Federalism for the politically immature?

Manny Valdehuesa .

TO this day, 31 years since we shrugged off the scourge of dictatorship in 1986, we have yet to institutionalize the spirit and practice of democracy. Not only that, we do not even question or defy the take-over of our communities by petty oligarchs and dynasties.

Can one deny that it is oligarchs and political dynasties that are in control of the 42,000+ barangays that constitute the Philippine Republic? The grassroots, its primal foundation, are in the grip of the feudal system!

To adopt the federal system under these conditions will only transform the regions into fiefdoms ruled by opportunistic dynasties and traditional politicians. Trapos! It will transmogrify the present (and decidedly corrupt) unitary system into something worse, one where oligarchs govern and fatten themselves on the resources of hundreds of communities.

Under the guise of a so-called federal system, today’s trapos and their dynasties will continue to be the entrenched overlords of tomorrow, enjoying never-ending reigns.

How can any democracy or decent citizen tolerate such a situation?

Had the spirit and practice of autonomy been fostered since the Local Government Code of 1991 first became law, perhaps we would all have developed proficiency in self-governance by now.

We’re talking here of 27 years that would have afforded Filipinos the necessary experience and practice needed for managing a federal system. That’s two decades and a half, or more than a generation, in the life of our nation! A period lost in the task of institutionalizing autonomous governing. And so we lost an essential ingredient for adopting a federal system.

The hands-on experience in self-government would have eased the way for advocates of the federal system to have their proposal readily adopted.

Consider: In what barangays are the advocates of federalism to be found today? Are they actively involved in their barangay’s governance? Can they truly claim that they, along with their neighbors, are in control of their community? Are they able (at least) to influence the content or substance of its governance without wresting power for themselves? Chances are, they are not at all involved in governing their community autonomously.

During the two decades that have elapsed, all that was needed was for people—the masses as well as elites—to know and perform their role in their community’s (barangay) governing process, a task that could have been readily promoted by governments on all levels.

The people’s participation in local public administration would have given them the knowledge and confidence necessary to provide the dynamism of People Power that a federal system demands from below.

Fostering a sense of community and responsibility in citizens is important. People need to be engaged—actively and creatively—in the governing processes if autonomy is to be operational. But the leaders, from the barangay to Malacanang, have only dangled people empowerment in demagogic posturing while depriving the people of their power.

They treated the citizenry as mere wards and dependents, relying on patronage to gain and maintain popular support. And so, dependent on government assistance, the masses remain politically immature.

It is preposterous for federalism advocates to think they can introduce the federal system unilaterally (through a Constituent Assembly) and expect society suddenly to behave politically mature.

How stupid they must think Filipinos are!

(Manny Valdehuesa Jr. is a former Unesco regional director for Asia-Pacific; secretary-general, Southeast Asia Publishers Association; director, Development Academy of Philippines; member, Philippine Mission to the UN; vice chair, Local Government Academy; awardee, PPI-Unicef outstanding columnist. He is chairman/convenor of the Gising Barangay Movement Inc.. E-mail: valdehuesa@gmail.com)