Best Practices in Federalism
The Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Share Best Practices on Federalism
The Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Share Best Practices on Federalism
The Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) presented different successful approaches used by some countries with a federal system of government in addressing their specific concerns in a forum held in UP Diliman, Quezon City on 06 March 2017. Jointly organised in collaboration with the University of the Philippines - National College of Public Administration and Governance of the (UP-NCPAG), the activity was led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder of the Political Science Department of the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Bonn, Germany and the “Father of Local Autonomy in the Philippines,” Former Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., Chairman of the Board of the PILG.
During his presentation, Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder discussed power sharing and resource sharing under a federalism set up by drawing a comparative analysis amongst various approaches used in different federalized countries, including Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, the United States of America and Germany. Senator Pimentel provided the contextualisation in the Philippine setting.
Attended by more than 100 participants, the forum was graced by the presence of UP-NCPAG’s Director for the Center for Local and Regional Governance (CLRG), Dr. Erwin A. Alampay and the Dean of the UP-NCPAG, Dr. Maria Fe V. Mendoza, who gave the opening and the closing remarks, respectively. HSF’s Resident Representative, Mr. Götz Heinicke, emphasised that the thrust of the Foundation is to encourage and to support the discourse on the ground on federalism, pointing out that the decision of whether or not the Philippines should shift to a federal system of government lies ultimately with the Filipino people.
The activity was highlighted by the official turn-over ceremony of six hundred thirty copies of the book by Senator Pimentel entitled “Federalising the Philippines: A Primer,” which discusses his proposal for the Philippines’ adoption of a federal system of government, which were printed with the support of the HSF to the PILG.
Under the partnership between the PILG and the HSF towards the raising of awareness on the federal system of government in the country, the HSF invited Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder to the Philippines from 06-10 March 2017 to speak on topics related to federalism that are of particular relevance to the Philippine public. The PILG and the HSF jointly organized a series of activities in the National Capital Region, in the Southern Tagalog Region and in Northern Mindanao in collaboration with local partners. This forum was the first in the line-up of information activities and was held by the UP-NCPAG as part of its series of Policy Fora being held by the college in celebration of its 65th anniversary in 2017.