Title: Political Perspective on the Proposed Federal System of Government of Local Government Officials in Samarica, Occidental Mindoro
Abstract: On January 22 to 25, 1986, the Filipino people made history by overthrowing the 13-year Marcos dictatorship through a peaceful people power revolution. As a result, the country restored democracy and free elections through the 1987 Constitution which promised to empower citizens and Local Government Units (LGUs). Decentralization and local autonomy were further enhanced to put greater freedom and autonomous powers to local governments through the Local Government Code of 1991 in accordance with the provision stipulated in the said Constitution (Brillantes, 2016).However, Brillantes (2016) added that it was the shortcomings of decentralization that paved the way for the interest of conversion to federalism. As stated by Balisacan, Hill, and Piza (2006), over the past 25 years, decentralization has not delivered what some of its proponents might have expected: a decisive shift of power and resources out of the center, a vibrant, efficient and responsive system of local government, and a general shift in the quality of governance through the competitive “voice and exit” accountability mechanisms. Although it doesn't mean that decentralization has failed because there are local governments who have performed well even those outside Luzon. Still, this prompted former Senator Aquilino Pimentel, father of the Local Government Code, and even President Rodrigo Duterte to consider Federalization as an alternative strategy for regional and national development for the Philippines.According to Brillantes (2016), if there would be major lessons that the country has learned for the past 25 years, decentralization offered positive effects such as strong leadership at the local level, wider participation, and engagement with civil society institutions. However, there are still emerging issues and questions such as inadequate local finance, weak local – and national – capacity, or unclear and inadequate corporate and taxing powers of local governments. With that, given the Philippine context, and given our experience over the past quarter of a century, proponents believe that a federal system is more hospitable as an enabler of deepening local autonomy for local governments. In this regard, the researcher conducted this study which in the end would hopefully contribute in formulating the salient features of the proposed federal system of our government.
Publication Year: 2019
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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