Marck John D.

Rivera English 10
2011-12573 Jose Duke Bagulaya

ON WHY THE PHILIPPINES SHOULD SHIFT TO A FEDERAL FORM OF

GOVERNMENT

The Philippine political landscape and governance has gone through a lot of changes and
development throughout the history. Before the Spaniards conquered the Philippines and put it
under its power and command, people lived in small unit of community called barangays. Because
there was no central government, these barangays were independent from one another. These
barangays were ruled by a local ruler called Datu. There was no constitution to abide that time.
Instead, the laws were set by a council headed by the Datu himself.

Upon the arrival of Spaniards, the Philippines became the subject of the royal crown of
Spain. The whole country became under the command of a Governor General designated by the
King. Poblaciones and barrios were formed to establish a hierarchy in power. The evolution of the
Philippine government continued to various forms before it was granted independent sovereignty
which made the country a full member of the community of nations that have sovereignty over its
people and control over its territory. ( (De Leon, Ethridge, & Handelman, 2010)

Today, the Philippines is a republic with a unitary-presidential form of democratic

government which exhibits a tripartite system where power is equally distributed among the three
major branches namely: the executive branch headed by the President, the judiciary branch headed
by the chief justice, and the legislative branch headed by the senate president and the speaker of
the house. The legislative branch, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives,
is vested upon the power to make, alter and repeal laws. The Judiciary branch is tasked to interpret
these laws and render judgment over legal controversies. The executive branch is the one to enforce
or implement these laws.

Shortcomings of the Presidential form of Government

The President stands as the head of the government and the state. And as seen from the
countrys experience, the president tends to overwhelm the two co-equal branch. He enjoys an
enormous amount of power of appointment over major institutional functions of the government
from the cabinet secretaries of the executive departments, the officials of constitutional bodies
such as the Ombudsman, Commission on Human Rights and Commission on Election, and the
military officers. The President also gets to appoint members of the Judiciary from the lowest trial
court to the Supreme Court. His political party becomes the ruling party because he tend to draw
lawmakers jump from their respective political party to his political party. This makes it easier for
the President to put political pressure over the legislative and judiciary branch. Former senate
president Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (2008) pointed these out as institutional weaknesses of our
presidential form of government.

Ex-Senator Pimentel continued by saying that public administration is prejudiced by

political maneuverings of the President and his allies. According to him, this is due to the fact that
the president has full power to restructure the executive department, meaning, the president has
the power to reassign or reduce the personnel of various departments and realign their budgets in
accordance to what he prioritize most. This result to bureaucratic professionalism suffer and public
administration become less effective. The notion that the unitary system fail to work in the
countrys setting results to numerous proposal to try other viable form of government.

With the new administration under President Rodrigo Duterte, the proposal to shift to a
federal system of government has finally gaining ground. This proposal is not new. In fact, the
previous administrations have already attempted to change the 1987 constitution and to shift to a
federal form of government. (Atienza, 2016)

Federalism

Federalism, as defined by Jonathan Rodden (2004), is a process structured by a set of

institutions through which authority is distributed and redistributed. It is a form of government
where the power and responsibility are shared by federal government (national) and the state
government (regional or local). It organizes the national territory into constituent units with
substantial power to run their own government and have a decision-making process independent
from the national government. (PDP-Laban Federalism Institute, 2016). Because of the separate
sovereignty between the center and periphery, at least in theory, neither level of the government
can encroach upon the powers of the other (Heywood, 1999).
 In a federal government, there are two orders, the federal and the regional which are both
in contact with the citizens. Although the regions, which are still members of the larger federation,
are autonomous and exercise and possess substantial amount of rule, they are still bounded by the
constitution and constitutionally valid laws of the national government or the central government
which governs the entire federation or country.
The federal idea shall serve as a viable alternative to dictatorship and shall bring about
distribution of government powers previously concentrated in the national government for so long.
Under the proposed federal government, the Philippines shall have twelve (1) federal states to be
created basically out of the administrative regions currently existing namely Northern Luzon,
Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Mimaropa, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, Northern
Mindanao and Caraga, Socsargen and Southern Mindano and ARMM or Bangsamoro.
The shift of the Philippines to a federal government will be beneficial for the countrys
economic, social and cultural development. The following section discuss the reasons why it is
beneficial to shift to a federal government.

Advantages of a Federated Philippines

Archipelagic Characteristics
Aside from Indonesia, Philippines is perhaps one of the most scattered island territory.
Since separated by bodies of water, several islands are isolated from the mainland. Because of its
geography, several ethnolinguistic group were detached from the rest making the country
culturally diverse.
One of the constraints that I see brought by being an archipelago is the diversity, difficulty
in communication and transportation between the islands. For me, the archipelagic setting and
presence of several ethnolinguistic group in the country best qualifies for a federal form of
government.
The Philippine geography makes travel and communication difficult, time-consuming and
costly. Composed of several islands, the highly centralized form of government is ineffective in
dealing with contingencies in far-flung parts of the country. Development of each regions is slow
and stunted due to the difficulty of reaching and responding to the specific needs of the remote
areas.
 According to Artemio Palongpalong (1992), the best system of governance under these
circumstances is one that is sufficiently decentralized. Since regions under a federal government
is solely responsible for its islands, a locally crafted response to natural calamities will be faster
and more efficient. Every region has a unique need, problems and situation.
Federalism allows them to create solutions for their own problem instead of Manila
deciding for them. Federalism rests on the principle that the smallest unit of government knows
what is best for its constituent needs. Decisions should therefore be made by the local, municipal,
provincial, city or regional levels of governments, because they know best who need help and how
to help them (Laurel, 1989).
In my view, minimizing impacts of natural calamities, turning negative developments
relative to nature into assets, and developing programs best suited for the community should be
comparatively easy for the local leaders to work on.

Specialization
Under a federal government, each region shall have an opportunity to focus on their
economic development using their core competencies and industries. For me, this will promote the
individual growth and specialization of regions unlike the heavily centralized unitary form of
government that we currently have where developments is focused only on the National Capital
Region.
For instance, Mimaropa, home to Palawan, can focus better on ecotourism as its primary
economic move. Its resources will be utilized better since the local government knows more about
its territory. Marikina can further focus on its shoe-making industry and improve its techniques for
better quality products. The central Luzon can focus on becoming an agricultural hub.
In our experienced, one thing is clear, regional economic plans will be different and will
be more suitable for each regions. Agriculture may be the engine of growth in one region,
manufacturing for another and technology for some.

Decongestion of Imperial Manila

Manila is viewed to be the center of imperialism in the Filipino life. This is justified by the
insistence where the problems of Manila should become national issues. A good example is the
traffic in EDSA and how it relates to being a major regional issue. Because of this perception, the
problems besetting other regions, where most of the Filipinos live, become secondary issues (Cruz,
2016).
According to Rene Santiago, under a federal form of government, the growth of the
economy will be distributed to different states, thereby nullifying the current scenario where
Manila gets most of the development, investments and focus while chunks of whats left where
distributed to the other regions.
There will be a rise of more urban centers, as there will be more development in other
cities, Santiago said. People will stop looking at Metro Manila as the only city for jobs, hence it
decongests Metro Manila. This is really the solution to the traffic problem in the metropolis.

Equitable sharing of resources and empowerment of regional sectors

Division of work between the central and regional governments leads to optimum
utilization of resources. The central government can focus more on the international affairs and
defense of the country while the provincial government can cater to the needs of their respective
localities.
Under the current unitary system, bulk of the total revenue of the governments resources
are allocated to NCR and Luzon. Should a federal government be adapted, each region shall have
better monetary resources because provinces will get their commensurate share of taxes collected
from their respective jurisdictions in addition to fiscal transfers from the government. This will
provide more public funds solely for the advancements and projected development of each
provinces and rural areas.
Also, their own development lies solely on their hands, each region will be prompted to
plan and devise economic plans beneficial for their growth. Local governments shall be more
functional and more performance-oriented to be able to deliver its purpose. Federalism provides
innovations and flexibility at the local level.

CONCLUSION
The Philippines had faced numerous attempts and proposal to change our form of
government from a unitary to a federal form of government. The most recent is President Dutertes
initiative.
 From the advantages pointed above plus the countless unresolved problems in the country,
the shift of the Philippines to a federal government is, indeed, beneficial and necessary.
Federalism is a highly efficient form of government. The functions and decisions can be
carried out best by a smaller unit compared to a larger one. Regions has a better shot of
experimenting and improving their respective provinces with new and better solutions provided
they have a good revenue and resource allocations.
This new form of government can assure better accountability and elected officials can
better represent their constituents interests.
In conclusion, I stand with the belief that a federal form of government needs to be
introduced in the Philippines for this government can ensure cultural and social diversity while
ensuring regional development and national unity.
REFERENCES
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Brillantes, A. (2017). Federalism, Decentralization and Local Autonomy in the Philippines: Issues,
Concerns and Directions.
Brillantes, A. B. (2003). Federalism: Its Priciples, Flexibility and Limitations. Decentralization and
Power Shift, 66-67.
Buendia, R. (1989). The Prospects of Federalism in the Philippines: A Change to Political
Decentralization of the Unitary Stare. Philippine Journal of Public Administration, 121-141.
Clarita Carlos, D. L. (2010). Democratic Deficits in the Philippines: What is to be Done? Quezon City:
Center for Political and Democratic Reform, Inc.
De Leon, H., Ethridge, M., & Handelman, H. (2010). Philippine History with Politics, Governance and
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Rodden, J. (2004). Comparative Federalism and Decentralization on Meaning and Measurement.
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Rodriguez, A. M. (n.d.). Rethinking Federalism in the Light of Social Justice.