THBT THE PHILIPPINES SHOULD ADOPT A FEDERAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT

Status Quo:
With social and economic inequity rising in the Philippines, Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III
told legislators from all over the world that the Philippine government was eyeing a major structural
reform to ensure that all Filipinos enjoy the fruits of the country's economic growth: the adoption of
federalism.
Addressing participants of the 136th Interparliamentary Union Assembly, the Senate President said
that the country's "chosen weapon to fight the inter-generational problems of poverty, inequality, and
the societal instability that result therefrom, is not merely policy change but structural change in the
form of the adoption of the Federal System of Government."
Parameters/Proposals:
1) Abolish all provincial jurisdictions. After all, the provinces do not have their own constituencies.
Their so-called "constituencies" are already constituencies of towns and cities under their
jurisdiction.
2) Consider the 14 regions as the 'states' or provinces with cities and towns immediately
adjoining or adjacent to them as their smaller units. The head of the 'states' may be called
Governor, Chief Minister, Director, or whatever is appropriate. Each 'state' shall elect its own
senators and congressmen who will compose the state or regional legislators. These senators
and congressmen shall be different from senators and congressmen of the federal
government.
a. From the present 14 regions (which include the National Capital Region and the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), the Cordillera region can be included to
bring the total to 15 states.
3) The functions and powers of the federal government, with its capital in Manila, shall focus on
foreign affairs, national finance and currency, defense and security, education, and agrarian
reform, among others. Local authorities of the various 'states' shall be concerned with cultural
affairs, agriculture, natural resources generally domestic commerce, regional or state planning,
taxation, non-tertiary education and lower-level education and others.
Definition of Terms:
 Federalism – is a political philosophy in which a group of people are bound together, with a
governing head. In a federation, the authority is divided between the head (for example the
central government of a country) and the political units governed by it (for example the states
or provinces of the country).

Argument 1: Diverse Ethnolinguistic and Cultural Elements

Ethnolinguistically, one can find the Filipino without a doubt diverse. This should be explained via the
country's archipelagic attribute which keeps the provinces isolated from one another. Another impact
of isolation, lack of contacts ensuing from undeveloped transport and communication systems, is the
distinction in world views and perceptions. A Muslim Filipino and a Christian Filipino, for example,
would vary in perceptions about political issues and might also be definitely contradictory. This is true
with a Filipino from the North (Cordillera) who might have a unique impression of a lowlander. But on
a nearer scrutiny, this problem of ethnic differences and perspective-'S is now not actually alarming,
provided that it does no longer end result in "movements" to separate from the country like the
secessionist movement in Mindanao. It need to be pointed out, however, that the standpoint of the
natives or aborigines can be taken as reflections of the effectivity of country wide political socialization
and integration. An efficient-transport and conversation gadget would play a indispensable function in
the cognizance of such goals.
Argument 2: Archipelagic Characteristics
Except for Indonesia and a few different archipelagic nation-states, the Philippines is possibly the
most scattered island territory.
A nearer seem at some of these islands which lie in proximity to one every other may additionally
show that these are populated through one homogeneous ethnolinguistic group. At positive periods, it
is hard to reach some of these islands (particularly those that are placed in East Visayas, Bicol,
Cagayan Valley and Batanes province because of familiar typhoons and different weather
disturbances). The monsoon seasons, for example, which reasons robust sea currents triggered
through the float of wind emanating from the Pacific Ocean getting into via the Philippine
Archipelago's "choke points"4 come what may affected the instructions towards which typical sea
crafts had travelled in the past. It may additionally be argued though that, to a positive extent, these
common sea crafts have been changed by way of contemporary capacity of land, air, and sea
transportation, making travel to these islands fantastically easy. These changes, nonetheless, are
solely of latest phenomenon, no longer tons earlier than the first few years of the American rule. The
first-rate gadget of governance underneath these instances is one that is sufficiently decentralized.
The response mechanism to herbal calamities ought to be regionally crafted, suitable-for the most
section to nearby conditions. In general, how to reduce unfavorable influences of herbal calamities or
how to turn bad tendencies relative to nature into regional belongings ought to be comparatively
effortless for the nearby leaders to work on.
Argument 3: The Barangays: Basic Political Communities
Just like Malaysia, Philippine way of life presents varying characteristics, for instance, the presence of
ethnolinguistic agencies spread all over the country. Characteristically, it additionally qualifies for a
federal set-up. Being an archipelagic country, the. Philippines' earliest political devices were spread
throughout. Almost 7,100 islands and islets, hence had been faced with exceptional occasions and
therefore having a range of survival capabilities. Some barangays like Cebu or Manila or these in
prosperous alluvial plains had better resource bases or had greater opportunities to prosper due to
the fact of the presence of an extraordinarily installed industrial and buying and selling activities.
Argument 4: Ensures the separation of powers and prevents tyranny
This is not like in unitary systems of government, such as in the UK (pre-devolution), the place the
central government has the supreme authority to put in force any kind of law, in any section of the
country inside the criminal capabilities of the government. There is no decentralization of political
power and only one supreme authority.
Therefore, with such decentralization, federations are less likely - even though no longer immune - to
fall to tyranny as it’s tons harder for the head of government to exert themselves upon a specific
geographical area inside their country that may happen to be a state or section of a state.
In many ways, the head of government of a federation does not, technically, hold complete strength
over his whole nation. Instead, it is the blended effort of the head of authorities and governors of
states that keep the power across the entire nation. It’s no longer held by one single person however
rather several.
Federalism divides strength between a central authorities and the state governments. Each has a
separate role, and neither can overstep the other. Separation of powers divides the government into
three separate branches (executive, legislative, and judicial), each with its own responsibilities.
Checks and balances create a device of safeguards making sure that no one branch can grow to be
too powerful, by giving every the capability to ''check'' one another. Finally, through creating a two-
house device in Congress that allowed large and small states equal representation and proportional
representation, the Constitution helps to ensure that neither the giant or small states rebel towards
the Union.
OPPOSITION
Argument 1: Some states might lag behind / Harmful economic competition between sub-
national units
An argument used to explain why federalism is terrible – in the Philippines, there are some states that
are probable now not as geared up to be autonomous in contrast to different states, which would
create a lot of problems. Those who are against federalism say that the states that would perform
poorly – probable those that lack natural assets and expert employees – under a federal government
would be in worse condition than earlier than due to the fact the national government would now not
be there to stability the situation and help out with their predicaments.

Argument 2: Big Costs

One of the arguments in opposition to federalism is that transforming the authorities into a federal
device of authorities is going to be expensive. In order to transform our authorities into a federation,
we would have to spend billions of pesos in setting up federal states and handing over their services.
The self-sustaining states will also have to spend a lot of cash just to set up and behavior elections
for their new officials.
The proposed shift, if accepted by the Filipino people will be in two stages: the first stage entails
proposing amendments to the constitution and conducting a plebiscite or plebiscites as necessary;
the second stage involves setting up the state and federal governments.
The first stage. If ever both houses of Congress consider amending the constitution, the preferred
mode right now is by creating a Constituent Assembly (CON –ASS) rather than convening a
Constitutional Convention. In the former, the members are appointed while in the latter the members
will be elected. Obviously the latter is more democratic than the former. On the other hand, a CON-
ASS will be much less expensive.
*We were able to get partial costings of the CON-ASS in 2003. The cost for personal services, maintenance
and other operating expenses and the purchase of printing equipment reached a total of P95,600,000.
However, these costs are based on 2003 prices. It is also assumed that the CON-ASS will operate only for six
months. If a recalculation is based on 2008 rates of inflation, the total will escalate to P142,628,374. This does
not however include the salaries of 261 members of the Constituent Assembly and the costs of the two
consultants at current prices which each member is entitled to. This can mean an additional P500 million. If
one also adds the cost of rentals of office space, an additional P300 million or more even might be necessary.
Setting up the CON-ASS can cost up to over P900 million. The costs will escalate if the CON-ASS lingers
beyond six months.
Once the proposed constitutional amendments are ironed out, a period for campaign and information about the
changes will have to be carried out. This will be an intense period during which both sides will try to win public
support. It will not be surprising if massive public funds will be utilized. One can get an idea of how much will
be used up in the campaign by examining expenditures during regular elections.
The biggest spenders of public funds will be those who want to utilize the constitutional amendment to extend
their terms of office and those who plan to be in the federal congress and the state government.
The cost of a plebiscite was calculated at P2.9 billion at 2007 prices. This can go up to P3,419,628,374 or
even P5 billion, considering the steep increases in multimedia, personal services, printing costs, and so on.*

To summarize, conservative estimates of the cost of the CON-ASS and the plebiscite can reach P6
billion excluding use of public funds for campaigns and information dissemination. If this is included
perhaps P10 billion will be a low cost estimate.
The next stage which is the setting up of the state and federal governments will even be more
expensive, especially the former. The requirements for buildings, capital equipment, personnel and
maintenance and operating expenses will be stratospheric.
Argument 3: Does Federalism make sense in the Philippines?
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. Not to mention duplication in taxes and further stress on the nascent
bureaucracy of peripheral regions under a federal arrangement.
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.
Under a federal system, they are best positioned to dominate the newly created local legislature and
state institutions, further consolidating their grip on power in the country's poorer regions. It's no
wonder, then, that most surveys show the vast majority of Filipinos are either against constitutional
change or completely unaware of its implications.