GMA’s SONA: The fetus of a federal Philippines?

By now, surely our readers have seen, heard or read the State of the Nation Address that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) gave at the Batasan Pambansa last Monday and I’m also sure that the 44 percent unhappy Filipinos according to the June 24-July 8 survey of Pulse Asia were unimpressed by her SONA. Like what we’ve said before, this survey isn’t telling us anything new… that the exact same number of Filipinos who did not vote for President Arroyo in the 2004 elections still don’t like her. So why should another SONA from GMA change their minds about her?

I have heard the SONAs from President Ferdinand E. Marcos to President Cory Aquino, President Fidel V. Ramos, President Erap Estrada and President Arroyo and let me just say that none of them gave a lousy SONA and perhaps that’s because our leaders always give us motherhood statements on what ails the nation and their respective solutions to our problems. But the major difference of the SONA that President Gloria Arroyo gave us last Monday was, it was the first-ever detailed SONA that we’ve ever heard.

Last year, many pundits thought or would even bet that the government of President Arroyo wouldn’t have survived after she made her SONA, but at that time, the opposition which tried to engineer her ouster never realized that GMA still had a lot of support from the governors in all the provinces and their respective city and town mayors. President Arroyo did the right thing back then by bringing her supporters to the Batasan and the Manila-based oppositionists finally learned that the Philippines is really not only Manila.

So for last Monday’s SONA, the President finally revealed the Super Regions that we’ve already heard before and more importantly, she gave graphic details of what the people in these Super Regions can expect to happen. For instance, she will focus on agribusiness for the North Luzon Super Region. The same is true to the Super Region in Mindanao, which after all is really heavy on agribusiness.

In these times when the whole world is reeling from world record prices of crude oil… this nation is now aggressively looking at the agriculture sector to solve or at least alleviate the high cost of fossil fuel through the development of ethanol and bio-diesel… this ought to give the agriculture sector a major economic boost and a locally based demand. If Brazil can be independent from Arab oil with its sugarcane fields, why can’t we in the Philippines do the same? As we’ve written so many times already, alternative fuels are here to stay simply because we do not see cheap oil prices in the foreseeable future! So Congress should quickly pass that Biofuels Act!

For us in Cebu, our focus is now widened as we now belong to a bigger group called the Super Region of Central Philippines, which includes the Bicol region, Masbate, Romblon, Palawan, the island of Panay, Negros, Leyte, Samar, Bohol, Siquijor and Cebu, even including areas like Siargao and Dipolog. My, this is a big chunk to develop, especially that new Central Nautical Highway linking Mindanao to Luzon via Cebu and Masbate.

But then, earlier in her address, she already thanked Congress for delivering new laws on fiscal reform despite their unpopularity, which now allow the government to generate new revenues which would be used for the development of the Super Regions. This is why the President made the claim that the country now has the money to pay our debts, strengthen the government so it could deliver the basic needs to our people, fight insurgency, terrorism and lawlessness, and acquire new technology to fight graft and corruption… matching grants to fund constitutional and electoral reforms.

But the longest standing ovation she got from the audience was when she said that she would "give back power to the people and the regions." Did we hear this right? That finally Imperial Manila would relinquish power? This was the first hint to federalism, which broke down the house filled with governors, mayors and leaders of other local government units. If there is anything new coming from her SONA, it is that federalism is no longer a bad word as far as Malacañang is concerned! I would like to believe that giving the fetus of a federalized Philippines is GMA’s way of thanking the people outside of Metro Manila for supporting her in her darkest hour!

When she first mentioned the word federalism in the context of the Super Regions, a lot of people were on their feet applauding the President. Federalism, no doubt, will soon become a reality in this country and hopefully before the end of her political career, we shall see a federalized Philippines.

As most pundits predicted, the President didn’t give much thought to anything political… realizing that after all, the Filipino people are sick and tired of useless politics, the politics of obstruction or destruction. But like it or not, we have to cross the political road to attain a federalized Philippines.

At this point, someone must whisper to the ear of Speaker Jose de Venecia that everyone is already suspicious of his plan for a shift toward a parliamentary system. But as reported on Page 4 of The Philippine STAR last Monday, nine out of 10 Filipinos still want to vote for their President directly according to a survey conducted by the Center for Issues and Advocacy. Now didn’t we tell you that our suggestion to follow the path of the US political system was better? That we keep the presidential system on a four-year basis renewable by another four years? That the Senate be voted by regions or states and finally to adopt a federal system of government? Why don’t we all work for this and see the country finally bloom?

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Here’s an e-mailed reply to our suggestion on the presidential system:

"Dear Bobit, Maayong buntag! (Tama ba yon?) How I wish that from presidential, we shift to a federal form of government like the US. Cebu will benefit much from being represented by Cebuano senators and us from Luzon (I’m from Pateros, Metro Manila) by senators from our region, etc. My family did not participate in the recent people’s initiative campaign. We favor a constituent assembly in the formation of a new Constitution and hopefully, a federal form of government.

I always read your column (sana daily na) every time it appears in The STAR. Thank you. Respectfully, Edgar R. Reyes, 84 S. Tuazon st., Pateros, Metro Manila

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in The Freeman can also be accessed through The Philippine STAR website (www.philstar.com). He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.