Santa Banana, at the rate House leaders are pushing for a no-election scenario, to enable Congress to revise the Constitution to shift to a federal system, President Rodrigo Duterte will only have them to blame if federalism does not come to pass at all!
House leaders say they expect Charter change to be done at least six months from now, or at the end of the year preparatory to a transition commission.
Thus they argue that no-el is necessary, which in effect justifies the extension of the terms of all elective officials.
There are basic questions that must be addressed, though: Will the people expect elections? Polls reveal that even now, Filipinos are ignorant of what federalism is about. Will this create jobs for them? Will this mean lower prices? Will this lower our poverty rate?
Filipinos’ main concern are gut issues—jobs and prices, and the prevailing culture of violence and lawlessness.
I wrote this column before the President actually delivered the Sona. I wonder if he ended up addressing the basic problems of our nation confronting him in his third year in office.
Was he honest to the nation when he and his minions promised that he would speak from the heart?
* * *
Federalism advocates have at least three questions they need to answer. With the establishment of at least 18 federal states, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region which would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, will it solve the problems we now know? Will the new system lower the prices of commodities and services? Will it stop violence and lawlessness?
I do not claim to be an expert on the kind of government suitable for the Philippines. But if something ain’t broke, why fix it? Sure, the 1987 Constitution is not perfect. It was written in reaction to the Marcos dictatorship more than anything else. I am on record as identifying several provisions that need to be changed.
But I have read the draft constitution submitted by the Consultative Commission and I am convinced now that federalism is not for us. It might work for contiguous countries like the United States, India or Germany, but not an archipelago like the Philippines. We have so many different dialects and cultures.
My gulay, how can some poor regions which can hardly support themselves fare in a federal government without the help of Imperial Manila? Eastern Visayas is an example, because it is always struck by typhoons and cannot get by without the help of others.
There is hostility between some groups, for example the Ilonggos and the Cebuanos.
And then, there is the problem of federated regions raising money on their own. This would mean higher foreign debt, Obviously, those who drafted the charter failed to consider all these.
These are all the reasons why I think the push for federalism is bound to fail.
* * *
To say that President Duterte has succeeded in his bloody war against drugs is an oversimplification.
Yes, the police and other law enforcement agencies have killed 4,350 (official statistics, at least. Unofficially, the count goes up to as many as 12,000).
There have been arrests and police encounters with drug suspects. But you would also see that there are daily killings—and the rate is alarming.
All these mean that the campaign has not ended. The demand continues to be high, and this is why the problem will not end. In fact, the campaign will not end as long as the President looks at drugs as a peace-and-order problem.
It’s actually more than that because of the continued entry of illegal drugs either through Customs or any other means. Rather, the issue is one of health and poverty.
Unless the administration realizes that the demand will continue, the problem will persists. Addicts and users need to be rehabilitated in community-based centers. Family support is essential.
The campaign against drugs appears trained on the poor. But why do you think the poor get into illegal drugs? To forget their misery—that’s why. And they get into the drug trade for the money with which to support their habit.
This is not to say that the rich are not into illegal drugs. They are, just look at how popular party drugs are. They do it not to commit crimes but for fun and curiosity.
This is why it is false to say that the crime rate is lower than before. It is the PNP that claims the crime rate is down. But we only have to look at media to know what is really happening.
* * *
I still cannot understand why the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council remains an ad hoc government entity under the Department of National Defense when we are plagued with two to three typhoons every week.
The NDRRMC may have been devolved with local governments but I cannot understand why it’s still an ad hoc government agency, activated only when there is disaster of any kind. Why can’t the council be an authority or better still a department, combined perhaps with the Department of the Environment?
How can you preserve the environment while preserving natural resources? You cannot have both in one department.
www.emiljurado.weebly.com