OFWs who experience federalism believe it’s good for PHL
Having experienced what it's like to be in a country that has a federal form of government, some OFWs believe the Philippines could benefit from such system of governance.
"Distribution of power under federalism is good. It protects against an all-powerful government," shared Jorge Davis, an OFW in Malaysia, via email.
He said under federalism, local government units "will have to compete with each other, which will eventually benefit the constituent in the process."
Davis, 46, is the managing director of Techmeda Solutions. Had he been president of the Philippines, he said he too would bat for federalism like President Rodrigo Dutertem who wants the transition to happen under his administration.
"Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy with a federal constitutional monarchy. Each state is ruled by a chief minister who has full authority over a region. The federal government's job now is just to help develop those less developed states and create equal development across the country," Davis explained.
"With our current system, corruption is rampant, as the President decides everything including business and infrastructure."
Like him, 61-year-old nurse Ruben Flores from Australia wants federalism for the Philippines, too.
"We have been on the democratic form of government for a long time," he said. "I grew up in an area where there is a long time dispute between two religions claiming to be a better one."
Switching to federalism then is the solution for Flores, administrator of the Filipino-Australian Seventh Day Adventist Community in Queensland.
"Having stayed here in Australia for 12 years and watched the system through their televised parliamentary meetings, the peoples' reactions to the different decisions made, and the peoples' direct participation to some of the decisions makes federalism good for the Philippines," he said.
"The government's present democratic form of government has shown its inability to check its own system, where the officials' hidden agenda goes unchecked and getting encouraged to corruptions," Flores added.
Some, however, is on a wait-and-see mode. Joel Foronda, chairman of the Filipino Community in Dubai and Northern Emirates, is one of them.
"Having been working in a country that observes federalism, I am still weighing things for this system of governance for our country — the Philippines," said Foronda, who works as senior quality engineer in the UAE.
Despite his ambivalence, Foronda said he will support the Duterte administration for this move.
"Kapag nangyari iyong pagpapalit ng sistema ng ating gobyerno, taos-puso akong tatalima. Naniniwala ako na ang anumang batas ng maipapasa ay naaayon sa ating Saligang Batas, sa kagustuhan nakararami, at sa ikakabuti ng ating pamahalaan sa hinaharap," he said.
Critics of the current march toward Charter change to pave the way for federalism—a Duterte campaign trail proposition—have hit it for allegedly being self-serving and a bid for the current administration to stay in power.
During a Senate hearing last week, one of the critics, former Supreme Court associate justice Vicente Mendoza, said "it is not the Constitutional moment” to propose Charter change toward federalism.
He said although decentralization could benefit the country, federalism will only fragment it as regionalism rises and political dynasties remain intact.
Mendoza added that the federal form of government will only "intensify regional differences, or encourage, if not create, such differences." —KBK, GMA News
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