By Butch Fernandez & Jovee Marie de la Cruz
IN fulfilling President Rodrigo Duterte’s dream to install a federal system in place of the existing presidential form of government, his chief advocate, Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III proposes to adopt the best features of federal governments in Europe, North America, Australia and even Malaysia.
Pimentel suggests that the framers of the new system, most likely the current members of Congress sitting as a constituent assembly (Con-ass), should, likewise, look at newly formed federal governments in South America and Africa as guides. He added the experience of these countries could serve in crafting the Philippines’s version of a federal government responsive to Filipinos’ needs.
Pimentel III points out that since the shift from the Presidential to the federal system will empower thousands of local government units (LGUs) from Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, the shift would require provision of adequate resources to enable LGUs in federal states to fulfill their mandates.
To do this, Pimentel III proposes to increase the revenue-sharing ratio of local governments to “as high as 70 percent to 80 percent” of all government revenues. He explains the sharing ration would be “consistent with our belief that local governments deserve a bigger share of government resources, since they are in a better position to address the needs of their constituents.”
Equalization Fund
PIMENTEL III concedes not all states under the envisioned federal government would have the same resources and financial standing, which was why he also supports putting up a federal government-administered “equalization fund” that member-states can avail themselves of if they require funding assistance.
The federal system will keep the LGUs intact, but their shares in the total revenue of the Republic shall be increased to ensure their viability, according to Pimentel III’s father, former Senate President Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr.
The formula that the elder Pimentel suggested is 80-percent-to-20-percent sharing ratio between the federal government and the states, which he estimates would number to 11 or 12 states. The same formula is suggested between the state government and the LGUs, with the state government getting 20 percent and the latter, the lion’s share.
This is much bigger than the 40-percent share that LGUs get under the Local Government Code (LGC).
Loan Commission
BUT since not all federal states are born equal in terms of resources and opportunities and, therefore, even an 80-percent share might not be enough for some, the Pimentel scheme involves setting up an Equalization Fund. The fund would be administered by the federal government to assist states in dire need of development funds that the elder Pimentel said should be created.
Federal states would be represented in the authority administering the Equalization Fund, he explained. A loan commission would also be created to ensure that foreign loans are faithfully paid, with both the federal government and all the states represented in the commission.
At least one-fourth of the loan commission members must come from qualified and accredited nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), he explained.
Equitable shares of the loan repayments will be borne by the States that benefited from the loans, Pimentel Jr. told a recent Senate forum.
Urgent steps
Pimentel III, meanwhile, asserts that the timetable for shifting to a federal system should be fast-tracked, with the Senate and the House of Representatives passing the enabling law within the year to pave the way for either Congress as a Con-ass or by elected members of a constitutional convention (Con-con) to start working on Charter changes next year.
“There is no time to lose,” he says, insisting that “we must go federal” if the Filipino people and their leaders want to jump-start progress and economic development, as well as forge lasting peace in Mindanao.
Even as he is pushing to fast-track the shift in form of government, Pimentel III acknowledges that federalism’s complex nature also needs to undergo careful scrutiny by its framers, citing findings by scholars there is “no one model in the world that fits all.”
He suggests that the Charter framers would need to figure out a version of federalism suited to peculiar conditions of Philippine society. Pimentel III points out the framers can learn from “good and bad experiences of existing federal governments.
No cure-all
THE senator cautions early converts that the federal form adopted by First World countries, like the United States and the European Union, should not be “seen as a cure-all to problems besetting the Philippines.
But while the federal system may not be perfect, Pimentel III allows it could provide the formula for addressing the decades-old Philippine predicaments ensuing from its cultural diversity.
Pimentel III believes now is the most opportune time for shifting to federalism, with full backing from the current tenant in Malacañang.
He recalls Mr. Duterte’s campaign pitch running on a platform of federalism espoused by the PDP Laban, the party founded in 1982 by his father and other prodemocracy leaders standing against the Marcos dictatorship that was installed following the imposition of martial law in 1972.
Local autonomy
IN preparing the groundwork, former Senate President Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. introduced the landmark LGC in 1990. The Code was passed into law and took effect the following year.
The Code granted the LGUs certain powers of government pertaining to health, agriculture and social welfare, “and snippets of power over education, environment, tourism, and, to some extent, the police had been devolved to and exercised by local governments.”
The LGC of 1991 bestowed local autonomy that meant less reliance on the national government. Such autonomy includes the “allotments” given by Imperial Manila, and, at the same time, boosting the LGUs’ reliance on internally generated resources, or resources jointly generated with other institutions, be these other LGUs or private institutions.
Pimentel III recalls that prior to the adoption of the Code, taxes and revenues accruing to the government from natural resources, like geothermal plants, gold, copper and iron mines, and timber had been “monopolized by the central government.” But when the Code took effect in 1991, these taxes were mandated to be shared between the central government and the LGUs.
Logical step
SENATE President Pimentel III says federalism is now “the next logical step,” should Filipinos choose the decentralize government when a national plebiscite is called to ratify Charter changes envisioned to take place by midterm of the Duterte administration.
Pimentel III points out the voters’ decision to shift to another form of government “should be well-informed, well-thought of and participatory.”
He adds that, “in the ultimate analysis, federalism is a covenant that is made by citizens and, ultimately, the decision to federalize should reflect the will of the people who choose to unite amid their diversity.”
Under a federal system, Pimentel III explains that sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units, like states or provinces, where each level of government usually has its particular jurisdiction; areas of public policy in which it alone has final authority, unless it decides to share it with the other.
“Simply put, federalism can be viewed as a system that accommodates both self-rule of the constituent unit and shared rule at the federal level,” he said.
Finalizing draft
HOUSE Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said he is now finalizing the draft of an Executive Order (EO) creating the 20-man constitutional commission (Con-com) that will draft the proposed amendments to the Constitution.
He said the Palace asked him to draft the EO, and submit it within the week.
The lawmaker said the Con-Com will help Congress, acting as a Con-ass, in drafting the proposed changes to the charter.
According to Alvarez, the creation of the commission would help allay the reservations aired by some quarters and the public against amending the Charter through Con-ass, instead of a Con-con.
He said the commission will include constitutional law experts like former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Pimentel Jr., lawyer Reuben R. Canoy and Dean of San Beda Law School Fr. Ranhilio C. Aquino. Alvarez added the commission would also include representatives from NGOs, academe and other sectors of society.
“They will be tasked to study and review the present Constitution and then draft a new Charter, which will be submitted to the constituent assembly, where it will be discussed thoroughly,” Alvarez said.
He, however, said it is still the Con-ass that would discuss and approve the proposed changes to the Charter.
“And after Congress approves the proposed amendments, it’s not final yet. The public must still agree to the proposed changes,” Alvarez said. “That’s why it’s safe because, in the end, it’s the people who would decide whether they agree or not with the proposed new Constitution.”
The move to amend the Charter is meant to pave the way to change the present system of government to a federal one.
Alvarez said Con-ass will tackle all the proposed amendments or revisions, whether politically or economically.
The Speaker said the Con-ass will not only focus on the proposal changing the form of government from republican to federalism.
Alvarez added he is open to former Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr.’s proposal lifting the economic provisions of the Constitution in the 17th Congress.
“When you revise the Constitution, you have to change everything,” Alvarez said. “We need to tackle everything either in constitutional convention or constitutional assembly.”
Legally nonbinding
MEANWHILE, PDP Laban Rep. Alfredo B. Benitez of Negros Occidental, author of a resolution calling for Con-ass, said the Con-com is only a recommendatory body.
“The Con-com may start drafting while Congress is deliberating the proposed 2017 national budget,” Benitez said. “But remember, Con-com is only a recommendatory body, but at least there is guide to start.”
“With the EO [creating the Con-com], the President appoints the members of the commission. We have the [same] Constitution for 30 years now under six administrations,” the lawmaker said in an interview with reporters. “But the question is, how will we bring development to the country? Is it [through right] leadership or structural changes? We have to discuss [these] now.”
In the same interview, Pimentel Jr., who was a delegate during the 1971 Constitutional Convention, backed the creation of Con-com.
“A commission will be created to proposed amendments or revisions to the Constitution, and this will be submitted to the Con-ass,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
30 percent
ALVAREZ said once the Filipino people understand the merits of the proposed Charter change toward a federal form of government, the majority of them will support it.
A nationwide survey said 44 percent of the Filipino respondents are against Charter change.
“I am more encouraged by the 30 percent [who] said the Charter should be revised,” Alvarez said.
The Speaker said that, through a massive information campaign explaining the merits of the proposed Charter change, support for the move could even reach around 80 percent or more.
“It’s only a question of explaining to the people, especially in the regions, maybe not anymore in Metro Manila.”
Alvarez added that a shift to the federal form of government would bring a long-lasting solution to the centuries-old problem of poverty, because growth of the regions had been stifled under the unitary form of government that colonizers, like Spain and the US, imposed on the country primarily for better control.
“Right now, all the provinces and regions are being controlled by the central government because we have a unitary form of government,” Alvarez said. “Now by shifting to a federal form of government, these regions or states can now manage their own economy; manage their own natural resources; and create opportunities for their people.”
Under such a system, the masses will also enjoy the benefits of an improved economy, unlike in the present system, where the benefits of economic growth are not felt by ordinary people, he added.
New workweek
NACIONALISTA Party Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur said the chamber could work even faster in changing the Charter by implementing a five-day session per week.
Under a five-day workweek, Villafuerte said the lawmakers can significantly advance their schedule of proposing amendments to the Constitution via Con-ass route to pave the shift to federalism.
“Holding sessions from Mondays to Fridays would give us enough time and make us work faster in performing our lawmaking duties, along with the extra workload of amending the Constitution,” the lawmaker said.
Earlier, Alvarez said Congress will prioritize the passage of the 2017 budget before changing the Constitution.
Moreover, Villafuerte said that by stretching their workweek, House members could either finish budget deliberations ahead of schedule or begin discussions on federalism before the year-end, or start deliberations on Charter change right now by setting aside specific days per week for lawmaking and for Con-ass days for federalism.
Currently, the lower chamber only conducts sessions from Monday to Wednesday.
Far sighting
ACCORDING to Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, there are various types of federal government.
Diokno explained that public spending will depend on the form of federal framework that the Duterte administration would implement.
“It depends on what form of federalism, and there are many variants that emerge,” Diokno told the BusinessMirror through a text message.
He said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is focused more on the 2017 national budget. Diokno said this needs to come first before the discussion on the shift to federalism of the country.
The proposed budget by the DBM for 2017 is about P3.35 trillion to support the various spending initiatives of the Duterte administration.
The Department of Finance (DOF) is also waiting cue from other branches of government.
Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said the DOF is reviewing studies on the proposed shift to a federal form of government. Beltran agreed with Diokno that since there are a number of variants of federalism, the Philippines’s variant should match the needs of the economy.
The road
Pimentel III elaborates that, while there is no single model of a federal system in the world, there are common attributes that characterize federal systems. These attributes include the distribution of powers between central and constituent units; participation of constituent units in central decision-making; constitutional autonomy of constituent units; accommodation of diversity; fiscal equalization; and intergovernmental instruments.
At the end of the road, he says, it’s really the Filipinos who will create their own model of federalism, merging these common attributes with the best practices of others while considering the peculiar context of the country. It’s a long journey that cannot promise automatic progress, but to its true believers, there’s no better time to take to the road than now.
With additional report by Rea Cu
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez