THREJANN ACE L.

NOLI

FEDERALISM: THE DARK HORSE

Is the Philippines and the sovereign Filipino People ready for a constitutional
change? Is the government have the essential elements of being capable to undertake the
most controversial and burdensome governmental shift? These are some of the questions
being shared and discussed in various platforms of the country today; the media, the
senate, the house of representative, administrative bodies, academes, local government
units, and among communities. Mindanao Region is the most vocal on the shift of
Federalism among the three (3) sibling regions, being considered as unattended,
unappreciated, underserved and underdeveloped region.

The government exists because it needs to serve and protect the people who are the
source of its authority. A subjective persona whose bias is the constituents under its
terrestrial, fluvial and areal domain, the very essence, why it assumes its personality
firsthand, sufficing Section 4, Article 2 of the incumbent constitution. Needless to say, the
Republic of the Philippines is the Servant and the Protector of the Sovereign Filipino People
from the threats of its sovereignty. I for one, before finishing my Social Work Degree,
believed that War, invasion, treason, and rebellion were only threats to our country. But as
I delved into my profession, I discovered a horrendous fact and reality, that those threats
mentioned were not as lethal to the so-called “POVERTY”, because it slowly strangles
millions of lives to the core of slavery and worst, kills lives unnoticed.

Politicians don’t care much of addressing poverty because their names can’t be
attached to the results of it, unlike infrastructure project; they can surely imprint their
names thereafter, and even their egoistic faces. Tangible projects are directly observed by
my countrymen, while poverty alleviation harvests its fruits for longer period of time, a bad
investment for self-serving politicians especially, if they are planning to finish their entire
terms. We are conditioned by this poignant reality.

For more than 30 decades, Filipino people were violated of their rights as human
being by no less than, the tormentor - POVERTY. Social Scientists believe that poverty is a
form of violence (Sheridan, 2010). Poverty constitutes a situation that injures the health
and well being; poor people go often hungry and suffer from undernourishment and
malnutrition undermines health; poor people get sick and die from disease at higher rates
than better nourished counterpart and poor people live in inadequate housing under
crowded, hazardous conditions. This is the threat that the government fails the sovereign
people from protecting them.

Allow me to bring you in the nauseating idiosyncrasies of my adversary, POVERTY.

According to Salmi (1993), there are three (3) types of poverty: by Omission (not providing
help to people in need), Repression (infractions of civil, political, economic, and social
rights) and Alienation (deprivation of people’s higher rights such as emotional, cultural, or
intellectual growth). Applying these in our current set-up, if the government fails to deliver
the deliverables to the people efficiently and effectively, it committed violence by omission.
Further, curtailing the people to enjoy civil, political economic and social rights, it is
violence by repression. Thirty (30) decades already, marginalized sectors, are still
marginalized. If there are success stories on this area, stories failure surely succumb it. The
government has not been doing serious engagement in terms of addressing this. Sovereign
people, who put their representative to the arena of governance, who believe to give them
not just simple governance, but good governance, are being alienated on their own country.

A reader would wander why this paper focuses on poverty on bringing my case of
why the Republic should reflect in changing gears in the modes of our governance. People
who enjoyed the services of the government by helping them to rise from the level of their
living are the end goal of why we need to have the government. Economic development
and urbanization are futile if many Filipino people are still living in dire poverty. We don’t
have liberty if we are caught by poverty. Understanding poverty in multi-level in terms
violence brings us that the largest base causing poverty is the structural and cultural
foundation, and proceeded by a larger base, the institutional and the last one is individual
foundation. If I may deduced, the framework that we have today is not the key to
addressing poverty, and at some point, aggravates poverty conditions among our fellow.

Because of this poverty situation, politicians took advantage of it. Portraying as

Messiah during election times, offering just the crumbs and not the bread to the most
exploitable sector, the poor. They are our countrymen who live everyday just to survive
and no longer enjoy the essence of being a human being. And majority of my countrymen
love them, and in fact, not only them that they elect, but including also their spouses,
brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and whoever that person whose family name is the same
with those Messiah portrayers. And this leads to political dynasties, which for thirty (30)
years, toys the Filipinos.

What does it imply? The constitution that we have provides the framework of how
this country shall be governed and what will look like. Justice Cruz opined that right or
wrong, the constitution shall be upheld, unless it has been changed by the sovereign
people. In the aspect of public administration, it is the structure that provides the platform
for certain persons need to perform roles and tasks being prescribed by the structure,
otherwise, the persons will clearly operate outside the frame. Change is painful, but loving
the status quo is more painful and excruciating.

The shift to Federal Form of Government for me might not be the perfect anti-dote
to the situation that we are facing now, but at least, it can help us overcome social ills. The
decentralization of power leads to responsive legislations in terms of economic and social
welfare policies. Here are my thoughts why Federalism is good for us.

First, the decentralization aspect allows various federal regional states to develop
their economic policies based from their potentials and untapped resources. The
determination per se will be sustained since, 50% of the income being generated will be
directly enjoyed by the regional state, compared to our government now. Furthermore,
Imperial Manila as many would call will be decongested because developments will be
diffused to nearby areas. Filipinos from Visayas and Mindanao will enjoy various kinds of
development in terms of infrastructure, transportation, communication and economy
because the regional federal will have the resources to engage the region.

Second, the premise in the preceding paragraph enhances political accountability

where Public Office is Public Trust. As of today, as if, it is a given right of every politician to
not be responsive and not much acquainted with his constituents. Representatives in the
Lower House, the legislators are not doing their prescribed functions. And nobody
questioned their existence. In fact, if they knew the political trickery, they will be re-
elected. I usually heard from laymen, if I may quote in Visayan, “Ayahay, basta naa sa
gobyerno, lingkod2x, hulat sweldo”. Accountability is absent. In Federalism, all
grievances don’t need to go through a long vacuum of levels, because federal regions are
empowered to redress their grievances. It is efficient and will send clear message to the
government officials and officers that they are there to serve the sovereign, and not the
contrary. Political clans would up their game, and in fact, would value service delivery,
because solving grievances will be now accessible and efficient. Local governments will no
longer slumber, instead, will be prescribed to generate their income.

Third, the representation in the National Federal Government in the Congress gives
all regions a fair share of the pie that all their predicaments will be conveyed by their
respective representatives. Unlike now, most of the representatives in the Upper House are
dominated by the Luzon area. And the people in the federal region can directly discern
whether their representatives are bringing the intentions of the federal region. And this
will make the government closer to the people.

Lastly, the framework of federalism will provide platforms for those officials and
officers to up their game in helping their respective constituents given that the 50% of their
income generated are being retained in the region. It means more fiscal resources, more
deliverables in various areas such as social infrastructure, public works, economic
undertakings and social welfare. The tax of the people will be enjoyed by the people.
Likewise, federal regional constituents will have the gauge to compare other regions in
terms of their development and can demand from the officials and officers to atleast do
things according to Federal form of government, creating a space where voices from below
are directly heard. Politician, whose interest is not for public service, will have now the
second thought of vying for a re-election in a position. Public Officers will now be conscious
and government agencies will be adherent to customer satisfaction.

On the contrary, there are some provisions of the Proposed Constitutions, and I for
one wanted to take note of the omission of the political dynasties. The framers should
reconsider to include it as self-executing and not mere declaration. Unlike, if the
constitution prohibits political dynasties explicitly, it will prevent the abusers from playing
the highest law of the land.

Likewise, many law experts on Constitution believes that the Puno Draft shall
stipulate to prohibit the elected President and Vice-president being elected in the 1987
Constitution not to be elected in the new form of government, is for me, a position of a
political party. After-all, it is we, the Filipino people who will vote the candidates. And, we
already saw the governance of the previous dispensations. If the people choose them again,
so be it, at least, whatever the results of their exercise of suffrage, they can now own it,
because they have now the platform that they desired.

In closing, it is the sovereign people who will decide to elect their representatives.
Atleast in the federal form of government, the federal region has the resources to
undertake development. It might be that oppositions and other anti-federalism view the
Federalism Form of Government as Antagonist, but for me, it is the DARK HORSE that this
country shall have to take to address poverty and other social ills, for progress requires
deliberate and volitional change.