Federalism is a type of government in which the power is divided between the national government and other governmental units. It contrasts with a unitary government, in which a central authority holds the power, and a confederation, in which states, for example, are clearly dominant. To empower the regions outside Metro Manila as well as avoid the further fragmentation of provinces and towns to suit the interests of some groups or political clans, Federalism is one of the pillars of the campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte. The Philippines is a unitary state with the President as both the head of state and the head of government. The government of the Philippines is made up of three interdependent branches which are the legislative, the executive, and the judicial system. Changing our government to Federalism, the autonomous states are even further divided into local government units. They will have the main responsibility over developing their local industries, public health and safety, education, transportation, and culture. These states have more power over their finances, policies, development plans, and laws. But are we ready for this type of government system? Are the people ready for federalism? Momentarily, the Philippines is not under a good state. Rate of poverty gets higher, more crimes and violence are happening, corruption in the government hasn’t still stopped, our president have his own definition of ‘Human Rights’ and do you think that changing our government system to a federalist one will solve all of this? In the list of what can make our country better at this time, given the prevailing political culture, our need for laws to fight corruption ranks much higher in importance and urgency than the need to shift to a federal system of government. The Philippines is under a lot of problems right now, and I believe that changing our government to a federalist system, is not the solution, perhaps it will only be caging our already caged nation.
Federalism will create further divisions and rivalries. Our country, Philippines, already have a brewing rivalry that concerns the Filipinos. Federalism will only add flame to the burning rivalries and will cause worse disunity among the Filipinos. According to retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza, a shift to a federal system will weaken our republic, fragment our nation and render at moot the many years we have spent to attain national unity. This country will be fragmented by such an attempt and there will be attempts at cessation. Shifting to a federal form of government would intensify regional differences and would encourage the rise of village tyrants and village dictators. The failure of federalism, which Mendoza referred to as an ‘experiment’, would be long-lasting. “It will not just be like the impact of a Brexit where the sovereign states can return to their former status as independent states in the case of a component state trying to become a federal system. It will mean separation from the moorings, exposure and making yourself easy prey to the cupidity of other states. It is as dangerous as that”, Mendoza said. In addition to that, what our country needs is a system of government that will unify our fragmented society. I believe that federalism will have the opposite effect because it will effectively break up our already divided country into virtually self-contained fiefdoms where powerful families can continue to hold sway. Such change strategy is fraught with unseen risks and is bound to flounder and eventually fail in the absence of well-developed social, political and economic institutions to facilitate a smooth transition from one system to the other.
To add more flame to the burning issue, federalism can cause other states to lag behind. In the Philippines, there are some states that are not as ready to be autonomous compared to other states, which would create a lot of problems. A recent survey done by SWS and Pulse Asia, showed that only about 27% of Filipinos were aware of what federalism really means - this means roughly 1 in 4 Filipinos. Our country is already divided by language, religion and economic inequality, and a federal system of government can be a recipe for disaster. Studies show that only a few regions are capable of raising enough taxes on their own. The vast majority of provinces, which will be submerged into new federal states, lack the basic administrative capacity for generating revenue. Under a federal system, the richer states of the north will have even more resources to enhance their competitiveness, thus deepening the developmental gap with other southern regions. Moreover, a federal system could further strengthen the power of political dynasties and warlords, which control the Philippines’ peripheries. According to academic studies, around 178 so called ‘political dynasties’ - politicians related by kinship and blood - control 73 out of 81 provinces across the country. They also control up to 70% of the legislature, thus they seem likely to remove any proposed restrictions on the proliferation of political dynasties. Imagine weighing all of this in a balance scale, with political dynasty being dominant, the power will not be divided equally. One nation can have more, while the latter can only have few, or worse, none.
Federalism must not be implemented. Federalism is not for the Philippines. Right now, it’s definitely not proven that the current political leaders in the country are trustworthy enough to ‘change the system’ when in the current system they are already failing. I understand that we need a change, but a change this drastic is too costly and too brash at the moment for the country who is reeling from all sorts of problems, most notably corruption. Federalism seems to work for other countries, because that’s the system, they started with in the first place. The Philippines isn’t, so it doesn’t necessarily apply there. Ever notice the current leaders in the country and how ‘dynastic’ most of them are? Giving them power would only lead to more abuse. Moreover, the presently existing federal countries already possessed and practiced for a long time before federation. In the case of the Philippines, such state autonomy will still have to be introduced, structured and developed. These are two sharply contrasting cases. Federalism and the Philippines do not fit together.
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According to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the shift to a federal form of government will cost up to P253.5 billion and this will be the top of the current cost of running the government, if implemented next year. NEDA said the proposed federal charter would lead to inevitable disruptions to the economy’s growth momentum and progress in infrastructure improvement efforts. In addition to that, an interview after the meeting led by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon told reporters that the projected added expenses arising from the shift to federalism would bring about ‘fiscal pressures’, and pressure on the budget deficit cap. The proposed federal form of government was also slammed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. It could breed a tyrannical, oppressive and unjust regime. “It creates a horribly horrendous, bloated and enlarged bureaucracy to maintain and sustain, which would forever burden the people”, Davide said. Davide also noted the creation of 18 federated regions, with broad exclusive powers, each of which will have its own regional assembly and executive department. He also slammed the concept of the formation of the four supreme courts on the national level as well as regional supreme courts and other lower courts. “The creation of the four federal supreme courts – the Supreme Court, constitutional court, administrative court and electoral court – is unnecessary and would only complicate our justice system, and diminishes and weakens the historic dignity of the single highest court – the Supreme Court”, - according to Davide. “All the reorganizations in the bureaucracy will prompt both the federal and regional governments to impose taxes or to resort to borrowing money. And these wouldn’t be a far reason why the price of almost everything, e.g, food, clothes, medicines, will increase. They create an unbearable burden to the people”, - he finished.
And most of the senators don’t agree with Federalism. Majority of the 24 senators of the country doesn’t support federalism. “My reading is that a great majority of senators are against it. Federalism will only add to the bureaucracy, red tape, more taxes, and greater tension in government. It will only promote political dynasty, will put our credit standing down and this is really bad for our economy”, - Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.
Furthermore, implementing federalism in our country will not solve anything for it will worsen everything. The people are not ready and most importantly our budget is not ready. The government will have to reorganize and change everything and it is not guaranteed that this type of government will work in our country, given the current leaders that we have. Federalism will be expensive, because we have to establish the other 17 state governments that would make up of the Federal Republic of the Philippines. Creating a new layer of bureaucracy will cost a lot of money, and where will the Philippines get its budget for that? The expense of the current administration will also be more than what is expected. Pushing for a federal system will not come cheap, and billions of pesos will be spent on building state governments and electing local officials.
However, the sharing of powers in a federal system will ensure that the federal states will have ample powers to develop their own social, economic, and political potentials. With adequate powers the federal states will be able to modernize themselves. As they modernize, the political stability of the whole country will be strengthened. In addition to that, the concentration of power and resources in the president of the Philippines over fiscal resources and appointments in the bureaucracy can be used to secure economic rents and accumulate wealth which can be easily abused, ushering in corruption. When corruption reaches intolerable limits, political conflicts intensify and instability emerges. But, establishing a multi-layer of government structure consisting of central and regional governments will be costly, creating an enlarged and bloated bureaucracy. The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) puts the additional cost in the range of P44-72 billion, not even counting changes in the judiciary, if there is a shift to a federal system. Federalism will strengthen political dynasties in the regional governments, perpetrate themselves in power and amass vast wealth through corruption. Federalism will make the poor poorer because they will be burdened with taxes of all kinds to support and maintain the federal central government and regional governments. The principles of federalism – local autonomy, subsidiarity and decentralization – are already in the 1987 Constitution. What needs to be done is to operationalize these principles of federalism. The unitary system has carried this nation through tests of fire: the Filipino – American War (1898-1902), World War II against Japan (1941-1944), rebellion, coup attempts and war in Marawi.
I repeat, Federalism is not for the Philippines. I am a firm believer that Federalism will only worsen our current state, so it should not be implemented. I will state my three final points as to why we should not change our government to a federalist one. First, economically backward provinces or regions would have to depend on equalization payments from richer areas. The locally-generated funds of some municipalities are still small and are still dependent on the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) for their operations. Second, as many as 70% of Filipino politicians are connected to dynasties who were able to perpetuate themselves in power and amass vast wealth through corruption. Imagine how much more influence and wealth will these dynasties monopolize if more powers from the national government are devolved and handed over to their control. And lastly, this is not a silver bullet solution to the armed uprisings in Mindanao as what many would envision because the Moro’s want a separate nation, not autonomy. We are already a caged nation, breathing still, even though it’s hard. Would you rather watch the fall of the Philippines through Federalism or will you stand with me and fight against it?
References
- https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/08/07/1840327/federalism-breeds-oppressive-unjust-regime-hilario-davide-jr
- https://www.pids.gov.ph/pids-in-the-news/2560
- https://business.inquirer.net/256427/shift-federalism-cost-govt-p253-5b-says-neda
- https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/07/09/1831814/federalism-will-not-work-rp
- https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/02/01/1783589/ex-sc-justice-federalism-will-weaken-nation
- https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1754575
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