Jess Dureza
THE concept of local government autonomy is similarly mandated by the 1987 Constitution. A policy and legal framework was initiated to devolve the powers of the central government to local government units. Foremost of this is the enactment of the Local Government Code of 1991 championed by former Senator Nene Pimentel. The Code empowers local governments by delegating to it powers once held by the central government and establishing mechanisms for their sustainability. The Code reflects the ideals of a federal republic that Rizal once envisioned. Not one to rest on his laurels, Senator Nene pushed for more autonomy by being the main voice of federalism, along with Jose Abueva, and soon joined by President Duterte.
Despite these enabling mechanisms, the struggle of our people, “a nation of peoples,” continues. The autonomy granted by our Constitution still depends in large part upon the central government. We need to loosen the grip of this centrality so we can allow space for the blossoming of different and distinct cultural identities of our people. We must break the vicious cycle that has broken the spirit of our people and dwarfed the economic and political development from which they could have found succor. We seek to engage our people to be our active partners in governance. Federalism liberates us from these woes we currently experience and the tyranny of a particular class, group, or sector. That is why President Duterte included it as the one of the cornerstones of his administration.
In fact, and as you have already know, the constitutional change to create a federal form of government has been an integral component of the Bangsamoro roadmap under his administration’s six-point peace and development agenda. These constitutional reforms run side-by-side with the implementation of all the signed peace agreements that previous administrations had entered with the Moro fronts and other Bangsamoro stakeholders. With this already in the pipeline, the proposed Bangsamoro entity can be envisioned as our pilot case study of the workings of a federal state government.
As an offshoot thereto, federalism may correct the previous wrongdoings committed against Bangsamoro, Cordillera, and a myriad of indigenous communities in the Philippines. Federalism can be a just and lasting redress for the powerless, dispossessed, and disenfranchised brought by the forceful submission of foreign powers and majority culture. It brings out the best of our ideals by democratizing the mechanism to allow more people’s engagement in governance. It destroys the seeds of injustices that cultivated hostilities and violence by directly addressing people’s needs at a grassroots level. In the long-term, federalism can institutionalize permanent peace and sustainable development in our country.
However, the discussion on why we need to shift to federalism is neither the most important nor most challenging part – this will always be how to read and integrate our people’s attitudes and values into the envisioned new form of government and how to make it work so that it will be a true instrument of nationbuilding and not exacerbate our underlying divisions or disparity.
Changing our current system will all be for naught if our people’s views and behaviors are resistant. We must win our unity through diversity – where our uniqueness creates connectors rather than dividers.
Regionalism is not an obstacle but an indispensable element in the path towards nation-building. What we sow and yield in the countryside, in the localities, contributes to our common aspiration as Filipinos, as a nation of communities. This is the basic ideal of federalism that we want our people to imbibe: putting together the hard work of our people, whatever their cultural, economic and political background - adding to each other’s strengths, complementing each other’s weaknesses in gentle collaboration – towards a peaceful and progressive nation.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.” Our quest for federalism and permanent peace in the land is the test for our recognition as an independent nation among the communities of free nations.
(Jesus Dureza is former chairman of the Philippine Press Institute. He is now presidential peace adviser.)
