Federal Republic of the Philippines

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago:

"... [there is] the necessity to change from a unitary to a federal form of government, in order to solve the long-standing issue of Muslim separatism. ... But we have to be extremely careful that in a federal system, the Constitution shall prohibit absolutely any right of secession. The absence of such a prohibition might cause a civil war, as it did in the US."

October 4, 2008

miriam.com.ph

"The Philippines is a tiny archipelago that has always been homogeneous, except for certain Muslim provinces. Federalism works only for regions or states that are heterogeneous."

February 13, 2008
miriam.com.ph

"The federal solution may not only be appropriate, but also absolutely vital, to the problem posed by Muslim Mindanao."

May 25, 2000
BusinessWorld (Philippines)

Federal Republic of the Philippines

Government

A federal Philippines means that a measure of the chief executive’s power — like the control of tax revenues, designation of official languages — is devolved to the regions and provinces to allow them the freedom to effectively administer themselves under the ultimate power of the central government. The regions and provinces are now organized into federal states, ideally created by ethnic lines and families or what are called ethnic states.

Economy

The economy of a federal Philippines is characterized by genuine fiscal decentralization and regional specialization. Fiscal decentralization is the distribution of financial functions from the national government to the regions; and specialization happens where federal states, their cities and provinces, devote their resources to separate industries.

Culture

Philippine culture is diverse, with over 80 ethnolinguistic groups native to the country. The federal Philippine nation would ideally consist of 22 ethnic states, each free in fostering its own culture and languages. In this way, the Philippines will preserve and sustain its rich cultural diversity.

History

The Philippines is a federation that hasn't yet been. For an archipelago originally home to a collage of rajahnates, sultanates and barangay chieftaincies, if this were to end up as one nation without imperialists coming to capture and carelessly consolidate the different tribes into a single colony, the Philippines would have been a federation.