The notion of the Federal Republic of the Philippines as espoused by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel might now be worth a second look. We have experimented with the American System and the Parliamentary Model ( France ). I propose that we take a look at the way they did in Germany before the merger of the German Democratic Republic and West Germany.

In the Philippine setting, the Federal States ( like Hesse or Bavaria ) can be the current Regions ( Region 1 based in San Fernando., LU, etc. ). Each State will elect its own parliament and local officials and representative to the Philippne National Assembly. ( the equivalent of the Bundestag ).

BUT the elections are not done in all States at the same time. One or two States will hold the elections and all 13 or is it 16, must do it in a certain period of time. This is to make sure that everyone is not busy electioneering. Focus can be made in the States that are having the elections to avoid fraud, cheating, etc.

The only national election is the election of the Prime Minister/Bundeskanzler. Two or more names will be on the ballot and this process will not last for 2-3 days. In a matter of hours, the winners will be known, preempting fraud and cheating.

This system will make each State responsible for its area. Hopefully with less directions from the Central government.

Well, I guess we can adopt it here. Any comment?

My reservation with a federal system is that it still forces localities to adhere to common rules and regulations at the national level, particularly in business and economic policies. Given the unstable nature of the Philippines' socio-economic environment as a single entity, the system is still vulnerable to abuse and to the mechanisms and lobbying of special interest groups. This could un-do the efforts of more progressive localities to improve their economies. Take the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), for example. Their officials have been working hard to attract tourists and investors given their "autonomous" powers but all of a sudden the supreme court rescinds tax incentives to Camp John Hay locators who employ approx. 6,000 Baguio residents and whose investments have provided much-needed infrastructural development to the city. Then they have to contend with constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership in a lot of enterprises such as real estate, telecoms and media.

The switch to a federal-parliamentary system is set to be deliberated next year and yet the gov't has not explicitly stated whether bad consitutional provisions will be repealed and if interference at the national level (ex. supreme court) on business / economic matters will be prevented.

Then there are other issues such as the burden of sharing a common currency whose value could be affected by the bad policies of laggard provinces and human migration which could strain the resources of the richer provinces.

My thought is that it would be better to create and enforce better business / economic policies first at the national level now, before federalizing, or simply let provinces secede if they want to.

I am for the federal system simply because it might finally give a chance for Mindanao to actually taste the fruits of its labor. For such a long time, Mindanao has been yielding so much more than it is receiving. Compound this with the fact that it receives nothing but bad publicity which forces us to work harder.

Federalism is a great sentiment...but ria rose, your very signature sums up the problem. Can this structural change really fix things up? When i was a freshman, this was my first term paper (English 11 under the Turabian system), and like you I argued for the plight of Mindanao (being a Mindanaoan myself) and the need for Federalism. Yet, hindsight ( mabe not 20/20) brings me back to James Fallows--who reasonably argued to the effect that what we have is a deep crisis of culture (i/m not going to the extent yet of saying that we have a "damaged" culture).
Federalism, in the case of Mindanao will just bring further justification for the secessionist sentiment. Devolution of power looks appetizing, but for an already fractious country like the Philippines, it just invites more mitosis. Instead of the monopoly of corruption from the national govt, federalism may even result into the multiplier effect of corruption (w/c is already happening anyway) as corruption becomes more devolved, more regional-- a redistribution of corruption if you may.

Germany is indeed a great example of a successful federalism--solid individual states and a strong national state. Each German state like Bavaria, Schlesswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Saarland, Bavaria or the city states of Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen is an economically vibrant and proud state. State/regional loyalties are very intense and sometimes even fanatical (especially in football games). But here the difference lies--even when during football games a lad from the Saarland is mocking a lad from Bavaria, they still feel proudly German. Individual states matter, but being German matters more. The sense of regionalism is only a vehicle to enhance industrial specializations which in turn translate to furtherance of state pride and then national pride. Germans have a strong sense of soil, blood, and volkgeist. Even when these states were a loose confederation of principalities, duchies, and mini-kingdoms before Bismarck's time, there was already a feeling and aspiraton among these states of a Teutonic oneness, of a German nation. Sieg...just kidding..!

Was there really a strong aspiration for Philippine nationhood among Pampangos, Tagalogs, Ilongos, Cebuanos, Ilocanos, etc...to begin with? Successful federalism, i think begins in a position of national unity and not variegation.

But more importantly, the fix lies in the serious self-examination of what we purport as Philippine culture.

This isn't necessarily a bad idea,though.



Germany was also formed during a time when Europe was afflicted by petty wars, occupation by great powers, socio-economic instability etc. It wasn't uncommon for some smaller countries to affiliate themselves with larger superpowers (in the case of Germany, Prussia vis-a-vis France) to protect themselves from being occupied by powers that weren't to their liking. This greatly influenced the decision of California and Quebec to merge with larger countries where the practical interests of their people would be better-served. Unity with larger countries delivered on their aspirations in ways that wouldn't have been possible had they gone on their own. Even Quebec, which is currently flirting with secession, cannot quite disentagle itself completely from the rest of Canada, knowing the practical benefits that have come from being part of the bigger country.



It might be simpler though for Filipinos to examine the facts and analyze what works and what doesn't. ria jose hinted at something interesting in that Mindanao's contribution to the Philippine economy far exceeds what it gets in return in the national budget. Add to that, Mindanao, or portions of it that want to be progressive, must carry the negative baggage of the whole country. Federalism and culture aside, this is the crux of the problem that needs to be addressed by any kind of examination.

Truth be told, I am not exactly agains a separate Mindanao. Although I see the values of a united, cetralized Philippines, I see and feel its disadvantages more. For now, Federal Philippines, is what I think will yield better results for Mindanao.

Although I recognize that corruption is a cultural problem, I also believe that with a federal government, Mindanao will suffer less. As far as I know, most corrupt and power-hungry politicians are not from this parts. And from what we have and experience here in Davao City, there is minimal corruption within our LGU.

Call me selfish but I think we've already given too much to the rest of the Philippines and it's time we think of ourselves. In my opinion, Luzon and Visayas are free-loading on our bounty and we are left short-changed.

now that's kinda unfair to say that visayas is also free-loading on mindanao produce ... i'm not speaking for the whole of visayas but only for cebu ... we don't need to free load on anyone especially from manila or mindanao ... we can perfectly stand on our own and be good at it ...

Sorry, no offense meant but that is my perception. It is by no means an attack on Visayas.

mindanao contributes so much to the country , yet it doesnt get its fair share.

One showcase against this current setup is this case. palawan is entitled to billions from the malampaya wells. but manila is STEALING the money. imagine if w/ those billions the roads that will be built. airport. w/c will encourage more tourists to come. it will breed more progress.

other provinces do not have to beg for a simple bridge from Imperial Manila. mindanao gets only crumbs. yet , it supplies 65% of the food supply of the country. cebu has a limited land area and cannot produce everything it needs. it needs other regions. politicians here have to beg for every road, bridge or any project. it is very inefficient and time consuming. a centralized govt will implode. this we can see right now.

that's true. ang tagal nasimulan ng bridge dito sa davao dahil galing pa daw sa national budget ang funds na kailangan para ma-repair yung nasirang bridge. the whole city's schedule was totally disrupted and super tagal bago bumalik sa normal. mas mabuti pa tang federal na tayo para may sariling budget ang bawat lugar dito sa pilipinas nang sa gayon ay mas mabilis na maaksyunan ang mga problema. kung hindi lang galing sa national budget [thanks to centralized form of gov't.] ang pondo, matagal ang tapos ang bridge dito at nakabalik na sa normal ang takbo ng buhay dito. wala na masyadong traffic at di na masyadong mahaba ang oras ng pagbiyahe.