Federalism was one of the platforms of President Duterte during his presidential campaign.

This topic has been the talk of the town in politics not only during Duterte’s campaign but also
way back during the Arroyo administration. Federalism was an idea of Dr. Jose Rizal. He outlined
his vision of governance in an essay published by La Solidaridad.
Decentralization as been a grand experiment in providing local constituents with better
public goods and services and a greater voice in matters of governance and policy. Some including
those who are in the government service and in politics, have expressed their preference for setting
up of a federal structure of government. But the idea is confronted by many questions, specifically
referring to the perceived stumbling blocks, constraints, and the strength or lack of it of the
Philippine State which, according to those who oppose it, would render it not feasible.

Proposition: Let it be resolved that the system of government be changed to Federalism

The Philippines is currently under a unitary form of government, which means that the
central government is the highest governing power. It receives a large part of every region’s
income and redistributes it to the LGUs. Moreover, the autonomous regions, provinces,
municipalities and barangays can only exercise powers and enact policies with the power delegated
to them by the central government. Federalism is the proposed type of government wherein
sovereignty is constitutionally divided between the national government and sub-divisional
government. It divides the country into several autonomous states with a national government.

With this, let me present to you some points on why is it necessary to change the form of
the Philippine Government into Federalism.

POINT 1: State are empowered to make their own decisions

In the proposed set-up of Federalism, the country will be divided into 18 states. These states
would no longer need to rely on the central government to decide for them. This is important in
the Philippine context because of the vast geographical and cultural differences between the
regions – differences that the central government may not always addressed. Development is
inequitable and stunted because there is difficulty in reaching and responding to the needs of
remote areas. Regions have their own unique problems, situations, geographic, cultural and
economic context. Federalism allows them to create solutions to their own problems instead of the
central government deciding for them, which will obviously take too long. This will encourage
people’s participation in the decision-making processes in order for them to voice out their
concerns.

Ethnolinguistically, one can find the Filipino really diverse. This could be explained by the
country’s archipelagic characteristics which keeps some island provinces isolated from one
another. On a closer scrutiny, this problem of ethnic differences is not really alarming, provided
that it does not result to movements to separate from the country. It must be pointed out, however,
that the perspective and differences of the natives can be taken as a reflection of the effectivity of
the national political socialization and integration.
POINT 2: Decentralization would allow states to keep more income to themselves

The states do not have to rely on collecting real estate tax and business permit fees – 80 %
of their total income earned stays, while only 20% goes to the national government. This means
that states can be able to channel their own income for their development, creating policies and
programs suitable for them without the need to wait for the approval of the national government.
Within the 80% budget, 30% will be funneled to the local state government, and 70% will be
allocated to the provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays.

POINT 3: Promote specialization and competition

This affects both the national government and the states – since the national government
turned certain administrative powers over the regional governments, it can now utilize its resources
more intensively towards the issues it is assigned to, such as foreign policy and nationwide defense.
Likewise, the states can be able to nurture their individual strengths and selling points because the
people who have the decisions and funding are the people who are personally involved in the
state’s development. These self-reliant states will compare their growth with the other states, and
hopefully, this will lead to friendly competition between the states that will help raise the quality
of life, economic development, and our status in the international market.