AFFIRMATIVE SPEECH ON FEDERALISMChange is inevitable. Change is coming! Good morning everybody. As the first speaker of the affirmative side, I am tasked to present to everyone the proposition that will be debated today, tackle some issues why the current government system is dissatisfying and of course, suffice everyone with arguments detailing why there is a need to adopt federalism in our country. Proposition: LET IT BE RESOLVED THAT THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT BE CHANGED TO FEDERALISM By changing the system of government to federalism means that a charter change will be made through a constituent assembly or a constitutional convention for the adoption of a federal-presidential form of government for the Philippines. The resolution will revolve on the merits of the proposal of former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr eyeing for the creation of 11 federal states while keeping the presidential form of government and increasing the number of elected senators. The Philippines is currently under a unitary form of government – this means that the central government is the highest governing power. It receives a large part of every region’s income and redistributes it to LGUs. Moreover, the autonomous regions, provinces, municipalities and barangays can only exercise powers and enact policies that the central government chooses to delegate to them. With these reasons, I will present to you some points on why is it necessary for the Philippines to adopt a federal system of government. POINT 1: FEDERALISM WILL COMPLEMENT THE COUNTRY’S GEOGRAPHICAL SETUP AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY. In an assessment paper presented by U.P. Public Administration and Governance Prof. Alex Brillantes, and Donna Moscare, the Philippine geography makes travel and communication difficult, time-consuming and costly. Composed of several islands, the highly centralized unitary form of government is ineffective in dealing with contingencies in far-flung parts of the country. The administration and power is concentrated in Manila which results to inequitable development among the different regions. Development is inequitable and stunted because there is difficulty in reaching and responding to the needs of remote areas. Professor Ronald Watts of Queen’s University Canada during the International Conference on Federalism held at Switzerland mentioned that federalism provides a constitutional organization that allows action by a shared government for certain common purposes while permitting for autonomous action by constituent units of government for purposes that relate to preserving their distinctiveness. He also cited a major lesson from the various experiences on federalism saying: federal political systems do provide a practical way of combining, through representative institutions, the benefits of unity and diversity, but they are no panacea for all of humanity’s political ills. A federal government would enable the needs of a nation to be achieved while providing a space for diversity. As a phrase goes, it provides “unity in diversity”. The federal structure devises a flexible arrangement for varying forms of self-government to suit different circumstances and contingencies. History would show us several countries that used federalism in dealing with diversity. In Switzerland and Canada for instance, the adoption of federalism was, to some extent, a result of a need to accommodate diverse communities. After World War 2, India, Malaysia and Nigeria used the federal mechanism to settle ethnic diversity. Pakistan also used the federal design to manage ethno-national diversity after it emerged as an independent state. Regions have their own unique problems, situations, geographic, cultural, social and economic contexts. Federalism allows them to create solutions to their own problems instead of distant Metro Manila deciding for them. This makes sense in an archipelago of over 7,000 islands and 28 dominant ethnic groups. For decades, the national government has been struggling to address the concerns of 79 (now 81) provinces despite challenges posed by geography and cultural differences. Furthermore, The Federal Republic will build a just and enduring framework for peace through unity in our ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity, especially in relation to Bangsa Moro or Muslim Filipinos and our lumad/indigenous peoples. According to Pimentel, federalism will dissipate the causes of the recurrent armed Moro challenges against the government and, thereby, lay the basis for a just and lasting peace in Central and Southwestern Mindanao. He also stated that the government has tried several approaches, including assimilation and integration of the Moro people into the mainstream of the country’s society. It has tried regional autonomous governments; local government devolution of power, and even military pacification campaigns. In short, government approaches were tried but all to no avail. Yet Pimentel sufficed that the Moro traditional, political, rebel leaders and Moro academics whom he had the privilege of conversing appear to unanimously support the idea of federalizing the Republic and creating a Bangsamoro Federal State as a means of dissipating the causes of Moro rebellions and of laying the foundations of a just and a lasting peace in Mindanao. This was further strengthened when the president-elect Duterte has repeatedly said that one of the benefits of this structure would be putting an end to insurgent rebellions in the south waged by the Muslim minority, their main claims to this rebellion is unjust treatment to them. And with the new states, they would have autonomy over this. There have been positive comments and strong support from the Muslim rebel leaders recently and have been indicative of being receptive and cooperative with the plans. POINT 2: FEDERALISM WILL HASTEN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AMONG THE VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY BY ALLOCATING POWER WHICH AT PRESENT IS CONCENTRATED IN THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT TO THE REGIONS THAT WILL BE CONVERTED TO FEDERAL STATES. As presented by Former senators Pimentel Jr., Angara, Enrile, et al, the unitary system of government shows that the country’s development programs are centrally determined, planned, funded and implemented by the national government in MANILA. However, the concentration of such enormous powers in Manila has created only one center of finance and development in the country resulting in a highly centralized system of government leading to a spotty development of the nation where preferential treatment has been given to localities whose officials are friendly with or have easy access to an incumbent administration. This lopsided arrangement has spawned a host of problems including massive nationwide poverty to runaway insurgencies and rebellions that feed on the societal inequalities in the nation. Even President Duterte has described Metro Manila as "imperial" and has even refused to stay at Malacañang, saying that it is a symbol of oppression. A look at the 2016 national budget showed that Metro Manila got a 14.27 percent share with P428.5 billion, excluding the budget for the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President and Congress which are based in the capital region. Meanwhile, Luzon got 20.94 percent with P628.3 billion, Visayas got 9.94 percent with P298.3 billion, and Mindanao got 13.23 percent with P396.9 billion. Furthermore, Budget and fiscal autonomy have been a long-standing issue among local government units (LGUs) in the country, according to political analyst Jan Robert Go, assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman. One contention of federalism advocates is that major tax revenues are turned over to the national government. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collects national internal revenue taxes which include income tax, estate and donor's taxes, value-added tax, other percentage taxes, excise taxes, documentary stamp taxes, and such other taxes that may be imposed and collected by the BIR. The pooled collection of national internal revenue taxes is split 60-40, with 60 percent going to the national government and 40 percent to the LGUs through the internal revenue allotment or IRA. This distribution of the IRA is also contested by federalism advocates. In one interview, Duterte said it was unfair that what Davao City gets from the IRA wasn't even at par compared to the amount it remits to the national government. Go added that LGUs are seen as the primary service providers but if funds are lacking, these services may be difficult to run and be provided to the public. Duterte as the first Mindanaoan president and having served as Davao City mayor for nearly two decades is seen as someone who understands the issue well. President- elect, Rodrigo Duterte has plans to demolish “Imperial Manila” by radically shifting the current Philippine government onto federalism. He says this is critical in fighting and ending poverty and to also alleviate the tension and deadliness of Muslim separatist insurgency. Pimentel’s proposal stated that sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units called states or regions. The autonomous states shall have the exclusive jurisdiction to enact laws relative to health, agriculture, land use and development, fisheries, public works and infrastructures, trade, industry and tourism, whereas the federal government will have the power over national security and defense, foreign relations, customs, and currency to name a few. But a major advantage of federalism is that the states will have more power over their funds and resources. They do not have to rely on collecting real estate tax and business permit fees. In this system, 80% of their total earned income stays while only 20% goes back to the national government. This means that states are able to channel their own income for their own development, creating policies and programs suitable for them without having to wait for the national government to approve. Within the 80% budget that remains with these states, 30% will be funneled to the local state government and 70% will be allocated to the provincies, cities, municipalities and barangays. With federalism sharing administrative decentralization and fiscal autonomy among states, genuine autonomy is achieved. I have now presented my points and I would like to thank you all for listening intently.