Sustaining Discourse on Federalism
Iligan Federalism Forum Reaches Different Sectors of Society

HSF

Basic concepts of federalism and the Bayanihan Federal Constitution were taken up during the forum on federalism held in Iligan City in the afternoon of 06 August 2019 entitled, “Forum on Federalism:  Possible Shift of the Philippines to a Federal System of Government.”  Participated in by representatives from the different sectors of society, including government line agencies, security forces, the academe, religious groups, and members of the civil society, the activity provided a venue where the topics could be presented in a way that is more easily understood by the regular citizen.

During the discussion, the participants aired their concerns, had their questions answered by and discussed their ideas and suggestions with the speakers, two of whom had, in their capacities, contributed to the drafting of the Bayanihan Federal Constitution in 2018: one, as member and the other, a Technical Assistant of the erstwhile Consultative Committee formed by the Office of the President. 

The main concerns included territorial rights of the country and of the “federated regions,” the existence of the political dynasties and their observation that women are still underrepresented in the government.  Case in point was the fact that the main speaker was herself the lone female member of the Consultative Committee.

The signing into law of an anti-dynasty bill was seen by some participants as a pre-condition for the possible adoption of federalism.  While the fact that the incumbent President is supportive of the country’s adoption of a federal system of government is seen as an advantage in the push for federalism, others saw this as a disadvantage since those who disagree with the President but not necessarily oppose the country’s adoption of federalism tend to see the President as the “face of federalism” and simply oppose it altogether.

HSF

The participants pointed out the importance of having an active citizenry for such an initiative.  The continued conduct of regular fora and information activities on federalism and the Bayanihan Federal Constitution was seen as one of the, if not the major step, towards helping the people to better understand the system of government that is being proposed by the President and what their respective roles would be.

The participants openly expressed their misgivings and shared their views, which sometimes ran counter to that which was expressed by the main speaker.  Through further elaboration by the speakers, a better understanding on the reasons for diverse views was clarified and the considerations for the formulation of specific sections in the Draft Charter were explained.  This helped to bring the discussion into perspective.

This roundtable discussion was organised by the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) with the help of the Office of the Iligan City Mayor and with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation to contribute to further dissemination of information on federalism.  The activity was held as part of the PILG-HSF partnership on the project “Increasing Awareness of the General Public on Federalism as a System of Government.”