Metro Manila needs federalism

Metro Manilans will be one of the biggest beneficiaries if the Philippines adopts a federal system of government. This may surprise many because one of the most common complaints of advocates of federalism is that the powers in this country are too centralized in Metro Manila, and there is need to lessen the political and economic influence of what is often called the imperialism of Metro Manila.

It would be best to begin this dialogue by imagining a federal Philippines. The nation’s regions will have their own regional or state governments. So the following regions will become states and have their own governor and legislative body – Ilocos; Cordillera; Cagayan Valley; Central Luzon; Metro Manila; Calabarzon; Bicol; Western Visayas; Central Visayas; Eastern Visayas; Northern Mindanao; Western Mindanao; Caraga; and, Southern Mindanao. Bangsamoro will be an autonomous region.

Metro Manila will have finally a single government with a governor and legislative body unlike now where it is divided into 17 cities and towns. Each one has its own head and council. Right now the metropolis is being coordinated by the national government. The policies and laws that are applicable to the whole metropolis are decided by national lawmakers instead of being decided by leaders elected by the citizens of Metro Manila.

The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) head is chosen by the President of the Philippines. But the MMDA head is only concerned with issues like traffic and garbage collection. The MRT is limited to Metro Manila but it is under the supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communication which is a national body.

If we look at the major metropolises in the world, we will see that we have a system which goes against the common practice. For example, Tokyo, Bangkok and Jakarta all have a single governor. In fact, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia was governor of Jakarta until he recently got elected as president of his country.

London, Paris, Berlin and Moscow all have a single head. London is divided into districts but there is only one Lord Mayor. New York City is divided into five boroughs – Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island – with a borough head and council. But there is also a single mayor and city council for the whole city of New York.

The reasoning is quite simple. Each resident of Metro Manila is affected, on a daily basis, by the whole metropolitan environment and not just by their specific barangay or town or city. Consider a person living in Parañaque. Every day he or she goes to work in Makati or Manila or Pasig (Ortigas). He or she goes shopping in Las Piñas and their children go to school in Manila, Quezon City or Pasig. EDSA and the MRT cross several towns and cities. These vital arteries are, therefore, not under the jurisdiction of any single town or city. But if there is a traffic accident or malfunction in one part, it affects the travel of residents in several towns and cities. If there is pollution in Caloocan or Malabon, that polluted air can drift towards Mandaluyong or Marikina or Taguig because there are no walls separating these towns, only artificial political boundaries.

The most important things affecting daily lives – transportation, pollution, education, health, peace and order – are all under national supervision and not under local supervision. If a person is unhappy with the traffic or pollution, or has difficulty getting license plates, he has to complain to the regional office of a national agency.

If there was a Metro Manila regional government, then it would be clear to us who will be answerable for all these regional issues, and they can then be held accountable in the next elections. The present situation does not allow this to happen.

Rightly, the President of the Philippines must be concerned primarily with national issues — economic growth, monetary policies, national security, foreign affairs, major infrastructure, and so on. But the mayors of the 17 cities and towns do not have the capacity nor the power to handle the metropolitan wide issues.

The present system of governance in Metro Manila began under the Spanish colonizers when Makati was a farming community and Malabon was a fishing village. This metropolis, one of the 15 largest in the world in terms of population, cannot continue to be governed as a collection of small towns and barrios with Manila as the only city. But making the national government as the governing body for Metro Manila is also not the solution.

The people of Metro Manila need a government for the metropolis. They need a government that will have the capability and the authority to respond to the needs of this metropolitan region.

Metro Manila needs its own government and only under a federal system can this be done.

The Left rejects democracy

The latest call of the Left to oust the President and replace him with a so-called transition council is clearly rejection of democracy. The master plan calls for a People’s Council to take over the government. The question is, who chooses the members of this council? The Left promises that the members would be chosen through a democratic process. But the democratic system requires elections and the leaders of the Left say that the so-called transition government will rule the country until elections are held after a “few” years.

The problem with the Philippine Left today is that they are still preaching a bankrupt Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology which still calls for armed revolution as the way to secure power. They condemn the electoral process but they participate in elections. Some might call this hypocrisy.

I may not agree with their beliefs but I remember the true believers in the ideology of the left who had the courage and the integrity to risk their lives and go to the hills to fight the martial law dictatorship. They gave up their future to fight for what they believed was a better future for their country. Today, we have a group prancing around in Congress with their pinkish barongs and ternos and staging talkathons geared simply for media attention.

I believe that the present crop of leaders of the Left have dishonored the memory of those in the past that sacrificed their lives and families for their cause. I remember having long discussions with them. We never convinced each other, but I am still proud to have called them friends and colleagues in the fight for our nation’s future.

Writing class for adults: Warming up for writing one’s life story

Memoir Writing: Owning Your Life Story with Mariel N. Francisco, co-author of “The History of the Burgis” and “Ladies’ Lunch and Other Ways to Wholeness,” on March 14 (Saturday, 1-5 p.m.) at Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street. For registration and fee details contact 0917-6240196 or email [email protected].

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Email: [email protected]