AN incoming lawmaker is seeking to form a “grand coalition” of political parties for the smooth passage of a measure changing the country’s form of government from republican to federalism via Charter change (Cha-cha).
In a statement, Rep.-elect Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said only the structural “switch in government could pave the way to the genuine devolution of powers from so-called Imperial Manila to the provinces and cities that would allow the country’s nascent economic overdrive to truly trickle down to the countryside.”
“A grand coalition of pro-administration and opposition political parties to spearhead the federal shift has assumed greater urgency,” Villafuerte said.
Earlier, returning Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez, who is being eyed as speaker of the House of Representatives in the Duterte administration, said his leadership will prioritize this Cha-cha.
President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte said he is pushing for federalism to end the decadelong fighting in parts of Mindanao.
However, House Majority Leader and Liberal Party Rep. Neptali M. Gonzales II said if the next administration wants to change the country’s form of government, it should be done in the first three years of the Duterte administration.
Under the Constitution, amendments to the 1987 Charter could be introduced either of these three modes: through a duly-elected Constitutional Convention (ConCon); Congress convening itself into a Constituent Assembly (ConAss); or a People’s Initiative (PI).
Villafuerte said Congress must take the lead in pushing the federal shift via Cha-cha.
“Now is the best time to tackle Charter change, and the switch to federalism at the onset of the Duterte presidency minus any suspicion of a hidden political agenda,” he said.
In the Philippines’s current form of government, all funds are centralized in the National Capital Region, and provinces need to remit their income in the National Treasury; while under federalism, there is autonomy in government rules per province, with independent taxation and economic system.
Under the federal form of government, provinces will no longer remit their income to the National Treasury, but they are required to give a percentage of their income to the national government. A new constitution is also needed if federalism will push through.
“Because we have a unitary form of government, most of the administrative powers and financial resources are with the national government based in Metro Manila,” Villafuerte said.
“Under our unitary form of government, Imperial Manila has exclusive say on how the country’s resources are distributed among the country’s provinces and cities, forcing local government units to often beg for resources from the national government to fund their respective development projects,” he said.