Decentralization, not federalism, is key to PHL progress, say experts

A pair of experts said decentralization, not a switch to federalism, is the key to inclusive progress in the Philippines.

In a forum at University of the Philippines on Tuesday, retired Supreme Court Justice Vicente Mendoza said that a federal system only calls for "breaking up the power of the national government and distributing it to several states into which the country would be divided."

President Rodrigo Duterte has advocated for the change in the country's Charter to implement federalism.

"We don't really have to change to a federal system but need only push hard for decentralization to break up the concentration of power in the national government and redistribute it to local governments," Mendoza said.

"For diffusing power, the appropriate tool is decentralization, which is a managerial concept involving the delegation of administrative powers to local governments while keeping the determination of policies in the central government," Hon. Vicente Mendoza said in a forum.

Former University of the Philippines president Jose Abueva echoed the remarks of Mendoza.

"What is proposed is to change our traditional, highly centralized unitary system of government to a decentralized and devolved structure composed of autonomous territories and ethnic cultures. But not to federal system," Abueva said.

"I am not for federalism, I am for a unitary state. My model is the United Kingdom for two reasons... One is that it is not a federal state but a unitary state. A unitary state in which the main parts are very autonomous," Abueva added.

Abueva said the Philippines has a "soft state" and an "unconsolidated democracy," making it a weak nation.

"Who are the exploiters of our soft state? I would include rent-seeking oligarchs, warlords, politicians who use force, gambling lords, drug lords, tax evaders, rebels who collect revolutionary taxes, terrorists and even poor informal settlers maybe gor sheer survival as migrants in the big cities and squatter syndicates," Abueva said.

"Our weak nation and soft state are clearly related to our leaders who belong to family dynasties and use their power and authority more to serve their private and political interests, rather than to promote the common good," Abueva added. 

Reverse process

Mendoza explained that the process of converting the administrative regions to autonomous states is in fact a "reverse historical direction of formation of federal systems."

"Federal systems are formed when nations agree to unite, retaining some degree of independence." Mendoza explained. "The reverse process can only result in the fragmentation, if not disintegration, of what was once a nation."

He emphasized that "to federalize actually means to unite and not to separate."

He added that federalism, contrary to pronouncements of Duterte, is not the solution to the problems in Mindanao.

"The problems of Muslim Mindanao are not also the problems of the rest of the country." Mendoza said. "To think of federalizing every time the Mindanao problem flares up is like thinking that a pain in the foot always requires the same cure for the rest of the body."

"No reason has been shown why provisions for autonomous regions are inadequate to address the Mindanao problem," he added.

Last December, Duterte signed an executive order creating a 25-member consultative committee that will review the 1987 Constitution.

Duterte had vowed to step down before his term ends if a federal and parliamentary form of government is adopted. —JST, GMA News