De Venecia calls for federal form of government

"Federalism is an idea whose time has come."

These were the words of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. yesterday as he pushed for the decentralization of the government and its conversion to the federal form of government.

Speaking at the second International Conference on Decentralization at the EDSA Shangri-la Plaza hotel in Mandaluyong City, De Venecia proposed that the Philippines be decentralized into a federation — a group of regions or states with a central government which has control over some things, such as defense, but with each region having its own local government units (LGUs) and laws.

Under this system of government, there is a distribution of power between the central authority and the LGUs, with the LGUs being autonomous and self-governing in areas that directly concern the state or region involved.

Strong local governments federated under a strong central government, De Venecia said, would be the best way to create the "strong Republic" envisioned by President Arroyo.

Echoing the pro-federalism sentiments earlier aired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, De Venecia said decentralizing some powers of the central government to provinces, cities and municipalities will provide a balance of power between the central government and LGUs to defeat poverty, terrorism, injustice and corruption.

Pimentel said federalism is the best way to effectively govern the Philippines, which is an archipelago of over 7,100 islands with a population of 80 million and growing. Pimentel added that the diversity of cultures and languages in the country also supports the school of thought that the Philippines would develop better under a federal form of government.

The senator proposed the decentralization of the Philippines into 10 federal states: the states of Northern, Southern and Central Luzon and the Southern Tagalog Region; the federal states of the Eastern, Central and Western Visayas and; Northern, Southern and Eastern Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Federal State.

Pimentel said the Bangsamoro Federal State should cover the areas predominantly populated by Muslim Filipinos and that, in that proposed state, Sharia’ah law should be adopted for the purpose of settling disputes between Muslim litigants.

According to Pimentel, the best federal governments to pattern a future federation of Philippine states are the governments of the United States, Europe, Malaysia and the emerging federal system in some South American countries.

The House Speaker, meanwhile, said federalization of the Philippines will directly address the secessionist problem in Mindanao, as well as lessen the chances for corruption to happen.

De Venecia said: "A highly centralized government (for the Philippines) is next to impossible unless certain human rights and some civil liberties of the people are sacrificed on the altar of government efficiency."

The Speaker said that while he would bat for a federated system of government for the Philippines, the legislature should be melded into a unicameral body – as was the case during the Philippine Commonwealth under President Manuel Quezon – to prevent any further legislative gridlocks between the Senate and the House.

To achieve the federation of the Philippines into self-sufficient states, however, De Venecia said a "workable period of transition to prepare the nation" must be put in place.

He said economic development should be dispersed, since decentralization cannot succeed without "strategic economic dispersal" of government resources.

De Venecia said that if the Constitutional Convention pushes through in 2004, he foresees a shift to the federal system of governance by 2010: "We all go full for the road towards federalism."

However, Mrs. Arroyo, who may seek another term of office in 2004, reportedly does not support De Venecia’s proposal.

The conference participants included: Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jose Lina Jr., United Nations Development Program (UNDP) country representative Ricarda Rieger, Canada-based Forum of Federations vice president Celine Auclair and University of the Philippines Center for Local and Regional Governments director Alex Brillantes. – With Perseus Echeminada