Apart from the infamous corruption, factors like geographical location, cultural

diversity, and highly centralized unitary form of government result to inequitable

development among the different political subdivisions in the Philippines. Development
is said to be inequitable because the needs of the people, especially those who are
living in the remote areas, are not addressed. As a result, decentralization was imposed
in our political system. Decentralization is used by the government to provide genuine
and meaningful limited local autonomy to the local government units (LGUs) such as
provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. Despite this autonomy vested to the
LGUs, the Philippines is, however, far from every states goal political development.
How then can we attain political development? Do we need to impose higher
qualifications for our leaders or establish an authoritarian regime just like what the
former President Marcos did? The overriding question, nevertheless, is - what should be
done? To address this question, it is necessary for us to have a comprehensive
understanding on the historical accounts of Philippine development.
The roots of autonomy can be traced even before the Spaniards took control of
the Philippine territory. The basic unit of government during the Pre-Spanish period was
the barangay. Each barangay was an independent kingdom, possessing the essential
elements of statehood and ruled by a datu. 1 However, with the arrival of the Spaniards,
a unitary form of government was implemented from Luzon to Mindanao. From then up
to the present, Manila remained to be the seat of the central government. Majority of the
programs of the government are enforced in Luzon; thus, leaving behind other regions.
It is of this reason that I favor a reconstruction of our political system and establish a
federal form of government.
According to Professor Ronald Watts, Federalism provides a constitutional
organization that allows action by a shared government for certain common purposes
while permitting for autonomous action by constituent units of government for purposes
that relate to preserving their distinctiveness, with each level directly responsible to its
electorate. In other words, Filipinos can exercise self-rule with substantial powers and
resources.
1 Garcia, C., Philippine Government and Constitution (2009)

Now, if the states goal is to attain political development, is federalism an

answer? Federalism is not the absolute answer but is a means to an end, a means to
eventually establish political development in the Philippines. One must have to note that
there are a lot of factors that would affect the political maturity of a state, but the
systemic change - the institution of federalism - would result into a genuine and mature
democracy.
Why institutionalize federalism? Again, federalism will not solve all the problems
in the Philippines but it will address the issues on cultural diversity, promote economic
expansion, and instill good governance.
Cultural diversity has become a major problem in the Philippines. This resulted
to neglect on the interest of the inferior cultural group, uprisings, and even war. With
the institutionalization of federalism, administrative regions in the Philippines will be
classified according to their common culture so as to prevent conflict of interest. This
will also promote stronger regional identity.
Furthermore, federalism will be able to promote the states economy by
strengthening the economic capacities of each region. Under this system, resources
within the regions will be maximized and utilized by them. The people will be paying
taxes that will finance their region for their direct benefit. This could even promote a
healthy competition among different regions for one will try to find means just to sustain
their economy and raise the standards of living of its constituents.
Lastly, a federal system will stimulate good governance as it vests greater
responsibility to the leaders and encourages participation from among the people. For
there is independence guaranteed to the regional governments, problems will be
attended at the lowest level wherein it can be solved by the people directly concerned.
The government will now be accessible to the people; preventing delays in
governmental operations.
Nevertheless, this system aims to reinforce the regional governments as they are
directly associated with the people. As quoted by a one leader, You cant build a great
building on a weak foundation.; thus, having strong regional governments will lead to a

strong State a politically developed Philippines. Since change is the only constant
thing in this world, I guess itss about time to change our system, one that could
accommodate the needs of todays society. Let Federalism be institutionalized!