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การประชุมวิชาการสถาบันพระปกเกล้า 121
ครั้งที่ 20 ประจำาปี 2561
ประชาธิปไตยไทย: ก้าวย่างเพื่อการพัฒนา

to ensure individual liberty, the best way to do this is to keep government as decentralized as

possible. To add to the decentralization, the powers of the federal government are specifically
listed in the Constitution. All powers not granted to the federal government belong to either

the states or the people under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

Considering that sub-national institutions in the Philippines (local governments) have
been seen to be fundamentally weak considering the lack of autonomy, decentralization

has been seen as a process that would strengthen said sub-national institutions that would
eventually enhance democratization and lead to development. Decentralization is about

transfer of functions, powers, responsibilities and accountabilities (Brillantes 2003).

If properly designed and implemented, pushing for a federal form of government
provides a golden opportunity to deepen devolution – it is the next logical step to devolution.
It is about transfer of power to lower levels located within the context of power sharing. It

will simply return powers and authorities to Local Government Units (LGUs) where they have

been and should be in the first place.

As we mentioned earlier, there are also different modes of decentralization.
Deconcentration is an administrative form of decentralization which signifies transfer of functions.
Devolution, on the other hand, is a transfer of political powers. Lastly, debureaucratization

is the call of collaboration of the private sector participation through PPP, outsourcing, etc.

When seen in a continuum, one end can be considered as “deconcentration”
while the other extreme can be classified as “independence”. In between these two are

“devolution”, “regionalism”, and “federalism”. Thus, federalism, when seen as a form of
greater decentralization and devolution, is really about returning power to the people.

It seeks to apply the principle of subsidiarity, which simply implies doing things at the

lowest level possible, and closest to the People. It is an organizing principle which signify that
matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority.

Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority.
As explained by Former Vice President and Senator Salvador Laurel, “Federalism rests on the

principle that the smallest unit of government knows what is best for its constituent needs.
Decisions should therefore be made by the local, municipal, provincial, city or regional levels

of governments, because they know best who need help and how to help them.”