You are correct. ‘Free association’ is indeed a central element of bolo’bolo. Bolo’bolo tries it assist the freely associated ibus and bolos by providing a framework for structuring and scaling their respective organizations. It also considers linguistic and other cultural elements, which the concept of ‘free association’ - as I know it - doesn’t necessarily do.

EDIT If this topic interests you, you might want to add Murray Bookchin to your reading list. His philosophy is pretty close to Bolo’bolo and highly relevant in the present climate crisis.