Not the right time for a federal shift

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, head of President Duterte’s Consultative Committee (ConCom), appears to believe that political dynasties and the economic elite are behind the move opposing the ConCom’s draft constitution that calls for the shift of the present unitary system to Federalism.

He, and presumably his commissioners, point to the entrenched political and business interests that want to retain the status quo.

Puno also argues that is Federalism that will benefit the poor.

Yet there is hardly any proof that Federalism, whether American style or European style, the Latin American style or Asian style, benefits the poor, especially in the matter of proving this when there is no denying that some, if not many, of the heads of substates that will be formed under a Philippine federal government are basically not ready to run a substate, including a state legislature, which expenses for such substates will bring the nation in debt for generations to come.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is a prime example. While not quite a substate at this time, ARMM nevertheless encompasses many Muslim areas and provinces that are under the ARMM government and rule.

It cannot be denied that in all these decades when the ARMM was first created and established, a lot of taxpayers’ money had been poured into ARMM, even as it experienced different leaderships, yet the Muslims living in that area are still wallowing in poverty while some of the governors were living it up on public funds.

It is the same in the case of the Cordillera Administrative Region which has been intended to be an autonomous region that tried but failed to become one in two plebiscites held.

Apparently, as plebiscites have been held and failed twice, it is obvious that the people from the Cordilleras are still poor and they chose the status quo, not the entrenched politicians and businessmen.

Autonomy does not automatically create wealth or even jobs for the poor and unemployed. Neither will substates automatically create wealth—of course, there would be a few perhaps where their governors, in a federal system, would be good leaders who have experience as say, some governors who do well for their states, but in general, many of our local government officials just don’t have that leadership and managerial state experience.

Even in the United States which operates under a federal system with an elected president and a bicameral Congress with states having their governors with a state legislature, they aren’t all that prosperous.

Those who are for Federalism and passionately campaign should not give the poor among the Filipinos and the great masses, hopes and dreams that cannot be realized under a federal system to be done through the Charter change.

Filipinos have experienced too many systems: the pre-martial law government that was unitary, military rule, a presidential-parliamentary system which authored constitutional authoritarianism, a coup-led government, a one-year absolute dictatorship under a so-called “Freedom Constitution which marked the Cory Aquino absolute dictatorship where the opposition press was outlawed and ordered permanently closed; a return to the pre-martial law democracy where the elite reigned, this time, however, it was the elite of the Aquino-Cojuangcos, such as the Lopezes and other oligarchs that reigned, taking the place of the Marcos oligarchs.

Now we are supposed to be back to a democracy that is hardly respected by the so-called elite. And even the hypocritical clergy and religious and groups that call themselves “the civil society” are known to disrespect the vote and will of the sovereign Filipino people by ousting a democratically elected President in Joseph Estrada.

Do the draft constitution framers really believe that Congress—the House and the Senate—would blindly pass their draft constitution, especially with a proviso banning political dynasties included, which goes against the grain of democracy as such a proviso would deny the voters their choice of elected leaders—even if that choice is a vote for a son, daughter or wife in a line of political dynasties? It is the voter who makes the choice, not the framers of the Constitution.

Will an American style Federalism be any better? Will the creation and establishment of the Bangsamoro region even be any different from the ARMM where billions of pesos granted by government courtesy of taxpayers’ money where its leaders kept and spent as their personal wealth while the ordinary Muslims remained poor?

Filipinos, in the main, are not a politically sophisticated people and too many are unaware of their civil and political rights.

Even today, there are much too many Filipinos who don’t even know anything about the 1987 Constitution and its provisions.

There will always be a time where Filipinos will mature politically and not get cheated out of their vote. That would perhaps be the right time to have a new Constitution, written by delegates elected by the people to draft a new charter, where the people can either ratify or reject.

That is at least being fair to the Filipino people.