Federalism aims to empower, not destroy
It was still fresh for The Political Science Forum (TPSF) what had transpired for the last week to grieve for their lost alumnus, a great influencer to seek truth and justice. However, in layman’s term, “The show must go on” for the Federalism and Strengthening Public Institutions of the Philippines seminar at the University of Santo Tomas Benavides Auditorium last Monday, September 25, 2017.
Asst. Prof Edmund Tayao (left) and Dr. Paul Chua (right) carefully and willingly answered the questions during the open forum. Photo by Dianne Mariano/THE FOURTH
Still shocked about what happened, the program started with a moment of silence and a prayer offered for the soul of the late Horacio "Atio" Castillo III followed by an outstanding presentation of the official chorus of TPSF. Fresh from her triumph as the new Vice President Internal of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Clio Ocampo introduced the first speaker as the Executive Director of Local Government Development Foundation (LOGODEF), Asst. Prof. Edmund S. Tayao, M.A.
Five seconds into standing at the podium, there was a sudden shift of mood in the auditorium as Mr. Tayao called the attention of two students seated three rows from the back, noticeably not paying attention according to him. “You don’t want to waste my time, pinagpupuyatan naming lahat ito tapos gaganyan lang kayo.” (We’ve had sleepless nights just to finish this, and yet you have the guts to do that.) Tayao asked them to step outside to avoid further discussion of disrespect and in order to not waste time.
The Underdeveloped Philippines
After the commotion, Tayao shifted into a lighter mood saying, “Ganun ka-importante ang discussion na ito kaya makinig kayo. Panakot ko lang 'yun.” (This discussion is very important that’s why everyone should listen. I did that for a scary impression.)
Tayao focused on the imperatives of Federalism in the Philippines which is a comparative and an analytical approach. Further to this, he discussed on why constitutional reform was necessary: “The problem is not with the policy, the problem is with the implementation (of the law).” He emphasized on public servants not doing their job of implementing the law in a righteous way, with this he called it “ignorance hypothesis”. “Ignorance,” he said, “in an institutional structure that creates market failure, will also prevent implementation of interventions to improve incentives at the micro level.”
The concept of federalism was clearly misunderstood as the most obvious and constitutional-wise reason to proclaim Martial Law as soon as this information was set out by President Rodrigo Duterte, himself. Tayao explained that Federalism does not equate to the “self-powers” the president has, but it is because Federalism has shared rules, therefore it has shared powers.
Tayao thinks that creating a mode of federalism, especially for the context of the Philippines where the Filipinos would understand, is really a must. As what he can see, they see it as a dictator rule all over again; which is why, he said, that notion must be eradicated. “You cannot say that you are anti-federalism because it also means that you are anti to the concept of federalism even when you don’t really understand it.”
Professionalizing Government Service in a Philippine Federal Government
“Patriotism, competency and integrity does [sic] not grow overnight,” Dr. Paul Chua, a Filipino-Chinese volunteer of PDU30 Constitutional Reformers noted this as he presented second after Tayao. He impressed the students with his creative PowerPoint in which he presented in 20 minutes. Dr. Chua started his talk by sharing his story of when he asked his taxi driver about his thoughts on federalism and the driver answered he does not know, until Chua explained what it is, the driver then argued that the country will remain the same even if the constitution changed. He then tried to encourage the driver for 30 minutes until he was satisfied and willing to share his thoughts to his family and fellow drivers on federalism.
Dr. Chua explained that our present system is a unitary structure that has a significant effect on raising funds which is difficult due to the huge marginalization on the budget, as he mentioned that the national budget mostly remains in Malacañang as the largest, to Luzon, Visayas, and finally, in Mindanao, which has the lowest financial aid.
It was also emphasized that Federalism Empowerment has better business and employment opportunities. This led to the discussion of professionalism in public service and its public officials. “In federalism, we’ll have the power to elect the candidates for the power to elect the candidates [is] for the right state governors and professional public service,” Dr. Chua said.
Out of the many list of concerns Dr. Chua presented, he stressed on the Best Qualities of Public Servants. According to him, in order to produce the best quality of public service, public servants must have: Patriotism, Competence and Integrity. He correlated this with the story of the Law of the Farm, “'Pag wala kang tinanim, wala kang aanihin. Pero yung tinanim mo, does it grow overnight? Tinanim mo ngayon tapos bukas malaki na agad bukas yung halaman mo? Diba hindi? The same with the best quality of public servants. They do not grow overnight, but they are nurtured to grow to be the best in the future.” (You will not reap anything if you don't sow anything. But if you plant it, does it grow overnight? You planted it today then your plant will be growing taller by tomorrow? No, right?)
