Federalism in the Philippines, Is it possible?
I once heard President Duterte during the election period before he became President that he favors federalism or a federal form of government.
Is it possible?
Let the congress of the Philippines decide.
The Philippines is a Democratic and Republican State.
The essence of republicanism is representation and renovation. The citizenry selects a corps of public functionaries who derive their mandate from the people and act on their behalf, serving for a limited period only, after which they are replaced or retained at the option of their principal.
Some of the manifestations of republicanism in which the Philippines falls are the following:
- Rule of Majority
- Accountability of Public Officials
- Bill of Rights
- Legislatures can not pass irrepealable laws
- Separation of powers
The Philippines system of government seems ok. Why shift to a federal form of government?
Federalism is a method of government that allows two or more entities to share control over the same geographic region.
In a federalist government, the power is divided between the national government and other governmental units.
This is different from a unitary government, where one unit holds the power.
Will federalism in the Philippines solve the long-standing conflict in the south and the long-standing insurgency in the country?
Perhaps.
Because a federal form of government has the following advantages:
- The central government has no true way to understand what issues and changes need
to be made in every area of the country. In federalism, The smaller branches of the
local governments are right in the middle of the local society. They are better suited
to deal with the true things that need to be changed. - One huge characteristic of federalism is the checks and balances that are in play.
By not allowing one body of government to hold all power over the country, you help to
prevent any harmful and negative things from happening to some areas of the country.
This is why having multiple sectors of the government is so important in federalism. - In a democracy, people have a large say in what happens within the government.
Federalism creates smaller local governments and allows people to feel even more
involved in the decisions and everyday workings of their government. This makes
people much more proud and excited about their country. - Federalism helps manage conflict issues. Since different states and communities
are allowed to develop their own policies, people with strong disagreements or
irreconcilable differences are allowed for, to live in different areas, and develop
their own results, or policies, which could in one way or the other disagreeable
to other people in other regions or states of the country.