Duterte’s design for federalism closer to German model, says expert

President Rodrigo Duterte should have referred to the German system of government instead of the French when he pushed for federalism in his State of the Nation Address, a political analyst said Thursday.

Temario Rivera, former Political Science professor at the University of the Philippines, said France implements a hybrid unitary system with a "strong president" and a prime minister in charge of day-to-day governance.

“Yung reference ni President Duterte sa French system, medyo mali, dahil hindi federal system ang France. Unitary system, but a hybrid unitary system, dahil mayroong strong president—directly elected strong president—but also yung day-to-day affairs of government mayroong prime minister,” Rivera said.

Instead, Rivera cited the German system—a mix of federal and parliamentary forms of government—blends well with the president's statement in his SONA, although he did not recommend adopting the whole governing process.

“Germany ang talagang federal, but Germany is federal and parliamentary. We could not have that kind of experience of parliamentary, although we can draw a lot of lessons from that,” Rivera said.

A Chancellor heads the German federal government as elected by a majority of the federal parliament, also known as the Bundestag, and in charge of overseeing the government and the appointment of its ministers.

The federal president, on the other hand, is the head the state and is responsible for executive tasks.

Germany is divided into 16 federal states, or Lander, each with its own constitution constitution, legislative body and government that can pass all kinds of laws with the exemption of defense, foreign affairs, and finance which concerns the federal government.

Meanwhile, Rivera said Duterte may have pegged at the French system because he wanted the Philippine federal system to have an elected president.

“Ang nag-attract sa kanya doon I think is the notion na kahit, kasi nga in-assume nang federal, kahit federal puwede ka pa rin magkaroon ng strong president. I think that was at the back of his mind although mali nga yung premise niya ng federalism,” he said.

Under the French government, the president stands as the head of state and is elected by a majority of votes to a maximum of two five-year terms in office and shall preside over the Council of Ministers, promulgate Acts of Parliament, and serve as the country’s commander-in-chief.

Meanwhile, the prime minister is appointed by the president upon the confidence of the National Assembly and stands as the head of the government with the overall role of overseeing government functions.

Duterte advised the joint session of Congress during his SONA to copy the French system which maintains a federal system with an elected president because a parliamentary system has no single governance apparatus.

Duterte’s allies in Congress and the Senate already filed separate bills seeking to amend the country’s Charter and start the shift to federalism. —NB, GMA News