Introduction to Constitutional Reforms for Philippine Divorce Advocates

Chapter Four: Bring back the upper house, and decentralize the capital region

Referendum is always important: Never be afraid to decide for the country!

If deciding whether or not to bring back the upper house/senate, then it should be up to the constituents if they're asking for it.

Number one, that's because to make de jure federalism work, there should be an upper house for again, additional checks and balances. Parliamentary can only offer de facto federalism—though it won't suffice, since sectors of other regions would still be under the mercy of the capital region.

Number two, the legislature CAN STILL BE unicameral by practice, meaning to say, give LESS powers to the upper house, since their only objective is to do their checks and balances, and debate on certain bills that might not be beneficial to the general public.

This is how the Japanese state-crafting model would: Unicameral by practice, despite the presence of an upper house, and they are way more FEDERAL than practice than Russia.

Lastly, federalism can work, in so many ways possible: Each region has the FREEDOM whether or not they wish to adopt DIVORCE as a legal remedy to end the marriage. This is one good advantage of federalism over the unitary form of government.

If ALL regions adopt divorce, then they can have their OWN versions and styles, if how they can divide properties, and arrange certain things like alimony, and child custody.

Filipino, aka Tagalog, shouldn't be the national language any longer: Give other Philippine languages a chance to thrive!

Now, this is the most important characteristic of FEDERALISM: Non-coercion of Tagalog to be spoken by non-Tagalog Filipinos. Why should only one Philippine language be the ONLY bridge language that "CAN," and "SHOULD" work for the Philippines? That is why, non-Tagalog regions are often discriminated because of this nonsense rule.

This can give certain heritage languages, and religions to be represented as well: Getting rid of American-style Protestant exceptionalism, would only be for our own good.

Bring back Buddhism in Butuan and give Hinduism also a chance to be one of the major religions in the Philippines. It's a great thing, the province of Cebu is one good example of promoting religious diversity: There's Sikh, and then there's a Taoist temple in certain corners of Metropolitan Cebu (comprising of Cebu City, Mandaue, Consolacion, and Mactan). Same apples to LANGUAGES: Bring back Mandarin, Hokkien, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish as co-official languages. Another suggestion would be make Japanese, as well as Portuguese, German, and French, secondary languages. It won't hurt, welcoming linguistic diversity to the Philippines by giving EQUAL chances to both local and foreign languages!

Here, Metro Manila might become a Special Administrative Region once the people decide to move the capital city somewhere else.

This will mean, same Filipino citizenship, but the passports would be different: Take a look at China, for instance. Special Administrative Regions such as Hong Kong and Macau have their own passports; still being Chinese citizens, while their passports are different: A Hong Kong passport can bring you more places than a mainland Chinese one; same goes with Macau. If the Philippines will adopt federalism on that level, that would give more opportunities for let's say, people from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) might be given the opportunity to be offered visa-free travel to Muslim-majority countries outside Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, residents of the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila will be given VISA-FREE entries to Japan (15 days), South Korea (15 days), Taiwan (for more than a month), and certain access to the EU and Schengen Area, so long as they hold US or Canadian visas, for instance.

If all of the following factors are being adhered to (abolishing economic protectionism, shifting to parliamentary, decentralizing the capital city), the Philippine passport might become one of the most powerful in the world.

This will mean, the Philippine passport will be at the same level as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore when it comes to accessing a number of countries. Of course, that won't be complete without establishing FORMAL ties to countries where the Philippines still hasn't initiated just yet. Maybe, we might have a Bhutan Economic and Cultural Office, or North Korean Embassy one day, if ever.

Public Transportation might be improved, and there would be MORE railways, and lesser highways. To add, no one will fear for their safety, wandering alone late at night.

True freedom is being able to walk alone at night, or take the trains, taxis, or buses LATE at night without fear for your safety, especially for women. That's because, in order to instill actual discipline without the need for a reprimand, the only way to do so is CHANGE THE SYSTEM, because again, it's impossible to discipline the poor, since poverty makes a person stupid and morally-bankrupt at the same time: Remember, SYSTEMS shape behavior; the better the government system is, expect more strict social rules that instill discipline to society. That is why, the correct answer to making the Philippines great again, is NOT the Marcoses' return to Malacañang, but simply constitutional reforms, or charter change.

Again, what's the use of the return of the Marcoses if the system remains the same? Think again.