Forum on Federalism
Cagayan de Oro Criminology Deans, Faculty Members and Students Take Up Federalism

In support of the government’s thrust to increase the Filipinos’ awareness about federalism, the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) jointly organised a forum on federalism with the Phinma Cagayan de Oro College (Phinma COC).

During the activity, which was held at the Phinma COC in Cagayan de Oro City on 07 March 2017, Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder of the Political Science Department of the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Bonn, Germany shared approaches that federalised countries found to be successful in addressing issues particular to their unique circumstances. As the reactor, Dr. Manuel V. Jaudian, Dean-At-Large of the PHINMA Education Network helped to put the concepts and ideas in the Philippine context for the better understanding of the participants.

The objective of the forum was to help the participants have a clear basic idea of federalism and to encourage their involvement in discussions on the topic. This is in line with the efforts of the HSF in helping to encourage and to support the discourse on federalism on the ground, as underlined by HSF’s Resident Representative, Mr. Götz Heinicke, in his opening remarks.  He reminded the participants that the final decision on whether or not the Philippines should shift from a unitary to federal system of government is theirs to make. The forum moderator was Dr. Manuelito Dabalos of the College of Arts and Sciences, PHINMA Education Network.

With more than 300 deans, faculty members and criminology students from different schools in Cagayan de Oro City in attendance, the activity served to help bring the discussion on federalism to the fore and answer some questions commonly asked on the topic, such as on the sharing of responsibilities and of resources and how these affect the regular Filipino citizen.

Under the partnership between the PILG and the HSF towards the raising of the 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 held during the Cagayan de Oro leg of the professor’s visit to the country.