The current form of government in the Philippines is unitary in which the central government holds all of the governing power in the country. However, President Rodrigo Duterte thinks that the Philippines should shift into federalism wherein sovereignty is constitutionally divided between the national government and regional government. In other words, the two levels of government share the same power. Even though many would opt for this form of government, I think federalism is not good for the Philippines for numerous reasons.
First, not all of the prospective new regions in the Philippines are ready and capable to handle more responsibilities for themselves. One of the reasons is that most Filipinos are not aware on the definition or do not fully grasp the idea of Federalism. Social Welfare Stations (2018) conducted a survey that aims to determine how many Filipinos support for federal form of government. Sadly, the majority of the respondents does not know what it is. And also the fact that we have minimal experience in decentralization raises a red flag. Take the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as an example, after two decades of self-governance, they are the most impoverished according to the 2018 study of poverty conducted by the Philippine Statistical Authority. This should serve as a warning.
Second, other Filipinos think that Federalism can expose corruption if the autonomous region is unsuccessful. However, they did not give much thought on what could happen during the process before the Philippines could shift into federalism. How can we make sure that the constitutional reform in the Philippines, also known as charter change, will aim in the common advantage of many and not in the advantage of the people in power? For instance, proposals to lift term limits. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also attempted to propose this idea to extend her term limit before but failed and now it looks like they want to be successful. There is also a proposal to abolish the ombudsman office and other institutions of checks and balances. How can we make sure that the congress is finding solutions to remove constitutional restraints on their domination in the political office and corrupt practices?
My opinion is that I think that in any form of government, there will still be corruption with the same circus of people. Philippine federalism may have planted a promising future in our heads but the real question is if the Philippines, as well as the Filipinos, ready for this massive change. How can we make sure that shifting to a new form of government will establish a more democratic system? For now, as I have mentioned earlier, I think federalism is not good for the Philippines.
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Author's Note: The essays before and after this chapter are discussing different debatable topics. It's our exam week so I have tons of paperwork to share and here they are (honestly, these were tiring to write) I do hope you have learned something. If you did, leave a vote. It actually makes my day more than you think.
I also shared these not only to help you with school but to also raise awareness to such relevant topics that we should not take lightly. I would love to hear your thoughts as well regarding the issues I attempted to discuss. Feel free to leave a comment! :)
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