Federalism seen as ideal topic in 2019 polls

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 16 -- A Consultative Committee (ConCom) member said shift to federal form of government should be a major topic for discourse in the 2019 elections, as a few Filipinos are fully aware of the benefits of this change.

Antonio Nachura, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, said this is another way to find out if majority of Filipinos are really in favor of change in the 1987 Constitution.

“Let us find out who among our elected officials are in favor of federalism. Make this an issue so that all candidates should explain and manifest to the people of their stand,” Nachura told reporters on Thursday.

Some ConCom officials were in this city for a two-day federalism roadshow led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“If people will not vote for those against it, there’s an indication that people are in favor of federalism because eventually people’s voice should be followed.”

Nachura said there is a need to step up the information drive on shifting the form of government, targeting all sectors.

He also hopes that members of the House of Representatives and of the Senate will deliberate on the proposed change soon.

“I think our lawmakers are just waiting for the clear marching order of President Duterte to fast track the discussion on shift to federalism,” he said.

Majority of Filipinos oppose shifting the country’s form of government from unitary to federal, according to the Pulse Asia June 15 to 21, 2018 survey released on July 16.

“People don’t favor federalism not because they don’t like the shift, but because they are not fully aware of this proposed form of government,” Nachura added.

The former magistrate said now is the best time for the country to change the 1987 Constitution since President Rodrigo Duterte has been very vocal in shifting the country’s form of government from unitary to federal. The initiative is seen to usher in development in the regions.

“If federalism is good for the country and we have been laboring for a century under a not state, why should we not rush the change? We should rush the change for the people to benefit the change as much as possible,” he stressed.

ConCom Commissioner Edmund Tayao said federalism will spur development as it addresses the weak link in planning and budgeting in the local government level.

“The federated regions and the local governments now do not only perform delegated functions, they also perform a very significant economic development functions. When they do planning, their power is significant to do economic development initiatives,” Tayao said.

“When they decide to do one thing, they can immediately identify how to fund it. When we do planning, we just do budgeting as if we list down what we want to buy, but we don’t know exactly how to fund it,” he added.

Federalism is a system of government under which, significant government powers are shared between the federal and the regional governments.

Duterte has been pushing for a shift from the unitary presidential to a federal form of government to establish powerful economic regions, provide more funding support for regions, solve the conflict in Mindanao, and decentralize powers to local governments, among others.

Under the national government’s original timetable, constitutional revisions will be done within 2018, ratify federal regions by June 2020, transition from unitary to federal government by 2022, and establish the Philippine Federal Republic by June 2022. (SQM/PNA)