Federalism through Con-Ass pushed

The House of Representatives will push for the convening of Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) by next year with or without the 25-man Constitutional Commission (Con-Com) to begin the discussion on the proposed Charter Change to effect federalism, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said.

Alvarez said that by convening Con-Ass, lawmakers would be able to start deliberating on the proposal of President Duterte to shift to presidential-unitary form of government to a parliamentary-federal system.

He said convening the Con-Ass would push through with or without President Duterte’s appointment of the members of the Constitutional Commission (Con-Com) that has been tasked to recommend specific provisions to be amended in the 1987 Charter.

“With or without the Commission, by next year, Congress will start the Con-Ass debates,” Alvarez told reporters. “We can agree with the Senate that both Houses can be convened as Con-Ass.”

Alvarez also said he is open to the two houses of Congress voting separately on the constitutional amendments, which Villafuerte pointed out is a big step in moving closer to the ultimate goal of shifting to federalism.

Alvarez earlier submitted the draft Executive Order to President Duterte to create Con-Com.

With the creation of the Con-Com, he said the results of its findings will be submitted to lawmakers who will be behind the convening of Congress into a Con-Ass.

House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the work of Con-Com will be used in Congress’ deliberations of the proposed Charter Change.

For his part, CamSur Rep. LRay Villafuerte said the shift to a federal form of government is the “missing link” in President Duterte’s ambitious inclusive growth agenda as he welcomed the fresh commitment of the House leadership to commence moves in the legislature starting early next year that would clear the way for this systemic switch.

Villafuerte said the Duterte administration’s vision for the Philippines to eradicate poverty and grow into a high-middle income economy by 2040 can—and will—happen with the shift from our presidential setup to the growth-friendlier federal system of government.

“Malacañang is on the right track in pursuing its multi-trillion peso ‘Build, Build, Build’ agenda that aims to fill our decades-old infrastructure backlog. But redistributing wealth to the countryside needs more than just an ambitious strategy. It requires a bold makeover—as envisioned by President Duterte—of our system of government that has stunted countryside development with its built-in bias for so-called Imperial Manila,” Villafuerte said.

Villafuerte welcomed pronouncement of Alvarez to convene a Con-Ass next year and remove the obstacles that have stymied this move is “a welcome development.”

President Duterte’s goal of inclusive growth, which he plans to achieve by creating economic zones outside Metro Manila should serve as a strong impetus to the 17th Congress to give its full backing to the shift to a federal form of government, Villafuerte said.

Currently, over 50 percent of economic zones are located in either Metro Manila or neighboring provinces like Cavite, Laguna and Batangas, he said.

“The sooner we do this, the better. The sooner we put a federal form of government in place, the sooner we will reap the benefits of this system for our countrymen,” Villafuerte said.

“Federalism will redistribute the national wealth outside Metro Manila, where our natural resources abound,” said Villafuerte, who had steered the rise of CamSur as a robust growth and tourism center on his watch as governor from 2004 to 2013.

He noted that under a federal system, the central governing authority will have control only over national concerns like defense and security, foreign policy, currency and monetary issues.

Under a federal system, local government units would be able to retain a huge chunk of their respective incomes and turn over only a portion to the federal government, he noted.