPC) alongside Lakas, Reporma, Aksyon, the Liberal Party, and PDP-Laban.^[9] The party won three district seats in the House.^[10] However, they were disqualified from the party-list election for failing to meet the criteria of representing the "marginalized and underrepresented" in accordance with the Party-list System Act (R.A. 7941).^[11][12] In Cebu City, PROMDI's Tomas Osmeña was elected mayor and Mike Rama was vice mayor.^[13][14][15]

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]

في يونيو 2021، أعلن أوسمينا عن إعادة إحياء حزب برومدي وخططه لخوض انتخابات 2022 على المستوى الوطني. ^{[ 18 ]} توفي أوسمينا في الشهر التالي، وتولى ابنه ميمو رئاسة الحزب. ^{[ 4 ] [ 19 ]} في 18 سبتمبر، وقّع حزب برومدي اتفاقية تحالف مع جناح باكياو-بيمينتل في حزب PDP-Laban وحركة أبطال الشعب (PCM)، عُرفت باسم تحالف MP3. ^{[ 20 ] [ 21 ]} في 26 سبتمبر، أدى السيناتور ماني باكياو اليمين الدستورية كعضو في حزب برومدي، وعُيّن رئيسًا فخريًا له. ^{[ 22 ]} ثم رشّحه الحزب مرشحًا رئاسيًا لعام 2022. [ ^{23 ] عندما} قدّم باكياو أوراق ترشحه في 1 أكتوبر، أعلن انتماءه لحزب برومدي، لكنه أكد أنه لن يتخلى عن الصراع على قيادة حزب PDP-Laban. ^{[ 24 ] [ 25 ]} كما قدم نائب رئيس مجلس النواب ليتو أتينيسا ، المرشح لمنصب نائب الرئيس عن قائمة حزب بوهاي ، أوراق ترشحه تحت راية حزب برومدي. ^{[ 26 ] [ 27 ]}

سيشارك حزب أباغ برومدي في انتخابات مجلس النواب لعام 2025 كقائمة حزبية، وسيكون ميمو أوسمينا أول مرشح له. ^{[ 28 ] [ 29 ]}

كلمة "برومدي" هي كلمة عامية فلبينية تُشير إلى سكان الأقاليم أو المناطق الريفية. ^{[ 30 ]} وهي مشتقة من النطق المُشدّد لعبارة "من (الإقليم)"، وكانت تُستخدم في السابق كلفظٍ ازدرائي للفلبينيين الذين يعيشون خارج منطقة مانيلا الكبرى ، والذين كانوا يُنظر إليهم بنمطية على أنهم غير متطورين أو غير اجتماعيين. ^{[ 31 ] [ 32 ]}

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]

PROMDI claims to have 3 million members nationwide as of June 2021.^[18]