FEDERALISM

WHAT IS FEDERALISM?
Federalism is defining as the allocation of power between the national government and
regional government. It is a system of government in which the power is divided between a
central authority and constituent political units. Is it advisable for a country like us to adapt
this kind of government?
According to Jose Abueva, former president of University of the Philippines and a
professor of public and administration we should take federal kind of government. He said
that the Philippines would take a period of no less than 10 years to make a successful
transition to federalism, involving a period of consolidation of several regions and intensive
socioeconomic development in each of consolidated regions.

The advantages and disadvantages of federal government

ADVANTAGES OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

(1) It ensures that government remains close to the people because the state government
argue that they are more in tune with the daily needs and aspirations of people especially
relevant to small and isolated places.

(2) It encourages development of the nation in a decentralized and regional manner and
allows for unique and innovative methods for attacking social, economic and political
problems.

(3) It provides a barrier to the dominance of the majority,

DISADVANTAGES OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

(1) It can lead to duplication of government and inefficient, over-lapping or contradictory

policies in different parts of the country.

(2) It can lead to inequality between the states and lead to unhealthy competition and rivalry
between them.

(3) It can lead to over-government that will result to corruption. I have cited both faces of
federal government in order to inform all of you that federal government is a good system of
government and a good example of successful federal kind of government is the United States
of America.
But the question here is do we really need it? Is it advisable for our country to change the
government into federal?
On my point of view, we do not need here a change of government all we need is to
strengthen the centralized government. And also it’s very expensive to have a federal kind of
government. We have no enough funds because we are still paying our debts. We have already
LGU’S and NGO’S to monitor the needs of people that have a power equal to the national
government. We are making our situation complicated if we change our present government
into federal. Lastly, the Philippines is a third world country and according to survey last
September 16, 2006 we have 25 only of the world’s 193 countries have federal political
system, and 3 out of 25 is belong in Asia. It only indicates that a third world country like us is
not ready and cannot afford the federal government.(Jose Abueva)

HISTORY

Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini intended the Philippines to be divided into three
federal states, Luzon , the Visayas and Mindanao.
Federalism in the Philippines (Pederalismo sa Pilipinas) is a proposed form of government
in the country. Filipino national heroes Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini were the first
to suggest dividing the islands into three federal states.

One of the first proponents of federalism in the Philippines is University of the Philippines
professor Jose Abueva who argued that a federal form of government is necessary to more
efficiently cater to the needs of the country despite its diversity.The primary goals of a
constitutional amendment is to increase decentralization, greater local power and access to
resources most especially among regions outside Metro Manila which has long been dubbed
as rather imperial.Aside from Abueva, senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. is a prominent supporter
of federalism who, since 2001, has advocated for federalism. He sees the proposed system as
a key component in alleviating the Mindanao crisis and appeasing Moro insurgents.
Federalism will also hasten economic development since resource and financial mobilization
is upon each states' or provinces' discretion without significant constraint from the central
government.
Due to the Senate and Congress resolutions supporting charter change, an estimated 13,000
to 15,000 people gathered in Makati in 2009 to protest against administration proposals for
constitutional reform. This was in line with speculations that Philippine president Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo would use such amendment to extend her hold in office. [5] In addition,
Pulse Asia published in the same year their survey regarding public support towards the
proposed charter change. Their report stated that four out of ten Filipino adults or 42% of all
respondents opposed the amendment. Meanwhile, 25% were still undecided and 33% were in
favor. Pulse Asia furthered that from 2006 to 2009, there was no significant change of
sentiment against charter change, but indecision increased by 6%.
Beginning in late 2014, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte launched a nationwide
campaign promoting a charter change for federalism. During his visit to Cebu City in October
of the same year, Duterte stated that federalism will facilitate better delivery of services to the
people.He also saw the current system as "antiquated"where distribution of public funds is
disproportionately biased towards Manila. Aside from the economic aspect, federalism is also
seen as the best means to address problems in Mindanao which suffers the most from
ethnoreligious conflicts.He added that the current unitary form of government has not worked
well given the ethnic diversity in the country. In spite of rejecting several calls for candidacy
for the 2016 presidential elections, he also cited his reforms if he were to be president.
Parallel to his campaign for federalism, Duterte plans to privatize tax collection and abolish
the Congress to make way for a unicameral legislature, whereby the latter is contrary to the
originally proposed Joint Resolution No. 10.
Movements for federalism were further intensified since the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic
Law was submitted by Philippine president Benigno Aquino III to the Congress in September
10, 2014.If approved, this law establishes the Bangsamoro as an autonomous region with its
own parliamentary government and police force.Approval of the Bangsamoro structure
provides federalism proponents and supporters added confidence to clamor for the national
government to enact reforms towards a more decentralized system for the rest of the country.
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte stated in May 2016 that a plebiscite on the proposed
replacement of the unitary state with a federal one will be held in two years.
Failed attempts.

Joint Resolution No. 10

The resolution might have required the revision of 14 of the 18 Articles of the 1987
Philippine Constitution and the addition of two new articles. It sought to adopt a federal
presidential bicameral form of government. This proposed resolution was backed by 12
senators of the Philippines: (Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Pia
"Companera" Cayetano, Juan Ponce Enrile, Francis "Chiz" Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada,
Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Manuel
"Manny" Villar).
In 2008, senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. proposed Joint Resolution No. 10 , which would revise
the current 1987 constitution and have created eleven autonomous regions out of the
Philippine Republic, establishing eleven centers of finance and development in the
archipelago.

The proposal would result in the creation of eleven "states" and one federal administrative
region.

Proposed designations Letter State

M Federal Administrative Region

A Northern Luzon
B Central Luzon
C Southern Tagalog
D Minparom
E Bicol
F Eastern Visayas
G Central Visayas
H Western Visayas
I Northern Mindanao
J Southern Mindanao
K BangsaMoro

Within the joint resolution are certain proposals such as election of senators based on
states, senators representing overseas voters and the state governor and vice-governor as one
team.
The Judicial and Bar Council which screens nominees to the judiciary would be abolished.
Geographic locations of the three branches of the government would also be reconsidered. In
the proposal, the legislative department would be transferred to what would become the State
of Central Visayas while the judicial department would be moved somewhere within the State
of Northern Luzon. The executive department would remain within the federal administrative
region of Metro Manila.
House Concurrent Resolution No. 15 Rep. Monico O. Puentevella on May 7, 2008, filed
House Concurrent Resolution No. 15 which supported Senate Resolution No. 10 backed by
16 senators . Unlike the Nene Pimentel Senate Resolution, Puentevella included the option of
holding a constitutional convention , but excluded the People's Initiative mode.
Prospero Nograles, a self-proclaimed advocate of federalism , on May 1, 2008, announced:
"This federal system of government is close to my heart as a Mindanaoan leader and I'm sure
most of the leaders in Mindanao will agree that we have long clamored for it. Senate
Resolution 10 is a pleasant surprise because the Senate has a long history of opposing any
move to amend the Constitution."[21] The joint Senate resolution called for the creation of 11
federal states in the country, by convening of Congress “into a constituent assembly for the
purpose of revising the Constitution to establish a federal system of government.”

Proposed designations an
Code State (Existing Region)

NC National Capital (NCR)

NL Northern Luzon (R1 , R2 & CAR )
CL Central Luzon (R3 )
SL Southern Luzon (R4A & R5 )
WV Western Visayas (R4B & R6 )
CV Central Visayas (R7 & NIR )
EV Eastern Visayas (R8 )
NM Northern Mindanao (R10 & R13 )
WM Western Mindanao (R9 )
SM Southern Mindanao (R11 & R12 )
MM Muslim Mindanao (ARMM )
 If the extent of the drug problem—which now turns out to have existed for the past many
years—caught most of us by surprise, there are a number of revelations culled from Philippine
history about federalism that could astonish us even more.
Since President Rodrigo R. Duterte started talking about federalism, using it as a campaign
platform and reiterating it in his first State of the Nation Address, people have begun asking
what federalism is, anyway. Without so much as giving it enough study, some have
condemned it outright as an alien concept not suited to the Philippine setting. But what
federalism’s detractors may not know is that even before the president started saying that
there is a need to shift our form of government to federalism, history reveals that federalism
has long been desired by our forebears and that many regions and provinces have been
clamoring for it for years now.

Last week, for instance, when I was invited to speak on the subject of federalism along
with Lito Lorenzana, the president of the Centrist Democracy Political Institute, in Puerto
Princesa, I thought we would try to explain federalism as a concept to get the Palawenyos
thinking on whether it would be good for their province or not and to prepare them to make an
informed vote should Congress propose a Constitution federalizing the Philippines. I was
awe-struck to realize that the Palawenyos who attended the forum fully understood what
federalism was. In fact, it turned out that there has been a Federal State of Palawan Movement
for years now. We were even presented with a paper titled, Palawan as a self-sufficient state,
showing that with Palawan’s tourism, agriculture, mineral, oil and gas resources, it can well
stand as an autonomous territory, able to raise revenues of its own.

But, one significant fact that could surprise many Filipinos, especially those who say that
federalism is alien to the Philippines, is that no less than our national hero, Jose P. Rizal, had
advocated in his time that the Philippine should be a federal republic. He prophesied that after
liberation, the Philippines would probably adopt a federal republic, in his essay “Las Filipinas
Dentro de Cien Anos (The Philippines a Century Hence)” published in La Solidaridad in 1889
to 1990. Historian and professor of law, Pablo Trillana III said that when Rizal died, Emilio
Aguinaldo pursued the federalist idea. He said that Aguinaldo directed the Ilonggos to set up a
federal state for the Visayas, and to invite the Muslims of Maguindanao and Sulu, to join the
revolution and establish a similar state organization. Aguinaldo was pursuing Rizal’s 1890
idea of a federal republic covering the archipelago, which explains why the flag of the
Revolution and the First Republic had the three stars within the triangle, representing
Aguinaldo’s image of the major island groups constituting the archipelago as a federation.
However, Trillana wrote, the 1898 Malolos Congress decided, in a time of war, that the
more pressing concern then was to present a united front against the American enemy. Thus,
the Malolos Congress adopted a unitary form of government with powers firmly exercised at
the center. However, the US wrested away the independence the Filipinos declared in 1898.
Then, when US President McKinley created the First Philippine Commission headed by Jacob
Shurman to study the conditions in the Philippine Islands and make recommendations, two
proposals for a federal form of government were crafted and offered to the Shurman
Commission in 1899-1900. The first draft constitution for a federal republic was made by
prominent Filipinos while the second one was by Isabelo de los Reyes. Expectedly, the
American colonizers rejected both; decentralization would make it difficult for them to
control the islands they seized for their own benefit.

The 1935 Constitution, the Commonwealth and the 1946 independence saw the
institutionalization of a highly centralized unitary government patterned after the American
Constitution, minus its significant federal foundations, Trillana wrote. Another author and
historian, Erwin S. Fernandez, said that while the unitary system of government we now have
was necessary in 1896 as we were then at war, it no longer works in this day and age. The
unitary system has benefited only the center and it became the template for controlling
regions outside the capital. The 1935 up to the 1987 Constitutions have paved the way for
control by selfish elites residing in the enclaves of Manila while the regions wallow in poverty
and destitution, Fernandez wrote.
These revelations are grounded on fact and history. The too-centralized unitary system we
now have favors the oligarchic elites as it perpetrates poverty and destitution in the regions. It
makes the effort to understand and support federalism easy.

Duterte administration pushes for Federalism

(Updated: 9 months ago
Author: Ramona Duterte)

- Philippines will be under Federalism by 2022 according to timetable of Duterte

administration
- Change in the form of the government will be for the economy and not for politics
- An election for the Constitutional Convention will be held by the middle of 2017 once the
bill is approved by Senate and Congress
(Photo from dwdd.com.ph)
Incoming Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that by 2022, the Philippines will be
under Federalism, according to the timetable of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte’s
administration.
Pimentel himself will file the bill at the senate, he said, on his first day as Senate President on
June 30, 2016. The Senator from Mindanao eliminated fears about the extension of Duterte’s
presidential term once the Philippines shift to Federalism and stressed that if there will be a
change in the form of government, it will be mainly on the economic side and not on the
political.
“Nakatingin lang ako sa economic side of it, not the political,” he said in an interview.
Pimentel stated that the government has to educate the people about the primary purpose of
the changing Constitution, which is for the change to federal system. He insisted that people
should not express fear of constitutional change because it will be an opportunity to improve
the good features of the 1986 Constitution.

Here are 10 ways Mr Duterte plans to change the Philippines during his six years as
president:

1. War on drugs
Duterte has said he must take extreme measures to stop the Philippines becoming a narcotic
state. Security forces will be given shoot-to-kill orders. Bounties will be paid for killing drug
dealers. Ordinary citizens will also be encouraged to kill suspects. The death penalty will be
restored, by hanging.

2. Federalism
Duterte, who rails against "Imperial Manila", intends to change the centralised government to
a federal system in which newly created states would have a large degree of autonomy. They
would also be able to keep most of their revenues. Doing so will require rewriting the
constitution.

3. Peace with Muslim and communist rebels

Duterte insists he can end decades-old Muslim and communist rebellions, which have claimed
tens of thousands of lives. Peace talks with the communists are set to start this month. He
expects federalism will appease Muslim rebels, who want autonomy.

4. Birth control
Duterte wants to slow the Philippines’ fast-growing population, which recently surged past
100 million. He says families should aim for a maximum of three children. Duterte wants
government agencies to supply the poor with free condoms and birth control pills. A 2012 law
allowing for that has not been fully implemented, partly due to opposition from the powerful
Catholic church.

5. Fighting poverty
Duterte describes himself as a "socialist", and has vowed to change an economic model that
has created one of Asia’s biggest rich-poor divides. Roughly one quarter of the population live
below the poverty line. He says federalism is one key to this. But he also plans to continue
with the successful macroeconomic policies of his predecessor, Benigno Aquino.

6. Curfew
Duterte plans to roll out a nationwide curfew on children being on the streets alone late at
night. He also wants to ban alcohol being served in public past midnight, and stop people
from singing karaoke — a national passion — in public late in the late evening.

7. Corruption
Duterte has promised to rid government agencies, police and the military of deep-rooted
corruption. But aside from general statements, such as corrupt officials should "retire or die",
he has not explained how he would fix one of the Philippines’ most intractable problems.

8. Marcos
Duterte intends to allow late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at a cemetery for national
heroes, saying this will help end decades of social division over the issue. But human rights
victims say this will help whitewash the dictator’s crimes.

9. Opening up to foreign investment

Duterte is in favour of changing the constitution to lift restrictive foreign investment laws.
Duterte told telcos to improve one of the region’s slowest internet connections or face
competition from foreign players. But he is opposed to foreign ownership of land.

10. China ties

After relations with China plummeted during Aquino’s term over a South China Sea territorial
dispute, Duterte has said he wants "friendly" ties with Beijing. Aquino refused to hold direct
negotiations with China over the maritime dispute, but Duterte is open to one-on-one talks.
He is also courting Chinese investment in infrastructure.

Why federalism will be good for the Philippines WHAT MATTERS MOST By Atty. Josephus
B. Jimenez (The Freeman) |

One of the strongest reasons why Mayor Digong Duterte's political campaign for the
presidency is making waves is, aside from his strong advocacy against crimes and drugs, of
course, his strategic and trailblazing platform proposing a federal form of government for the
Philippines. In fact, the survey says that most of Mayor Duterte's supporters are not fixated on
his personality or idiosyncrasies but on the need to introduce a draconian change in
governance via federalism. The other presidential candidates are promising ambitious results
by merely seeking to continue the same way of leading and managing the nation.

Federalism is doing well not only in the United States but also in our close neighbor in
southeastern Asia, Malaysia whose people can be comparable to the Filipinos in culture,
outlook and ways of looking at government. Federalism can assure for us an authentic and
really working local autonomy, not the same old pretension of devolution today, where major
and even tactical decisions are all done in the imperialistic Metro Manila. The southern
regions today are still marginalized considering that most of the powerful officials are from
Luzon.

Today, the president, the vice president, the speaker of the House, the chief justice and
most of the fifteen Supreme Court justices are from Luzon. Most of the cabinet members are
from Luzon. Military officials, bureau directors are almost all from Luzon. The Visayas and
Mindanao citizens are only relied upon as taxpayers, and as sources of food supplies, mining
products, and suppliers of cheap labor both in the domestic and global labor markets. Even the
commanding generals of the army, the navy, and the air force are all from the north.

Once we are under a federal system, all component states collect their own taxes and
contribute only a small fraction of their revenues to the federal or central government for only
three centralized functions, namely: National Defense, including the National Police, Justice
and Foreign Affairs. All the rest shall be left to each state, including health, education, labor
and employment, trade, transportation, communication, agriculture, agrarian reform, justice
environment, natural resources. The states will manage mining and forest matters and shall
control all natural resources. Each state will have its own unicameral congress and a separate
court of appeals. There will be only one centralized Supreme Court and one federal senate
with three senators from each state.

We proposed the following States:

1. Northern Luzon state composed of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera (voting
population: 5,807,889);
2. Central Luzon (6,055,889);
3. NCR (6,253,249);
4. Calabarzon (7,619,278);
5. Bicol (3,121,661);
6. Mimaropa (1,589,326);
7. Western Visayas (4,242,153);
8. Central Visayas (4,375,756);
9. Eastern Visayas ( 3,121,661 );
10. Northern Mindanao and Caraga (4,088, 4240);
11. Socsargen and Southern Mindanao (4,745,818); and
12. ARMM or Bangsa Moro (1,863,230).
Federalism will result to friendly "coopetition" or "cooperative competition," as well as
synergy and mutual reinforcement. Mayor Duterte is making waves because of the vast
potentials of federalism, his top advocacy.

References:

https://bpspolitics.wordpress.com/2007/02/11/97/
http://www.philstarcom/freeman-opinion/2016/04/25/1576483/why-federalism-will-be-good-
philippines

http://m.thenational.ae/world/southeast-asia/dutertes-10-grand-plans-to-change-the-
philippines

https://kami.com.ph/21370-duterte-administration-2022-philippines-will-federalism.html

http://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/213976

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism_in_the_Philippines

Merriam Webster's Dictionary

BY: FABROS, ARCHEMEDES JONES P.

BSED-1V(SOCIAL STUDIES MAJOR)