Understanding Federalism by Mindanao Development Authority

UNDERSTANDING FEDERALISM

WHAT IS FEDERALISM? : Sharing of sovereignty; sharing of powers

The State governments are formed according to the criteria of: Geographic Contiguity

Cultural Homogeneity

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In a Federal system, governments are small thus, they can effectively carry their functions and roles. In effect, the people can readily enjoy services of the government, opposite with a unitary government.

Economic Viability

THE NEED TO BECOME FEDERAL Other countries shifted to federal system to address the need for new forms of government that can readily provide public services of a growing nation. Some forms of government cannot meet the requirements of effective governance because of:

Larger Population with Varying Beliefs

Increasing Demand for Public Services and Welfare Needs

Solve Economic Rent in Bureaucracy

Dynamics of Political Competition

Address Hunger & Poverty

International Politics and Economics

Equality of Opportunities but Equity of Outcomes

Address Uneven Development

Exercise of Self-rule at State Level but United at National Level

TYPES OF FEDERALISM COOPERATIVE It is charecterized by its shared powers and functions in providing services. It also requires exclusive competence and shared competence.

COOPERATIVE

COMPETITIVE The national government has reduced role in the local affairs while regional governments and their local governments have increased roles in managing their own affairs. COERCIVE National laws prevail over regional laws and pressure states. PERMISSIVE Regions are subordinated to the national government and that the existence of the regional government is derived from the authority of the national government.

United States in 1930s and Germany

COMPETITIVE

COERCIVE

PERMISSIVE

Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium.

Iraq and Republic of Sudan

Malaysia and India

EXAMPLE OF COUNTRIES WITH A FEDERAL TYPE OF GOVERNMENT

EXCLUSIVE POWERS OF THE TIERS OF GOVERNMENT FEDERAL GOVERMENT • National Security and Defense • Foreign Relations • Currency and Monetary • International Trade • Citizenship • Civic and Human Rights • Migration • National Elections • Supreme Court Decisions • Protection of Intellectual Property Rights • Air Transport • Telecommunications • Standardization of Measurements • Research and Development

STATE GOVERMENT Primary Competence on State & Local Elections • Regional Courts • Law Enforcement • Education • Excise Taxes • Agriculture • Local Infrastructures • Safety Services • Mining • Land Ownership & Management • Land Use and Housing • Free Ports • Licensing of Vehicles • Economic Zones • Health • Tourism Free Ports • Internal Security • Culture & Language Free Ports • Customary Laws • Urban & Rural Development Free Ports • Peace and Order • Waste Management Free Ports • Labor & Employment•

SHARED POWERS

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Administration and Enforcement of National Laws • National and State Elections • Infrastructures • Railways •

ELEMENTS OF FEDERALISM

Alliance

Unity in Diversity

Partnership and Consultation

Sharing of sovereignty and tied by common interest

Integration of all political, cultural, and legal entities in describing and pursuing peculiar concerns of the people

Cooperation and direct involvement of public in making policies

Subsidiarity

Rule of Law

Political Stability

Support of one another; solidarity through responsibility

Laws are created to fit culture, customs, and traditions, and are enforced by competent law enforcement units

Improves wider participation of the people in the government

FUNCTIONS OF FEDERALISM Federalism functions nearest to the people it serves - a proximate government improves reach of political participation in governance and representation.

Provincial Director

Very Long Bureaucracy

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

UNITARY GOVERNMENT

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

STATE GOVERNMENT Governor

Relevant Government and Wider Participation

• The certainty and clarity of laws in federalism is ensured because laws and policies are crafted based on the belief of the people, resource endowments, and cultural practices of the people in a defined sovereignty.

• Ethnic and linguistic, geographic, and socioeconomic incidence, are cursors of development policies inasmuch in the formulations of laws.

• The citizens will have greater access to the instrumentalities of the government and can choose political tools within their power to demand public services inherent to their rights as citizens.

• The government policies are expressions of the public where these are implemented.

“ FEDERALISM LEADS TO POLITICAL /Reick, 2002/

“

STABILITY. DEMOCRACY, RULE OF LAW, AND RESPECT FOR CULTURE.

UNITARY VS FEDERAL TYPE OF GOVERNMENT FEDERAL

UNITARY

• There are tiers of government known as federal or national government and the regional or state government - each carrying defined functions and exercising assigned powers • Powers are divided between the national or central government, and the state or regional governments. In effect, the government is prevented from becoming too powerful.

• The central government enjoys full control over smaller local government entitites • Policies are created at the central government and implemented uniformly across the country, which may result to haphazard implementation of the law

DETERMINE FORM OF GOVERNMENT: PARLIAMENTARY, PRESIDENTIAL, AND HYBRID

PARLIAMENTARY • All executive and legislative powers are vested in the parliament • Readily resolves issues between policy-making and policy-implementation • Removes executive by vote of no confidence

PRESIDENTIAL Maintains three co-equal branches: • Executive • Legislative • Judiciary • Equal claim of authority leads to gridlock • Removal by impeachment (costly)

HYBRID • A combination of the parliamentary and presidential form of government • Will have a President and a Prime Minister

STEPS IN FEDERALIZATION Understand the approaches to Federalize the Country • Bottom-Up Approach: the regional governments are created within the country with the direct delegation of the inherent powers of the regional government • Top-Down Approach: independent regional governments confederate to form a federal state

Understand the criteria in creating the number of Regional Governments 4 Fundamental Criteria to be used in creating Regional Governments: • Geographic Contiguity • Cultural Homogeneity • Economic Viability • Retention of local government units

Create a Transitory Commission to ensure implementation of the New Constitution

Create a Constitutional Commision that:

• The transitory commission will oversee the creation of the State governments and ensure continued functions of the agencies of the government in the delivery of public services

• is composed of: experts on law, economics, and federalism • will prepare the draft constitution

Decide how to ratify the Constitution • Constitutional Convention • Constitutional Assembly • Direct Participation of the Public • Plebiscite or People’s Initiative

ADVANTAGES OF FEDERALISM

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1 Federalism preserves historic diversity and national integrity 2 Federalism has the ability to address hunger and poverty 3 Federalism facilitates protection of minorities 4 Federalism protects freedom 5 Federal system encourages political participation 6 Federalism recognizes the systematic displacement and dispossession of Moros and Lumads

7 Federalism offers wider economic opportunities as people are given rights to dispose their resources 8 Federalism improves governance 9 Federalism is unity in diversity 10 Federalism diffuses concentration of wealth and development

DIFFERENCE OF DECENTRALIZATION AND FEDERALISM

DECENTRALIZATION It is the process of transferring the powers of the central government to the local government to address chronic and recurring problems that the central government cannot effectively address

FEDERALISM It describes a system of government in which powers are constitutionally divided as exclusive, reserved, or shared between the central government and the regional governments

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLED POSITION

ON THE SYSTEMIC SHIFT TO FEDERALISM AND STATE RIGHTS

“We go for - and urge the same for our countrymen a constitutional, transitional, and meaningful Revolution for Federalism as envisioned by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte!”

Published on The Philippine Star last July 23, 2018 on the occasion of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s State of the Nation Address

PROPOSED NEXT STEPS • The next logical step to achieve this legacy project is for Congress to call for a Constitutional Convention to formalize the official process of changing the constitution. This will expedite the process and will guarantee the ratification of a Federal constitution by 2019.

• Further in this regard, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention be drawn NOT from the Congressional districts under the current unitary system but from the envisioned 19 federalized states, including Palawan as a constituent state. This mode of bonafide representation is more in keeping with the formation of genuine federalism by peoples from the States and not the “reverse federalism” as presently perceived.

• We likewise strongly support the Constituent States that have drafted their own State Constitutions, and urge those which have not done it yet to do so. The State Constitutions shall serve as a lighthouse in navigating the framing of the Federal Constitution through the ConCon. This democratic process will develop a deep sense of ownership and belongingness to their respective states, thus cultivating grassroots participation in the systemic shift to Federalism.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is a government agency created through Republic Act 9996. It is mandated to promote, coordinate, and facilitate the active and extensive participation of all sectors to affect socio-economic development of Mindanao. It also acts as the Philippine Coordinating Office (PCOBE) for the Brunei Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), ensuring the active participation of Mindanao and Palawan in the sub-regional economic cooperation.

UNDERSTANDING FEDERALISM

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