The ‘Federal’ Republic of the Philippines: A Preview.

Written on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 11:13 am | by Ding G. Gagelonia

How would you like to have a unicameral legislature with some 425 members?

Okay to have that Congress holding its sessions over in Bohol?

How about the Philippines fully including Sabah and the Spratlys in its domain.

Finally. how about an iron-clad rule prohibiting the sitting president from seeking election in the new federal government?

Whatever  the mix of your responses, these possibilities provisions, and more are in Senator Aquilino Pimentel’s brew for a ‘new’ Philippines, if such is approved by a constituent assembly with the Senate and House of Representatives voting separately.

It being a long weekend, read on if you care to know the main points in Pimentel’s Resolution 10:

  • The 63-page annex of SR 10 contains 154 proposed revisions of the Constitution.
  • Only two articles, the Bill of Rights and Citizenship, are untouched.
  • Federal House of Representatives will have 75 senators and not more than 350 congressmen, or a total of 425 members.
  • The Rationale:

1. “Whereas, the highly centralized system of government has brought about a spotty development of the nation where preferential treatment has been given to localities whose officials are friendly with or have easy access to an incumbent administration;

2. Whereas, this lopsided arrangement has spawned a host of problems including massive nationwide poverty to runaway insurgencies and rebellions that feed on the societal inequalities in the nation;

3. Whereas, creating eleven States out of the Republic would establish 11 centers of finance and development in the archipelago:

1. The State of Northern Luzon;

2. The State of Central Luzon;

3. The State of Southern Tagalog;

4. The State of Bicol;

5. The State of Minparom;

6. The State of Eastern Visayas;

7. The State of Central Visayas;

8. The State of Western Visayas;

9. The State of Northern Mindanao;

10. The State of Southern Mindanao;

11. The State of BangsaMoro”

  • GMA’s Term Limit:

“Unless the incumbent President is removed from office, dies, or resigns, the Incumbent shall serve until 2010, the year her constitutional term of office ends. She is, however, not qualified to run again for office under the Constitution.”

SR10 does not have any proposal to switch from the presidential to the parliamentary form of government.

  • Longer term limits:

SR10 extends the term limits for members of the House of Representatives, by setting four years, instead of the present three years, as the length of one term, and allowing a maximum of three consecutive terms.

Under SR10, provincial, city, and municipal officials, and also the governor and vice governor of the proposed new states, would all get up to three terms of four years each, longer than at present. Senators would stay within their present limit of two terms of six years each.

  • The State of Bangsamoro:

SR10’s proposed State of Bangsamoro only includes the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, with capital at Marawi City. The areas that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is bargaining for overlap with portions of SR10’s proposed States of Northern Mindanao and Southern Mindanao.

  • SR10’s proposed State of Northern Mindanao (capital at Cagayan de Oro City):

Covers the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboangay Sibugay, and all cities, municipalities and villages therein.

  • SR10’s proposed State of Southern Mindanao (capital at Davao City) :

Covers the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Compostela Valley, Davao, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and all local entities therein.

SR10 seeks to transfer major portions of national government operations to the Visayas and Mindanao. It would keep Manila as the seat of the Executive Branch, but proposes to transfer the Legislative Branch to Tagbilaran City. It would require the Supreme Court to transfer to Cagayan de Oro City within 10 years.

  • The Seat of the unicameral Federal Congress:

The Federal Congress shall hold office and its sessions in the City of Tagbilaran in the State of Central Visayas. Congress may authorize its committees to hold public hearings in aid of legislation or conduct investigations in furtherance of its oversight functions in any part of the Republic.

How the Constituent Assembly will vote:

“NOW, THEREFORE, Be it resolved as it is hereby resolved by the Senate with the House of Representatives concurring, upon a vote of three-fourths of all the Members of both Houses voting separately, to convene Congress into a constituent assembly pursuant to Section 1, paragraph 1 of Article XVll of the Constitution, and revise the Constitution for the purpose of adopting a federal system of government that will create 11 States, constitute Metro-Manila as the Federal Administrative Region, and convert the nation into the Federal Republic of the Philippines.”

Key Revisions Proposed in SR 10:

Revision No. 1.

Section 1. Article 1. National Territory.

The scope of the national territory is hereby revised by adding a new paragraph as follows: The national territory shall likewise include all islands occupied or claimed by the Republic out of historic title, by discovery or other means recognized under international law and its exclusive economic zone as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Revenues and Taxes

(2) All revenues and taxes collected by the local government units or by national government agencies in accordance with the Local Government Code of 1991, Republic Act No. 7160, shall be divided in the following manner: twenty percent (20%) shall accrue to the Federal Government and eighty percent

(80%) to the States. (3) Of the share accruing to the States, thirty percent (30%) shall pertain to the

State concerned and seventy percent (70%) shall be apportioned among the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangay according to the formula stated in the Local Government Code of 1991.

Revision No. 2.

New Section. Article XIV. Utilization of Local Resources.

States may pursue local development in the utilization of mineral, marine and aquatic, forest and other natural resources. They may engage in local and international trade and commerce to attain self sufficiency and progress within their respective territories subject to the limitations imposed by the Constitution.

Revision No. 3.

New Section. Article XIV. Small-Scale Utilization and Development of Natural Resources.

The right of citizens to engage in the small-scale utilization and development of natural resources, as well as cooperative fish farming, with priority to the right of the subsistence fishermen and fish workers in rivers, lakes, bays, and lagoons as provided in the Local Government Code of 1991 shall not be abridged.

(Note: Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Panfilo Lacson have withdrawn their signatures from the resolution.)

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About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

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8 Responses to “The ‘Federal’ Republic of the Philippines: A Preview.”

  1. J on August 17th, 2008 1:25 am

    Great article on national teritorry. but I don’t see the need of making legilative and judicial capital cities (CDO and Tagbilaran). I mean, yeah South Africa does that, but would it be practical?

  2. The Jester-in-Exile on August 17th, 2008 2:29 am

    south africa has roads. we have an archipelago.

    travel for oral arguments and for congressional investigations would be rather expensive.

  3. J on August 17th, 2008 3:48 am

    exactly my thoughts, jester

  4. Bencard on August 17th, 2008 3:56 am

    ding, a claim of title based on history is not viable, at best and frivolous, at worst. otherwise, all conquered territories previously occupied by indigenous tribes would have defective title or sovereignty. think u.s.. australia, new zealand, canada, south africa, certain other countries in asia, africa, south america, and europe (practically the whole world).

  5. The Folly of Good Intensions | Filipino Voices on August 18th, 2008 8:17 am

    […] charter change issue: The round up of interesting points of view starts here. Ding talks ‘Federal Republic of the Philippines: A Preview‘, The Jester points us to the funny of “The Pimentel Proposal“, Dean Jorge […]

  6. Suan Macabalen on October 19th, 2008 9:22 pm

    Central Luzon is an artificial region, without any common cultural, historical or geographical ties. The Tagalog and Ilocano areas should be transferred to their respective states, while the Kapampangan part should be made into a separate state, for the following reasons:

    Kapampangans have a distinct identity and a common language, culture and history, and are the seventh largest of the eight major ethno-linguistic groups in the country. They have given the country heads of all three branches of government (two Presidents of the Republic, one Senate President, and three Chief Justices of the Supreme Court) and produced the first Filipino Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as leaders in various fields of endeavor. Pampanga was the first province to be created in 1571. Kapampangans can claim one (arguably, two) rays of the sun in the flag, and have been represented in the Cabinet of each president since that of President Aguinaldo.

    The Kapampangan Region has a thriving economy, and will not require subsidies from the central government. In 2004 and 2005, Pampanga posted the highest export contributions to the Central Luzon region with an annual average export of US$3.1 billion out of the average annual total of US$4.9 billion for the entire Central Luzon. Moreover, it has an international airport, giving it direct access to foreign destinations, and also has access to the sea at Macabebe, Masantol and Sasmuan. According to Dr. Rene Azurin: “But, of the proposed eleven (or so) federal states, no more than a few - like the Cebuano state or the Pampangueno-Tarlaqueno state - would actually be able to stand on their own financially.”
    (Azurin, Rene. On Decentralizing Government, p. 5. Paper presented at the Dialogues on Federalism. Center for Local and Regional Governance, NCPAG, UP Diliman, Quezon City, 3 August 2007. Originally published in the book Stationary Bandits: Essays in Political Power, also by Dr. Azurin. Platypus Press, 2007)

    The Kapampangan Region has a sufficiently large area and population to become a region or federal state. Kapampangan-majority areas - Pampanga province, plus the highly urbanized city of Angeles, the Tarlac towns of Bamban, Capas and Concepcion, and the city of Tarlac - together registered a population of 2,398,144 in 2000 (It would be even larger if historically Kapampangan areas, like adjoining areas of Bataan and Nueva Ecija where Kapampangan is still spoken, are included.). This is larger than that of the Cordillera and Caraga regions (1,365,412 and 2,095,367, respectively, in 2000) and nearly as large as that of the ARMM (2,412,159 in 2000). Its area (3,424.68 km2) is much bigger than that of Metro Manila (636 km2), a separate region and a proposed autonomous entity in a federal system. Moreover, it is larger in area and population than at least 26 independent countries, including Barbados, Grenada, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius and Seychelles, and in population than another 26 including Brunei, Cyprus, Estonia, Fiji, Gabon, Guyana and Swaziland. It is larger in area than both Singapore and the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Hongkong.

    Of the eight major language groups, only Kapampangans and Pangasinenses do not have regions of their own, and consequently, only the two have not been given separate states in most proposals for federalization.

    There is general agreement that the Kapampangan language, the primary vehicle of Kapampangan identity and culture, is dying (like most non-Tagalog languages), as more and more children and young people are unable to speak the language, and immigrants are no longer assimilated. This strikes at the very core of the Kapampangan soul. Only a separate federal state where Kapampangan is the official language may save it. In his book Languages and their Territories (University of Toronto Press, 1987), Canadian political scientist J.A. Laponce writes that linguistic federalism will protect a language from disappearing. He specifically notes that the languages of the Philippines have a bleak future because they are unprotected (while those of India have a bright one because of this linguistic federalism). Kapampangan cannot be given adequate attention and protection if it remains part of Central Luzon, which is at least 54% Tagalog and only 28% Kapampangan, making Kapampangans a minority.

    The Kapampangans form a distinct political bloc, which consistently votes differently from the rest of Central Luzon, even the rest of Luzon, especially in recent elections. This additional distinction is one more basis for a separate federal state, as well as a factor which, if taken into account, will encourage greater political pluralism and diversity, and hence a more representative and stable democracy, in the Philippines.

    The position of Pampanga and Tarlac is unique in Central Luzon, being the only two provinces without a Tagalog majority or plurality in the region.

    Given the central and strategic position and excellent infrastructure of the Kapampangan Region, it will advance economically regardless of the political system. The advantages of federalism are for the most part cultural: that is, it will provide space to protect Kapampangan from the overwhelming dominance of Filipino-Tagalog. This will not be possible in a federal state where the dominant language (and almost certainly the official language) is the same as the national language of the Philippines.

    The Kapampangans, a major language group which has contributed much to Philippine history, and is now in danger of disappearing due to language change, deserve recognition, protection and autonomy under a federal system.

    A Kapampangan State separate from Central Luzon, in case the Philippines shifts to a federal system, and is converted into a federal republic, is therefore not only a most viable option, but the right thing to do.

  7. Rutgerus Martinius on November 8th, 2008 3:08 pm

    If the Philippines will become a federal republic, Mindanao must have a greater degree of autonomy. Most Mindanaoans, including myself, are fed up with the unfair and biased leadership of Manila government.

    Mindanao is more capable on political, economic and fiscal leadership than the rest of the regions. Most Filipinos in Luzon and Visayas are dependent on Mindanao’s agricultural products and raw materials. Plus, Mindanao leaders are fighting for political and fiscal independence, unlike those leaders in Luzon and Visayas who are very dependent on Manila’s leadership.

    So, let’s support federalism to stop this crap made by Tagalog-Manila government.

    Viva Pais Mindanao! Mierda el gobiero de Manila! Puta Tagala!

  8. Rutgerus Martinius on November 8th, 2008 3:23 pm

    People from Luzon are very ignorant on Mindanao issues. Do they know that majority of the agricultural products are from Mindanao?

    Luzon has the most number of natural disasters and tragedies than the rest of the Philippines. It’s generally because they underestimate Mindanao.

    If Mindanao will become an independent state, I’m sure that food prices in Luzon will be doubled and they will die in hunger.

    Viva Repblica Mindanao!!! Mierda el Luzon!!! Puta Luzon!!!

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