Columns Senator Pimentel Senator Pimentel Introduces Resolution on Federalism
| Senator Pimentel Introduces Resolution on Federalism |
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) has submitted to the Philippine Senate a joint resolution to convene the Congress into a constituent assembly for the purpose of revising the constitution to establish a federal system of government.
Hereunder is a copy of the resolution.
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
)
First Regular
Session
)
SENATE
JOINT RESOLUTION NO.____
Introduced by
SENATOR AQUILINO Q. PIMENTEL, JR., __________________
__________________, _________________________
JOINT RESOLUTION TO CONVENE THE CONGRESS INTO A CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH A FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Whereas, the Constitution provides for a unitary system of government where the country's development programs are centrally determined, planned, funded and implemented by the national government in Manila;
Whereas, 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;
Whereas, the highly centralized system of government has brought about 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;
Whereas, 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;
Whereas, creating eleven States out of the Republic would establish 11 centers of finance and development in the archipelago as follows:
1. The State of Northern Luzon;
2. The State of Central Luzon;
3. The State of Southern Tagalog;
4. The State of Bicol;
5. The State of Minparom;
6. The State of Eastern Visayas;
7. The State of Central Visayas;
8. The State of Western Visayas;
9. The State of Northern Mindanao;
10. The State of Southern Mindanao; and
11. The State of BangsaMoro
in addition to the country's only one center of finance and development in Metro-Manila which shall be constituted as the Federal Administrative Region;
Whereas, the federalization of the Republic would speed up the development of the entire nation and help dissipate the causes of the insurgency throughout the land, particularly, the centuries-old Moro rebellions;
Whereas, the shift from the unitary system of government to the federal system requires revising the Constitution;
Whereas, the revision of the Constitution to establish a federal system of government may be done in either of three ways: Constitutional Convention, Constituent Assembly or by Popular Initiative, and
Whereas, considering all circumstances, it may be most expedient to revise the Constitution through a Constituent Assembly;
NOW, THEREFORE, Be it resolved as it is hereby resolved by the Senate with the House of Representatives concurring, upon a vote of three-fourths of all the Members of both Houses voting separately, to convene Congress into a constituent assembly pursuant to Section 1, paragraph 1 of Article XVII of the Constitution, and revise the Constitution for the purpose of adopting a federal system of government that will create 11 States, constitute Metro-Manila as the Federal Administrative Region, and convert the nation into the Federal Republic of the Philippines.
ARTICLE I
NATIONALTERRITORY
Revision No. 1.
Section 1. Article I. National Territory.
The scope of the national territory is hereby revised by adding a new
paragraph as follows:
The national territory shall likewise include all islands occupied or claimed
by the Republic out of historic title, by discovery or other means recognized
under international law and its exclusive economic zone as defined by the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Revision No. 2.
Section 2. Article I. The Federal Republic and the States.
(A) The Republic of the Philippines is hereby converted into and renamed as
the Federal Republic of the Philippines.
(B) The Federal Republic shall be composed of the following eleven (11)
States:
1. The State of Northern Luzon;
2. The State of Central Luzon;
3. The State of Southern Tagalog;
4. The State of Bicol;
5. The State of Minparom;
6. The State of Eastern Visayas;
7. The State of Central Visayas;
8. The State of Western Visayas;
9. The State of Northern Mindanao;
10. The State of Southern Mindanao, and
11. The State of
BangsaMoro;
in addition to Metro-Manila that is hereby connected into the Federal Administrative Region.
Revision No. 3
Section 3. Article I. Composition of the States.
(A) The State of Northern Luzon.
The State of Northern Luzon shall comprise the provinces of Ilocos
Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva
Vizcaya, Quirino, Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province, and all the cities, municipalities and
barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Tuguegarao City shall be the capital of the State.
(B) The State of Central Luzon.
The State of Central Luzon shall comprise the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac
and Zambales, and all the cities, municipalities and barangays therein. Until
provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Tarlac City shall be the capital of the State.
(C) The State of Southern Tagalog.
The State of Southern Tagalog shall comprise the provinces of Rizal,
Quezon, Laguna, Batangas and Cavite and all the cities, municipalities and
barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Tagaytay City shall be the capital of the State.
(D) The State
of Minparom.
The State of Minparom shall comprise the provinces of Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro
Occidental, Palawan, Romblon and Marinduque and all the
cities, municipalities and barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the
State Legislature, Mamburao, Mindoro Occidental shall be the capital of the
State.
(E) The State of Bicol.
The State of Bicol shall comprise the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte,
Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Sorsogon, and all the cities, municipalities
and barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Legazpi City shall be the capital of the State.
(F) The State of Eastern Visayas.
The State of Eastern Visayas shall comprise the provinces of Biliran,
Leyte, Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar and Eastern Samar and all the cities, municipalities and
barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Catbalogan City shall be the capital of the State.
(G) The State
of Central Visayas.
The State of Central Visayas shall comprise the provinces of Masbate, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor and all the cities,
municipalities and barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the
State Legislature, Toledo City shall be the capital of the State.
(H) The State of Western Visayas.
The State of Western Visayas shall comprise the provinces of Aklan,
Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental and all the
cities, municipalities and barangays therein. Until provided otherwise by the
State Legislature, Iloilo City shall be the capital of the State.
(I) The State of Northern Mindanao.
The State of Northern Mindanao shall comprise the provinces of
Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon,
Agusan del Norte, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and
Zamboanga Sibugay, and all the cities, municipalities and barangays therein.
Until provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Cagayan de Oro City
shall be the capital of the State.
J) The
State of Southern Mindanao.
The State of Southern Mindanao shall comprise the provinces of Agusan
del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Compostela Valley, Davao, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat
and all the cities, municipalities and barangays therein. Until provided
otherwise by the State Legislature, Davao City shall be the capital of the State.
(K) The State of the BangsaMoro.
The State of the BangsaMoro shall comprise the provinces of Lanao del Sur,
Maguindanao, (Shariff Kabunsuan)[1],
Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi and all the cities, municipalities and barangays
therein. Until provided otherwise by the State Legislature, Marawi City shall be the capital of the
State.
(M) The Federal Administrative Region of Metro-Manila.
The area known as Metropolitan or Metro-Manila is hereby constituted as a
Federal Administrative Region. It shall comprise the cities of Manila, Quezon, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Pasig, Caloocan, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Parañaque,
Malabon, Marikina, Taguig, Navotas, Valenzuela and San Juan, and the municipality of Pateros, and all the barangays therein. Until
provided otherwise by Congress, it shall be the seat of the Executive
Department.
Revision No. 4.
New Section. Article I. Dissolution, Secession or Separation of
States.
No State may dissolve itself, secede or separate from the Federal Republic unless it first secures the approval of
two-thirds of its qualified voters in a plebiscite called for that purpose.
Thereafter, the Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of all its members,
voting separately, act on the proposed dissolution, secession or separation of
the State concerned.
[The rest of the articles to follow].
As author of the Local Government Autonomy Law, the proposed Federalization of the proposed eleven States must be first supported by the further expansion of the LGU Autonomy Law to unclude the Regional Autonomy and the territorial boundary definition of said regional states.
This of course will be further be a process of regional state determination acceptable to the various provinces and LGU's within the regional state through a 'plebicite-kind', survey and a series of public hearings. The refinement of this geographical definition must consider the regional ethnic culture, geographical configuration and island cluster relationship.
A specific obvious delineation is the region defined by Palawan, Spratley and the Bangsa Moro influence with possibilities of annexing the historical Sultanate of Sulu claim on Sabah.
The other region defined by the State of Western Visayas has divided the island of Negros which could readily belong to the State of Central Visayas to include Cebu, Bohol and Masbate. This will improve the island resources management that will sustain the regional states socio-economic development.
The State of Minparom will have to be further defined to include the whole islands of Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon and thus a compromise for the historical territorial definition of the Ilongo Nation.
The State of Northern Luzon has to include the 'Taiwan bridge' of the Batanes island group.
The selection of the State capital can best be qualified to the existing urban centers with potential economic growth and regional significance in terms of infrastructure and central proximity convenience within the region. The final determination of the State Capital may be changed by the said State at progress demands a more equitable population distribution for sustainability and efficiency as per the State Legislature. As a working document the present proposed State Capitals may be designated to facilitate the acceptance of the federated system.
Metro Manila being the Federal Administrative Region can be further be subdivided into a 'DC or Vatican-type where Quezon City being the Federal Government District and Manila as the Heritage or Historical District thus allowing LGU autonomy to other cities and municipality. This will also allow the various Indigenous and ancestral communities to co-exist with the regional states with direct federal assistance programs.
Another Constitutional amendment may be the definition of religious and non-religious affinity of specific regional states where the 'separation of religious or non-religious affinity and the regional state administration' will not discriminate its regional citizens' basic rights.
Official Regional Languages shall be determined by the regional State in addition to a more broad Tagalog-based Pilipino language and international languages proficiency in English, Spanish, Chinese and other language mix of local and international usage to be determined by the State Legislature.
Other details in State Legislative representation based on population ratio distribution. Federal representation, and Federal and International Agencies shall be determined by the Federal Legislature.
Allow me to extend my preliminary congratulatory hand for the initiative for a better future of the next generation. I hope my further suggestions may contribute to the betterment of the proposal.
Nat John Duenas
Redwood City, California
1. The State of Northern Luzon - Kailokoryan
2. The State of Central Luzon - Karambolahan
3. The State of Southern Tagalog - Katagalogan
4. The State of Bicol - Kabikolan
5. The State of Minparom - Kakanluran
6. The State of Eastern Visayas - Kawarayan
7. The State of Central Visayas - Kasugbuhan
8. The State of Western Visayas - Kailongoan
9. The State of Northern Mindanao - Katamishan
10. The State of Southern Mindanao - Kayamanan
11. The State of BangsaMoro - Katapangan
12. The Federal District of MM - Kakurakotan
What's your suggestion?
Apo Satur Respicio
Hercules, California
My suggestion is to leave the choosing of the official name of a particular state to the state legislature with the advice and consent of the people voting in referendum within such state.
On a more technical note, I propose that the amended Philippine Constitution explicitly state that rights of the Filipino people enumerated within it (particularly Article III) shall not be infringed by newly created state constitutions; hence, hypothetical states must at least uphold the civil rights and individual liberties guaranteed by the Amended 1987 Philippine Constitution and shall have no power to reduce what is guaranteed by what I now deem as the federal (1987 amended) Philippine Constitution.
I suppose with these new regions only 12 Governors will be elected. These can redirect massive funds that are currently eaten up by big bureacracy and salaries of Governors to economic development and infrastructures. What is happening now is that a lot of these politicians both local and national are making the government coffers a MILKING COW.
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