REACTION PAPER

Does Federalism have significance to the Philippines?

Whenever I watch the news and read news articles, Federalism is always present but the question is,
does it have significance to the Philippines? Introducing Federalism in the Philippines is one of the
objectives of President Rodrigo Duterte in his six-year term. This paper will discuss the significance of
Federalism to the Philippines and how it affects the country, whether good or bad.

Some people gained knowledge because of what they read about Federalism but some are having
difficulty because not everyone can understand it. In the text, it was shown that Federalism doesn't have
a specific definition and it is confusing. Gomez (2018) stated that a strange unfamiliar federal system will
break up our archipelagic republic into self-governing unequal regions. Such a thing can happen since
not everyone understands what federalism is and the specific meaning of it.

On the other hand, the idea of Federalism in the Philippines is appealing for most Filipinos. Go (2018)
presented in his discussions that Federalism engages some political leaders in the country especially
from areas that have been struggling to develop their provinces and towns since it is about empowering
local communities. This implies that Federalism is appropriate for the government in the Philippines
especially to the present social situation in the country.

There are some arguments about Federalism. Some people believed that it is essential to the country
because its goal is to contribute to the democracy of people wherein it can increase citizens
participation by not centralizing all the power of the national government and by creating opportunities
to participate in politics because of the amount of access to government provides people with.
Meanwhile, others assumed that it only allows inequalities between the different states, for instance, in
education funding, since it is a state issue, other states could spend more per capita compared to the
other states which may be considered as disparity.

Another issue about Federalism is that it could be a way for a disaster in the country. Since that it is
already divided by economic inequality, language and religion. Even Though Federalism has not been
implemented in the Philippines, There are people who are complaining. They said that when we will
have Federalism, the politicians will just be like Former speaker Pantaleon and Former Majority floor
leader Rodolfo, they say that how can they trust the government if only now without Federalism there
are such people in the government.
Federalism can either have significance or not to the Philippines. It depends on how people think,
interpret and analyze the world of politics and government. Eventually, the decision is still on the hands
of the Filipino people so they must unite for their nation

Sources:

References: Gomez, B. (2018). OPINION: Why federalism is a formula for failure. Retrieved from
https://news.abs-cbn.com/blogs/opinions/03/10/18/opinion-why-federalism-is-a-formula-for-failure on
March 10, 2018 MPRO_ Admin (2018).

Promoting an awareness of federalism Retrieved from https://www.up.edu.ph/promoting-an-

awareness-of-federalism/ on November 27, 2018