FEDERALISM IS FOR THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY

Philippines is an archipelago that is rich with natural resources. It has oceans

that are considered as the most diverse part of any oceans in the planet. More
importantly, we hold the world’s third largest reserve of minerals in the world valued at
$900 billion. But despite those facts, one of every four Filipinos is still living below the
poverty line. That’s why President Duterte floated the idea of federalism to establish the
long awaited reforms in the government hoping to help to improve the lives of every
Filipinos.

Federalism is a political arrangement usually established by the constitution of

the country where the sharing of power is constitutionally mandated. Its objective is to
divide the country into states to effectively cater the first needs of Filipinos in every
region and to change the disproportionately biased distribution of public funds.

One of the major advantages of federalism is the efficiency of taxing system and
raising revenues in the country. Federal government has power to levy and collect taxes
and other duties except those granted to Federated Regions such as income tax, excise
tax, value added tax and custom duties. Every region will be given a share of not less
than 50% of their overall revenue. With that, every local region will be given more funds,
hence, progress will not be concentrated in Manila and there is more chance that every
Filipinos will receive the subsidies and benefits provided by the government.

This type of government is also concerned on having a spread out political and
economic powers to the regions and local. With that, the local government can move
and freely decide according to what they think is best for their local citizens. Moreover,
the regional government will have control over their budget. They will have their own
Regional Assembly which will allocate funds to the region and will set their own priorities
and address their peculiar needs which in turn can boost their respective economies.
Example is here in Luzon, which is known for its agricultural products such as rice and
the area of Mindanao which is now known for their rich deposit of natural gas. Every
region has distinct needs that a national level of government in centralized system may
not be able to see. Because of federalism, every region can allocate their funds based
on their priorities in order to boost up the national economy of our country.

Moreover, federalism also addresses issues about unemployment and urban

population living in slums. According to the study of Consultative Committee,
unemployment rate is about 6.4% while underemployment rate is 17.8%. Through
federalism, more jobs will be created in each region because each federal state will be
empowered to invite investors to start up business in their locations which in turn will
boost up the national economy. Furthermore, in terms of urban population living in
slums, Manila has the largest homeless population of any city in the world. But through
the shift in type of government, many Filipinos living in Manila will move back to the
province they originally came from because of the work and better opportunities that
they can have.

It is also designed to address the biased distribution of funds in our country. As of

today, 62.04% of Gross Domestic Product is from NCR, CALABARZON and Central
Luzon. Economic development is focused on these three regions alone and the rest of
the country share in small pot. Regions with lowest GDP rates have highest poverty
rates. But through the proposed type of government, local regions will be empowered to
manage their own resources and they don’t need to have the consent of national
government before they can take up projects and spend for the development of their
locality.

Federalism is for the Philippine economy. Our nation is considered as diversified

country where regions have different cultures, ethnicity and religions; hence, we really
need a type of government that will respond for such differences. Let’s say Bicolanos
will be ruled in Bicolano way, Mindanaons will be ruled based on their belief and culture
as well as here in Luzon. Moreover, through federalism, the local government will
efficiently utilize their resources. They will raise revenue for their locality based on their
resources that’s why the tendency of the local government is to increase the production
and make ways in order to improve the utilization of their scarce resource. As a result,
there will be a vast growth in our economy, employment rate will increase, Filipinos will
have a better access in education, and there will be more roads, more schools and
more hospitals to cater the needs of every Filipinos.