Federal Republic of the Philippines

Sen. Joker Arroyo:

"The move to amend the Constitution to spur economic growth by changing the political structure of our government to federalism is the wrong move at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. ... From the frying pan to the fire. We will have now 11 little fiefdoms and 11 little kings."

May 1, 2008

newsflash.org

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.