One of the items on Rodrigo Duterte’s platform of government in 2016 was federalism. This has remained unfulfilled largely due to the Senate being the stumbling block to constitutional amendments. The 1987 Constitution doesn’t state explicitly of both houses of Congress voting as one or both, with a 3/4 majority is required to deem an amendment is passed and submitted to the people for ratification in a referendum. This may be one of the reasons why Duterte has opted to run for Vice-President in 2022. This is his unfinished business.
The PDP-Laban Senate slate is composed entirely of candidates that Duterte can expect to support his move to change the country’s system of government. It’s also a referendum on his performance as President. If he receives a new mandate as Vice-President, this confirms he has the people’s support to move forward with his unfinished business. Duterte would need at least 18 votes to pass an amendment abolishing the Senate and transitioning to a unicameral parliamentary system. Most of the candidates who have declared their bid for the Presidency haven’t disclosed their platforms yet. Not much can be expected from Isko Moreno and Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao. Isko is definitely the candidate of anti-Duterte oligarchs. He will not move to change the form of government. In the case of Pacquiao, the same is true because Koko Pimentel has his hand up Manny’s ass.
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Moreno, Pacquiao and Robredo are best described as sock puppet candidates. The priority concern of Filipinos is moving forward in the present environment. Corruption cannot be minimized under the present bureaucracy. It will have to be a reset and the best way to do that is to devolve it. The same is true with digitization. It cannot be implemented wholesale specially with departments and agencies which are national in scope. The pandemic has exposed the country’s lopsided economic development where 40% of economic activity is in NCR+. As an archipelago, there is no limitation to regional development given airports and seaports have been improved nationwide. Infrastructure is much improved but the work is not done yet. This is why the priority is still infrastructure. It is the better investment than the social amelioration that the Yellows and Reds have been pushing for.
A welfare state breeds indolence and mediocrity. What better way for the oligarchs to control the people if not in this manner. This is why there is no basis in Isko’s and Pac-Man’s claims that they best know the needs of the poor just because they were poor once. Isko’s social amelioration programs in Manila only serves the interests of the powers that be at City Hall. It is not real economic development because there is no job creation. As far as Pac-Man is concerned, he has no experience whatsoever when it comes to policy formulation. You can’t expect Pimentel to teach Pac-Man or for the latter to understand what it will take to lift the poor out of poverty.
In the grand scheme of things, a Marcos-Duterte ticket, a Senate majority of 3/4 of the vote and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) as Speaker of the House is the ideal scenario for charter change moving forward. This is why next week will determine what the issues will be for the May election. This is why the country is at a crossroads and this is why we should vote on the basis of issues and not popularity or personalities.
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I don’t think federalism was the reason for Duterte to run as a spare tire. Truth is, he is running as a second banana to avoid the onslaught of suits and court cases against him for what he’s done during his watch. He knows ‘karma’ is around the corner and if he decides to just become an ordinary citizen he’ll surely have his hands full defending his questionable decisions and actions while he was president.
There is no such things as an unfinished business in politics. If a politician says that he/she has an unfinished business, it simply means greed, pure and simple.
Ramon Ortoll,
Nothing but the objective of perpetuating in power is the real intention of Duterte aside from dodging the cases to be filed against him in the future in the guise of vice presidential immunity from criminal and civil cases, if there is any, in case he wins which he already admitted in public. Duterte, Arroyo, and Marcos common character is to stay in power forever if there is opportunity. Arroyo lied when she publicly announced she won’t run in 2004 presidential election. And so that hello garci tape scandal wherein she dictated Garcillano how to rig the results of election in order for her to win is her desire to stay in power. Marcos, on the other hand, postponed presidential election in 1972/3 and declared martial law to stay as president for 20 straight years.
This federalism is not good for Filipinos. If it is true, this could have been the case of the Philippines since the 1935 constitution wherein that constitution mostly adopted the US constitution in terms of structure and powers of government but not the federal type. Truth is, Filipinos were not united in federalism set-up and was confirmed already since the time of Spaniards. The result was that Spaniards able to conquer Filipinos because of the divisiveness of tribal federalism style of Filipino government at that time. This was proven in the success of Spaniards divide, rule, and conquer tactics in the whole of Philippine archipelago.
No matter what, federalism or presidential, if Filipino leaders are corrupt, they will surely find a way how to corrupt and corrupt absolutely. One thing that Filipinos have is that they have trust issue, so it is only fitting that we have Presidential government to check and balance each of the department of government.
In terms of ownership and economic issue, that 60/40 rule in favor of Filipinos existed already in the 1935 and 1973 constitutions aside from the 1987 constitution and even now that provision is retained by the proposed federal government of Duterte. So what does that tell you?
We have the Mandanas-Garcia ruling of the Supreme Court wherein shares of the national taxes will be likewise appropriated to LGUs in year 2022. Almost a trillion pesos added to the budget of LGU because of that. It is like a form of dole-outs as additional budget to LGU governments which were used to asking the national government for additional budget as one of the reasons they demanded federalism. It remains to be seen if LGUs will maximize the opportunity in taking care of that additional budget.
Don’t be so loyal to your politicians. Put your loyalty to your country instead so that your standard will not be compromised. A science based standard is what this country needs in order to achieve first world status. Politicians always commit mistakes time and again. Duterte lied time and again but even so I think you still like him very much. Same goes to BBM for lying simply in his educational attainment which is faulty, how much more if he becomes a president. If you think these guys are good for this country, that’s not following science rules. We must find a leader who is not a liar and also capable/competent. That should be our standard in the next year elections.
Well said Senku,
Maybe you should try running for President yourself