I was born and grew up in Davao City and I knew President Duterte well. Regarding with the question, 'Naniniwala ba kau na pagnaupo si duterte... Magiging communist country tayo?', I don't think he will change it easily to a plain communist country, but, I believe the system would be like that of China and Russia. Nowadays, China is no longer called a communist but a socialist. I presumed that he will run the country with an autocratic rule mix with capitalism. For the background of Digong, he was an activist before and a supporter of communist party. No wonder why there are no NPAs in Davao metropolis is that, Digong has an agreement with the CPP-NPA by way of paying them a revolutionary tax. My gosh! Davao City will never be peaceful should the local government wouldn't pay more or less P1 Million per month to them. This has been publicly disclosed by Digong in one of his campaign trail many years back and the military intelligence group knew about this.
For the side topic about federalism, I am not really in favor to pursue this. A lot of people are seemingly ignorant of this subject and they think that federalism is the solution which I totally disagree. Here are some of my points:
1. If federalism should be implemented, there is a need to change the Constitution. There are No provisions in the Constitution that allow federalism, but, only to give autonomy to some regions of the country. Should the Constitution be changed (ChaCha), there will be a need for a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) or the Constituent Assembly (ConAs). When ConAs is preferred, the power to make another Constitution will be made by the legislators. Once, the Constitution has been opened for amendment/s, revision, or repeal, we can think that this will be like opening 'Pandora's Box'. I am very sure that the 'buwaya' politicians will surely write provisions that will protect first their personal interest and put safeguards to prolong their dynasty.
2. They say that our system is unitary and there is a need for a more parliamentary type of government. Here are my analyses:
For Unitary form of government:
1. The unitary system is much more doable and practical. There is an equal distribution of power of the three branches of government:
a) The Judicial Branch (Supreme Court, CA and Regional Trial Courts) for legal decisions and interpretation of the laws;
b) The Legislative Branch (Senate and House of Representatives) to legislate, enact laws, and create the general appropriation act;
c) The Executive Branch:
c1) The President together with Cabinets) to govern the nation, implement laws and decisions of the Supreme Court, manage government institutions/GOCCs, oversee LGUs, allocate funds, appoint cabinets/ commissions, and supervise the military/police;
c2) the Local Government Units, on the other hand, are to govern locally (provincial/municipal/cities), they have their set of local lawmakers (councilmen) that creates ordinances, and tax collection is usually, through the Local Treasury.
All taxes or revenues collected will go to the national level and a certain proportion will go back to the LGUs. Usually, it is estimated that 70% of what is collected from a region/municipal/city will go the national government and the 30% of which will go back respectively.
In the current set-up, a part of the national budget will be used to allocate funds for infrastructure, other special projects and programs for both national and local levels (as the President may think it necessary) to extend the government services to the people. Some of the funds will be allocated for the salaries of government employees and some are for the military modernization program, etc.
Actually, the main issue here is that the Local Government Units (LGUs) want to increase the budget allocation from 30% to 70%, so, they could massively implement their own projects and programs within their jurisdiction.
Other issues which of utmost importance are:
Most people believe that the functions/powers of the President are limited, inefficient, and bureaucratic, since, his actions are restricted by the laws passed by Congress and by the decisions of the Supreme Court. Since, the President want his programs to be materialized, he may have colluded with some people in the Congress, and in return, provide them some extraneous benefits and secret deals. Etc.
On the part of Congress, they become inutile, since, most of the laws that they've enacted were ineffective, rubbish and do not meet to the needs of the time. They also become a focal point for corruption issues due to the Pork Barrel scam. Other people say that they use their time inefficiently by conducting investigations in aid of legislation which compromise law making. Etc.
On the part of the Supreme Court (SC), they say that justice system is so slow and inefficient, since, the SC is handicapped to create or amend laws. Some of our existing laws need to be updated/upgraded, since, they no longer sit well in our present time and the only way to change them is through Congress as mandated by the Constitution. Other issues include the need to change the system in courts, from a 'One-Judge rule' to the 'Jury system' which people think is better, since, the former speeds up the process of giving decisions or convictions. Etc.
For federal type of government:
1. The federal type of government is considered ideal when you have a big country like the US, Germany, etc. This can have an effect on the individual states (federal government) in terms of the availability of their funds and spending s which may have a direct impact on the tax payers.
Although, the kind of federalism being endorsed by Digong's camp is somewhat similar to a parliamentary form, I believe that there are gray areas of concern when these are implemented within the Philippine setting.
Should federalism becomes a law and implemented, the following issues or concerns will be expected:
a) The power of the President will become limited.
It is expected that the President's power to run a nation will become limited. He may function like an ambassador of goodwill to other nations in pursuit for our national interest, or perhaps, become a head manager in running GOCCs and government institutions in the national level. In Singapore, the function of the President (sometimes called a ceremonial position) is limited only in choosing his cabinets and to head the military.
The reason for this (federalism) is that there will be a reversal of budget allocation (70/30), the 70% will go down to the federal states and the remaining 30% will be retained in the national government. The 30% will be used as wages for the police, military, teachers, etc., for calamity/disaster relief and assistance, and for special projects. Therefore, the President may not be able to interfere easily in any of the federal states and his limited functions/funds may not be able to attend to some areas of immediate concern where there is, possibly, a high poverty incidence rate and a high rate of unemployment.
Since, most of the powers of the President is delegated to the Chief Ministers in federal states, it is expected that the Chief Ministers will solve the problems in their respective areas or zones and attend first hand to the needs of their constituents. The role of the President, in this case, will only be a supporting character.
The main concern here is that what if a federal state is ran by corrupt politicians? Surely, the huge budget will just simply go to the pockets of the politicians, thus, making the lives of their constituents more miserable. And since, power and control is given much to them, they can exploit everything. As a consequence, we can expect a massive diaspora of their constituents to move somewhere where they can find better and greener pasture. This can create bigger problems in the future.
b) There will be no more House of Congress and House of Senate, but, a joint Legislative and Executive Branch in Federal States.
In the type of federalism that was suggested, it calls for the abolition of National Congress, and instead, the legislative and executive branches will be unified in the federal system. This is usually, headed by a Chief Minister and his many cabinets, and with a counterpart by a Shadow Minister and his many black cabinets. (I think this is a two party system and I don't know what is the sense of the black cabinets and the shadow minister, I presumed that they are the minority group that is a counterbalance to the majority group).
The big question here is that if the above will be the case and more politicians sit in the government, and we know for sure, that if there will be MANY politicians there will be a MASSIVE corruption. Although, they are saying, that corruption will be stopped because of the shadow cabinets, the question is, 'Are we sure enough that the shadow cabinets will perform their job?' or perhaps, they are there to fool people around, create a political drama just to entertain people. In the end, the ones that benefit are the politicians, but, the sufferings will be on the tax payers.
c) Political dynasty will become prevalent.
Because of the nature of a two-party system and since, there will only be limited choices from a pool of candidates. Therefore, political dynasty is expected and will become prevalent in this kind of set-up.
e) Controlled freedom and rights.
With federalism in place, laws like ordinances will be different from one state to another. There might be repressive laws that may limit your freedom and rights, or perhaps, a law/s that will give more favor to a particular group due to the nature of culture and religion in that state. In this case, the national government could not easily interfere, since, the legislative function is already delegated to the federal states and their laws must be respected.
Although, independence for individual states is what we can see in federalism, but, the question is how long can this independence be able to survive? The threat is real and imminent! If we have federal states who have different laws and will continue competing each other, this will create more divisions and differences, and eventually, our fall. What if one state favors private armies and terror groups, how would the national government respond to this when there are laws that limit its interference? I am afraid that this nation will go to a period of uncertainty, and instead of unifying, there can be a massive picture of conflicts and the possibility of a continued degradation of human morality.
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Hey! Next time, I will lay down the scenarios on how Pres. Duterte will advance federalism. I'm so sleepy that is why I need to pause for the moment. Any reactions, kindly inform me and I will also appreciate your giving me your thanks by hitting the 'thanks button'.
