Federalism and Its Possible Impact to the Philippine Economy and Political Landscape

Federalism and Its Possible Impact to the Philippine Economy and Political Political Landscape (Mila T. Mangsi)

Today, the Philippines was exposed to the threat of economic and political instab instabili ility ty.. Th The e curren currentt admini administr strati ation on is aggres aggressiv sively ely workin working g in ho hope pe that that the rampant mismanagement of the country would totally be transformed into what it think is best for the Philippines. With the currently prolonging problem on corruption and declining public service involving no other than the government officials and employees, it is not surprising that a thought of perhaps changing the system of  governance would solve the problem. Federalism is defined as a form of government where sovereignty is constitutionally shared between a central governing authority and constituent political units called states or regions. This form is being proposed by the current administration to be adopted by the Philippines Philippines and it is best to scrutinize the possible impact to the different aspect of our society. n the the econ econom omic ic aspe aspect ct,, fede federa rali lism sm will will brin bring g fina financ ncia iall inde indepe pend nden ence ce,, specialization and distribution of wealth to the local and national government. government. !nlike in a unitary form of government where the local government remits its income in full to the national government which in turn returns a portion of such income to the former, in federal form of government, the state government retains its income and is re"uired to turn over only portion to the central or federal government. The state government will spend its income to programs and policies which it deems suited to the needs of its constituents. This is advantageous to the properly established regions or local government since they can maximize their income in the improvement of their community. #owever, the poor and undeveloped regions of the country which depend primarily to the national government for their funding will suffer since such support will be reduced and limited. The latter will have to depend on their own resources and will nevertheless be advantageous if they will strive to develop and enhance their natural resources and will be disadvantageous if they take it negatively and be left out by the developed regions of the country. The federal government in turn will use its share for the national defense, foreign policy and other national programs like the national health care. $nother edge of federalism would be the distribution of wealth through the decongestion of %etro %anila. &f the independence given to the state government results to economic development, there will be more incentive for Filipinos to live and work in regions outside %etro %anila. %ore investors may also decide to put up

their businesses there, creating more 'obs and opportunities to be an enough reason to keep the people in their respective provinces. n the political landscape, federalism will strengthen representation of the different regions of the country and will increase citizens( participation in political affairs. )epresentation of the regions will be strengthened with the election of  senators which will represent the local level unlike today where senators do not have their own constituents. Furthermore, regions with different cultures may establish their own laws which may not be applicable to other regions and this is most likely advantageous to the Philippines considering cultural and topographic diversity. $lso, federalism will bring the people closer to the government as their grievances and issues will be resolved by the state government without waiting for the approval of the central government such that the former may no longer use as alibi the bureaucracy in %etro %anila in delaying public service. $lthough some of the commentaries argue that this will encourage political dynasty, the writer believes this will be balanced by the opportunity of active participation of the people in political affairs of the state. &n general, the Philippines will be reformed by this proposed federal form of  government. The concentrated power in the present centralized government will be diffused to the state governments and its concentration in the urbanized %etro %anila will be distributed in their respective regions. The structure and components of different branches of the government may likewise be ad'usted according to the needs of each state. ne component state may strive to develop independently but all must contribute to defend the Philippines as a whole. This system may also address the independence being claimed by the %uslim %indanao. &t would be a win*win situation on the part of the government and the separatist group since the latter may govern without the national government necessarily surrendering part of its territory.