11/07/2003 - Federal System will Not Work

Federal System of Government will not work in the Philippines for the following reasons:

1. Such a small country to divide the power of government to small "tribes" of local
governments;

2. Will politiciize more the country in small fragmentary ways and jeopardizing national
interests.

3. Pimentel's suggestion opens more door for the secessionists in Mindanao to be a

separate country, not jjust a Federal State. The fact that it was given the Autonomous
power as an Autonomous region did not work.

4. Political leaderships in all regions are not matured enough to take huge responsibility
of good public administration; the usual "compadre system" will prevail in a regionalistic
way, as we currently do.

5. There is not much tax base for each so-called Federal state to raise revenue for its own
existence. If the National government can not sustain itself except for foreign borrowings,
how much more a Federal State. How can they raise their own funds to fund deficit of
their government but to look for the national government as panhandlers too, not as in
independent self-supporting Federatl State.

6. The majority of the people themselves do not know how to approach and react to the
principles of a Federatl State, and needs more eduction.

7. The peace and order will suffer as private armies will proliferate more in this set up as
each Federal starte is "supposedly" protected by its own police and national guards.

8.. Foreign investors will be dealing more with a "high-brow", high'powered" politicians
who will demand more for doing business in each territory, and therefby diminish foreign
investors confidence, in addition to dealing with various economic policies of each State.

9. There will be more expensive and freguent elections and the population will be more
engrossed with politics rather than business. Elections will be more fraudulent, as flying
voters of each State will try to encroach with one another, in an effort to win.

There is already a decentralized form of government wherein the local governments are
given their own responsibilities to govern (except for police and miliary) and yet they
have failed to govern. So how much more if THEY ARE GIVEN AN ENLARGED
POWER TO GOVERN. They will just become more abusive, mismanage and feel above
the law as they are the power in their own State. That will give them an EGO-TRIP.....A
LEADER OF A PHILIPPINE STATE..... which is just a State of Batangas; a State of
Mindoro, etc. WOW.......a head of STATE...WITHOUT A HEAD? C'mmon Mr.
Pimentel you are throwing the country from a frying pan to the fire. You must be
hallucinating. We can debate on this and l will refute all your arguments point by point in
due time.

WHAT WE SHOULD NEED IS JUST TO STRENGTHEN OUR PRESENT

PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM BY ELECTING A DECENT, STRONG, HONEST AND
COMPETENT PRESIDENT, WHO WILL BE LOOK UP TO AS A STRONG AND
HONEST LEADER OF THE REPUBLIC...FOR A STRONG REPUBLIC. THAT'S
ALL WE NEED.....NOT FEDERALISM, NOT PARLIAMENTARY ; NOT
COMMUNISIM EITHER OR A BLEND OF SOCIALISM. JUST PLAIN VANILLA
FLAVOR OF A STRONG PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM.

http://v4r.home.att.net/junadan.htm#federal