Federalism Workshop
PILG and HSF Involve Partners in Federalism Workshop on Citizenship Regulation

Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinemann-Grüder discusses the topic: "Citizenship Regulations on the National and the Sub-National Levels"

HSF

As part of their support for the ongoing discourse on federalism in the Philippines, the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILG) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) jointly organised the activity to help address queries from project partners on the topic of federalism.

In his presentation, Prof. Heinemann-Grüder brought to the fore critical issues concerning the regular Juan and shared specific examples from different countries on how challenges concerning citizenship were addressed or overcome. Participants included representatives from the Alternative Law Groups, the Department of Justice-National Prosecution Service, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, the Philippine National Police, PILG as well as former scholars of the Foundation.

Providing a backgrounder for the participants, based on the proposal of Former Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel on the Philippine’s possible shift to a federal system of government was the PILG’s Project Coordinator, Ms. Clarissa L. Aquino, who explained the key changes introduced by the senator in his proposal. These included the sectioning of the country into 12 federal states and the recognition of one constitution, one armed forces, one police, one monetary system, one flag, foreign policy and one basic educational system for the whole country. This helped the participants, who numbered 18, to gain a clearer understanding of the potential consequences for the country and their community, and to better appreciate possible roles they may need to assume in the future in relation thereto.

Participants of the workshop

HSF

The HSF’s Resident Representative, Mr. Götz Heinicke encouraged the participants to join the discussion, clarifying that, while the Foundation supports the discourse, the final decision of whether the Philippines is to shift to a federal system of government still lies with the Filipinos themselves. Ms. Maria Adelia Co, the HSF’s Deputy and Program Coordinator, gave the closing remarks.

In line with 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. 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. The workshop served as the culminating activity to the series of information activities on federalism organised to be held during the professor’s visit to the country.