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KPI Congress 20th
120
2018
Thai Democracy on the Move

The current debate on federalism in the Philippines should be seen within that context,

that it is the next logical step after devolution. A meaningful devolution process was started in
1991, and after 26 years it could be said that the country has not yet attained full devolution.

The best that can be done at this particular historical moment is to build upon the gains of
devolution, laying the groundwork for federalism and adopting a slow, incremental, strategic,

and well thought out phronetic process adopting realistic expectations.

Phronesis is practical wisdom. It is a variation of theory and praxis, and of the
dialectical method of thesis-anti-thesis-synthesis. It is episteme and techne at the same time.

Applying the principle of phronesis to nation building, it pertains then to deepening devolution
towards meaningful autonomy yet taking into consideration political realities. It is realistic

because the process is built upon existing policies that have been tried and tested already such
as in the case of Galing Pook awardees. This program serves as a proof that the Local Government

Code has shown evidence of relative success with the many good and best practices in local
government. In addition, it is also worthwhile to recall that the regional development councils

trace their origins to the IRP and PD 1 in 1972. These can serve as the bases for the proposed
state / regional governments of the federal government.

In implementing federalism, the process can commence with the realistically

implementable ones, beginning by picking “low hanging fruits,” so to speak, referring to the
constitution of the regional governments taking off from the delineation and regionalization
of the country. However, as pointed out by Secretary Pernia of NEDA, it will take time to for

the regions to be ready for federalism, around four to five years. Let us not therefore rush into

the process. The shift therefore to a federal form of government cannot, and should not, be
fast tracked. As the experiences of other countries have shown, the shift can take decades.
Per Pernia’s recommendation, the implementation of federalism can begin with regions that

may be ready for it already such Metro Manila, Cebu, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon.

เอกสารประกอบการประชุมกลุ่มย่อยที่ 3 politico-administrative structures and processes responsive to the needs of the country at a
The proposed shift to federalism must be also seen within a broad politico-

administrative and historical context, as part of the continuing search for the appropriate

particular historical moment.

Serving as the ideological and philosophical foundations, the Philippine federalist

system of government was intended to be a check on the type of centralized power. In order