Marydel M.

Rodriguez

Bayanihan Federalism: Draft Constitution for a Strong and Indissoluble Republic

Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, (the central or

‘federal’ government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial or
other sub-unit governments in a single political system. Defined as a form of
government in which there is a division of powers between two levels of government of
equal status.

At present we have a unitary government or centralized government. This

government leads back from 1935, 1973, and 1987 constitutions. Unitary government
was used by the Spaniards, Japanese, and Americans, and our constituents to lead and
liberate the nation. The constitution also has been a lot of revolutionary movement to
decentralized the government such as KKK, local insurrection of HUKBALAHAP, and
MILF and MNLF for the 1987 constition.

The role of Bayanihan Constitution has many key advantages according to

Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno and headed the Consultative Committee of the
Bayanihan Constitution. The sharing of powers in a federal system will ensure that the
federal  states will have ample powers to develop their own social, economic, and
political potentials. With adequate powers the federal states will be able to modernize
themselves. As they modernize, the political stability of the whole country will be
strengthened. 

The creation of a BangsaMoro Federal State is the only constitutional and legal
means of dissipating the causes of Muslim rebellions and of laying the foundations of a
just and lasting peace in Mindanao.

The adoption of the federal system will enable the BangsaMoro a fuller opportunity to
promote their own identity and culture and their own economic development at their own
pace without the need of seceding or declaring their independence from the republic.
The concentration of power and resources in the president of the Philippines over fiscal
resources and appointments in the bureaucracy can be used to secure economic rents
and accumulate wealth which can be easily abused, ushering in corruption. When
corruption reaches intolerable limits, political conflicts intensify and instability emerges.

The Philippine experience under a unitary system of government limits the

space for local governments to take initiatives and become self-reliant. In a unitary
government, the people are ruled by dynasties, run by economic elite, threatened by
criminal syndicates. It is far more difficult to capture powers of government in a federal
state than a unitary state. These are the advantages of CJ Puno has been said.

He emphasizes that Federalism is suited for countries with lot of diversification

including culture, tradition, religion and language. Power reconfiguration in federal
system is needed for good governance and accountability. The threat of disintegration is
always open for the unitary government including the separatist movement (NPA, MNLF
and MILF). Stated in the Article 20 sec 4 of Bayanihan Constitution “in case fails to
comply obligation which sovereignty and unity of federal republic the president can
intervene to the party.

There are two types federalism that focused in Bayanihan Constitution.

Competitve and Cooperative Federalism. Competitive Federalism refers to the
existence and desirability of competition among governments and jurisdictions in a
federal political system. Competition among governments can be defined as rivalry
whereby each government attempts to obtain some scarce benefit or resource (e.g.,
foreign investment) or to avoid a certain cost (e.g., a large welfare population). Such
competition is likely to occur in a federal system characterized by noncentralization, by
substantial self-governing authority on the part of the system’s constituent governments
(e.g., states or provinces) as well as the national government, and by population
mobility between the system’s constituent governments (e.g., many individuals moving
from one state to another). Competition is likely to be stifled when a federal system is
highly centralized, constituent governments enjoy little power, and population mobility is
low.

While the Philippines will adopt the cooperative federalism that Cooperative
federalism is a model of intergovernmental relations that recognizes the overlapping
functions of the national and state governments. This model can be contrasted with the
model of dual federalism, which maintains that the national and state governments have
distinct and separate government functions.

In general, cooperative federalism asserts that governmental power is not

concentrated at any governmental level or in any agency. Instead, the national and
state governments share power. For instance, bureaucratic agencies at the national and
state level normally carry out governmental programs jointly. Because the governments’
responsibilities are split between many levels of government, citizens and organized
interests have many access points to influence public policy.

Federal Presidential also be the federal government imposed in the Bayanihan

Constitution. Under the proposed system, the president will serve as both head of state
and head of government. The country will also keep the current set-up of the national
government, where there are 3 main branches: the executive, legislative, and judiciary.
However, instead of centralizing power with the national government, the country will
now have individual states with their own federal legislature and state governments.

The focus of discussion of CJ Puno is the proponents of Senate, Congress,

President and Judiciary. The senate will be altered and each region must have atleast 2
senators in each regions. This will solve the problem of regions that are
underrepresented in a Unitary System especially in regions of Visayas and Mindanao.
The house will be composed of 400 members which 60% were elected districtly and
40% nationwide proportional represented. The Bayanhian constitution will also
implement the stoppage of political dynasties and political butterflies. Political Dynasties
is limited to the 2nd consanguinity and affinity of the elected official. The political butterfly
is the changing of political parties of the said official to his/her advantages. This will lead
to removal of the position and registration of the concerned parties will be neglected.
The Bayanihan constitution will amend that The salaries of Senators and Members of
the House of Representatives shall be fixed by law. No increase in compensation shall
take effect until after the expiration of the full term of all the Members of the Senate and
the House of Representatives approving such increase.
 In Executive branch, the President and Vice President will be elected as a
tandem and the vice president will be a member of the cabinet. The President shall
have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices under the Federal
Government. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.

Now for the Judiciary Department, the Bayanihan constitution compensates the
justices. The 1987 Constitution has dictated the incomplete independence to political
problems. In Bayanihan constitution there are 4 high courts: Supreme Court,
Constitutional Court, Administrative Court, and Non-electoral Court. Supreme court will
be the generalist justices and others are the specialist justices focusing on
constitutional, administrative and electortal justice.

Federated Regions will be the regional partition and all regions will be federated
regardless of the socio-economic display. The division of powers is one of the
highlights. The Federal Government shall have exclusive power over: Defense, security
of land, sea, and air territory; Foreign affairs; International trade; Customs and tariffs;
Citizenship, immigration and naturalization; and National socio-economic planning. The
Federal Government shall have exclusive power over: Defense, security of land, sea,
and air territory; Foreign affairs; International trade; Customs and tariffs; Citizenship,
immigration and naturalization; National socio-economic planning; Monetary policy and
federal fscal policy, banking, currency. The Federated Regions shall have the power to
levy and collect the following taxes, licenses and fees: Real Property Tax; Estate Tax;
Donor’s Tax; Documentary Stamp Tax. There shall be an Equalization Fund which shall
not be less than three percent (3%) of the annual General Appropriations Act. The Fund
shall be distributed based on the needs of each region, with priority to those that require
support to achieve financial viability and economic sustainability as determined by the
Federal Intergovernmental Commission. Congress shall enact a comprehensive federal
land use policy that shall provide the minimum standards for the Federated Regions in
the rational, holistic, and just approach for the allocation, utilization, development and
management of the country’s land and water resources.
 That is one problem with a federal system that is being turned on its head,
meaning that instead of the states being formed before they unite into a federation, the
existing state is transformed into a “federation” and broken into smaller federated
regions—artificially, one must say. Worse, in the push for federalism under the Duterte
administration, the ConCom is doing the breaking up of the country on its own, without
consulting those affected by the division. The ConCom is thus imposing its idea on the
people instead of the people deciding on their own how the country should be divided.
This aspect of the federalism push would be, as Tagalogs would say, “madugo.”
Consider: when a redistricting was suggested for Cebu, there was resistance to
separating Compostela from the fifth district to rationalize the breakup of the sixth
district with the plan for Mandaue City to become a separate district. The lack of
consultation is damaging to the effort by the Duterte administration to rush the shift to
the federal setup.