MANILA — Professor Julio C. Teehankee, a member of the Consultative Committee (ConCom) tasked to review the 1987 Constitution, said the Philippine government can afford to shoulder the financial burden that accompanies the proposed shift to a federal government.
In his speech during the third forum on federalism held in Makati Thursday, the political scientist said “federalism is an investment for our children’s future.”
He explained that every investment has a cost and in the case of the proposed shift of the country’s governance structure, it will run into billions.
“We do not deny this but I would like to assure everyone that the Philippines can afford the cost of a federal shift. What is PHP20 billion, or even PHP50 billion, in additional spending for federalism compared to the PHP600 billion unutilized funds the government had to return to the national treasury?” he said.
Teehankee said what the government cannot afford “is the cost of frustratingly slow social and economic development in the regions.”
He said “federalism will not be a waste of money” since “it fixes inefficiencies of a system long-riddled by corruption and a ladderized bureaucracy impeding the regions from reaching their full potential.”
Economic managers have called for clearer provisions on allocations for expenditures under the draft federal Constitution.
For one, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said there should be more dialogues on the shift of government system to prevent any “irreversible economic consequences.”
“We welcome a discussion on the draft so that it is clear and unambiguous. We do not want the revenue assignment and the expenditure assignment to be misunderstood, as what happened in the recent case involving the Internal Revenue Allotment (of local government units),” he said.
Teehankee said ConCom members welcome the economic managers’ comments.
“They are welcome feedback for the further improvement of our draft. After all, the product of our six months of labor is a draft and a draft can be revised,” he said.
“We therefore encourage the economic managers to help us improve the draft. In the same way we call on our senators, congressman and all elected officials to keep the discussions going because this push of the President will affect the entire nation of the Philippines,” he said.
On allegations that the transition to a federal form of government will require more workers, Teehankee denied this.
“No. As envisioned by the proposed draft Constitution we are encouraging, no, we are actually saying that the national bureaucracy should go on a diet. And that the local federated regions shall go on a muscle-beating regimen,” he said.
“Improvement is change. If we want to improve, then we need to change. Nothing will happen if you simply allow fear to trap us in a cycle that keeps allowing the few, who are rich and privileged, to take advantage of the poor,” he added. (Joann Villanueva/PNA)
