Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Study on Federalism
Castañeda, Samantha Anne
Notre Dame of Greater Manila
Submitted to Ms. Gina Lomotan
Philippine Politics and Governance
July 28, 2016
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Photo courtesy of: www.gov.ph/gov/
According the 1987 Constitution, the Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of
government wherein power is equally divided among its three branches: executive, legislative,
and judicial. One basis corollary in a presidential system of government is the principle of
separations of power wherein legislation belongs to the Congress, execution in the Executive,
and settlement of legal controversies to the Judiciary.
The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through the power
vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
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The Executive branch is composed of the President and the Vice President who are elected by
to appoint his Cabinet. These departments form a large portion of the country’s bureaucracy.
The Judicial branch holds the power to settle controversies involving rights that are legally
demandable and enforceable. This branch determines if there has been a grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the
expressly grants the Supreme Court the power of Judicial Review as the power to declare a
treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order,
instruction, ordinance or regulation unconstitutional.
between a central governing authority and a number of constituent political units. The central
authority usually focuses on National Defense, Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Central Monetary
Authority. The health, education, and social welfare and services should be devolved to the
LGU’s. The constituent political units should take care of their own trade and industries,
economic development and health. (Jimenez, 2015)
unlimited powers, but limited amounts of money. It could not "print money" to fund its
its programs. This contributed to the value of the US dollar remaining constant from the era of
the founding until the early part of the 20th century (during the New Deal we began to devalue
2010)
A parliamentary form of government, wherein the executive branch derives its democratic
legitimacy from the legislative. The prime minister is accountable to parliament and the
parliament and new elections may be held to replace the current head of government. The prime
minister must always enjoy the full confidence of parliament. (Jimenez, 2015)
Significance
By studying our current form of government and comparing it to Duterte’s proposed Federal
forms of government we will be able to identify if the current system has been effective and
efficient. This study will help us further our understanding of our government, remembering the
as to why President Duterte pushes for a Federal form of government.
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Why Federalism?
But it is well possible now.” said recently elected President Rodrigo Duterte on his first State of
the Nation Address on July 25, 2016.
‘In an interview with Asian Dragon magazine, Duterte said he’s fearful war will
and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) decides to take up arms to express its
disappointment. “If the BBL is not passed, there is that threat of war by MILF Chair
I am quite passionate about the situation because if war breaks out, you know where the
battleground will be–– Mindanao and Davao City, in particular.” he said.’
(Politics.com.ph, 2015)
‘As defined, “Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is
issues that affect the entire country, and smaller subdivisions have the power to make laws and
federal system of governance that consists of the national or federal government, and the
government of the individual states.’
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The argument for Federalism has not changed. In the Philippines, the advocates of
Federalism want to change the government from the presidentialunitary system to a
parliamentaryfederal system of government. They believe that it “would respond to the
geographical obstacle and differences caused by cultural diversity on governance because it
allows fragmentation while at the same time promoting national interest. It also claimed that the
by separatist movements in Mindanao.” (2)’ (Alfasain, 2016)
‘Once we are under a federal system, all component states collect their own taxes and
contribute only a small fraction of their revenues to the federal or central government for only
three centralized functions. The states will manage mining and forest matters and shall control all
natural resources. Each state will have its own unicameral congress and a separate court of
appeals. There will be only one centralized Supreme Court and one federal senate with three
senators from each state.’ (Jimenez, 2016)
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The advantages and disadvantages of a federal government
Advantages
1. It ensures that government remains close to the people because the state government
relevant to small and isolated places.
2. It encourages development of the nation in a decentralized and regional manner and
allows for unique and innovative methods for attacking social, economic, and political
problems.
3. It provides a barrier to the dominance of the majority.
Disadvantages
1. It can lead to duplication of government and inefficient, overlapping or contradictory
policies in different parts of the country.
2. It can lead to inequality between the states and lead to unhealthy competition and rivalry
3. It can lead to overgovernment that will result to corruption
What can Federalism do to appease the MILF conflict?
“The BBL, is the enabling law for the establishment of the Bangsamoro political entity
that seeks to replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It
provides for political and fiscal reforms that will greatly enhance the fiscal and political
autonomy of the region.” (Ferrer, 2016)
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Federalism can give way to a more controlled and supervised state government instead of
granting complete sovereignty over ARMM. The National government will still have authority
over the state, but will let the state handle internal conflicts.
What can Federalism do for our economy?
The state will be able to decide on which track they would like to pursue based on the existing
resources. The state will also be able to help the citizens find an appropriate job within the state,
instead of prioritizing aliens from other states. Therefor, for example, a state has an abundant raw
material, they can decide which byproduct they would like to invest in and what to export.
‘The federal government could challenge states and metropolitan regions to articulate
a broad crosssection of leaders in states and metropolitan areas to: (a) articulate a bold
economic vision that builds from their special assets and advantages; (b) design strategies
that carry out that vision through tangible projects and investments; reform state and
local policies and governance in support of these strategies; and (d) hold themselves
nonpartisan group of business, state, and regional leaders could be tasked to recommend
the goals and parameters of the competition and could even be designated to assess
disparate applications.’ (Katz, 2012)
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How can Federalism strengthen our education?
gain more support from the local government.
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Insights
As I have gone through numerous web pages just to put emphasis on what Federalism really
meant, I have come to my own definition: Federalism is a form of government that puts the
citizen’s needs first, once they are satisfied, we move on to a larger scale or a more holistic
approach to answer what our country needs to develop.
I personally agree that Federalism can be able to uplift our country’s state. But I also agree that
we will need more time and effort from our lawmakers to execute a fully functioning federal
government. Regardless of our ideologies, and prejudice, we must be able to acknowledge the
logical background of a federal government.
I would like to take the Swiss politics as an example. They have three levels, the Confederation
can choose who their representative would be. Switzerland is a diverse country with its four
national languages (as compared to our 187 dialects) and its highly diverse geographical
cohesion.
‘Switzerland has a stable economy that benefits from high levels of flexibility and institutional
An independent and corruptionfree judiciary enforces contracts effectively. Openness to global
trade and investment has enabled Switzerland to become one of the world’s most competitive
and innovative economies.’ (Heritage Foundation, 2016)
Implementing federalism in the Philippines patterned from Switzerland’s rather than France’s
Swiss that appears in our current system.
So answering the question: “Do you think federalism will be able to help our country?”
It is a yes from me. It will be a long process, but the longterm effect from implementing a
must be vigilant of the moves the new administration will bring forth because it will determine
our country’s outcome.
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Conclusion
Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of
government. The two levels of government is: the National and the State government. The
responsibilities are distributed into two, so that they can focus on specific issues at hand.
Federalism hopes to solve conflicts in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
between the militants and the government. It also encourages citizens to take part in the state
government to help address problems. On the other hand, federalism may cause duplicate roles,
creating an unnecessary leg of the government.
Philippines may be able to rise through the said form of government, but we must study further
before implementing change. There must be a sense of majority for a decision to weigh.
Federalism can help fight against criminality, as it can choose what
Recommendations:
1. Elaborate the background of federalism, and cite more information.
2. Why is federalism significant?
3. Cite more of the new administration’s plans for our country
4. Explain what is happening in the Bangsamoro basic law
5. Cite possible outcomes after switching from presidential to a federal form of govt
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References
The 1987 Philippine Constitution
Presidential Communications Operations Office
Philippine Government | GOVPH. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.gov.ph/gov/
Jimenez, J. (2015, February 22). Parliamentary Federal Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved
July 27, 2016, from
http://www.philstar.com/freemanopinion/2015/02/22/1426437/parliamentaryfederalrepublicp
hilippines
Jimenez, J. (n.d.). Why federalism will be good for the Philippines. Retrieved July 27, 2016,
from
http://www.philstar.com/freemanopinion/2016/04/25/1576483/whyfederalismwillbegoodphi
lippines
Duterte reveals grim reason why he's pushing for federalism Politiko. (2015, April 14).
Retrieved July 27, 2016, from
http://politics.com.ph/duterterevealsgrimreasonwhyhespushingforfederalism/
Alfasain, G. V. (n.d.). Is Federalism the answer to our current problems? Retrieved July 27,
2016, from http://www.yadukaru.com/2015/05/isfederalismanswertoourcurrent.html
Baluyot, L. (2007). Federalism: Its Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved July 27, 2016,
from https://bpspolitics.wordpress.com/2007/02/11/97/
Katz, B. (2012). Remaking Federalism to Remake the American Economy. Retrieved July 27,
2016, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/02/16federalismkatz
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Switzerland: Economic Freedom. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2016, from
http://www.heritage.org/index/country/switzerland
Price, K. (n.d.). How would federalism work? Retrieved July 27, 2016, from
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/price/100717