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news lifted from: http://sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/05/04/news/14.lawmakers.tackle.federalism.bill.html

Sunday, May 04, 2008
14 lawmakers tackle federalism bill

LEGISLATORS from Bohol and Oriental Negros also want to make Cebu City the seat of the proposed Federal State of Central Visayas and will push for it when they file the Lower House version of the Senate’s proposal to shift to a federal system of government.

Fourteen legislators from Central Visayas will meet tomorrow to discuss their proposed amendments to Senate Resolution 10.

Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) said legislators from Bohol and Oriental Negros prefer to make Cebu City the seat of government, which will be one of the amendments they will make.

Seat in Bohol

They are also amenable to making Tagbilaran City in Bohol the seat of the Federal Legislature, where all senators from the 11 proposed federal states in the country will hold office and their sessions.

Central Visayas legislators hope to file the bill this month, but they don’t expect to get the support of Rep. Pablo “Pabling” Garcia (Cebu, 2nd district), who reportedly has his own proposal.

“Ever since, Congressman Pabling is not sold out to the idea of a federal system. I discussed it with him and he said he has his own proposal that he is still preparing. So I said we will just file our own proposal without him and he can propose his and we are all fine with that. At least we have broken the ice on this issue,” Cuenco told Sun.Star Cebu.

He said Garcia still has not told the other legislators the details of his proposal.

In a phone interview yesterday, Cuenco confirmed that as stated in the Senate resolution, senators are proposing to make Tagbilaran the seat of the legislature of the federal republic, and not just for the state of Central Visayas.

Retain

In the Lower House version of the bill, this provision will be retained since most legislators from Central Visayas agree to it.

“We are not averse to that provision but we will make Cebu City the seat of the federal government instead of Toledo City as proposed by the senators. The legislators from Negros and Bohol want it in Cebu City because they find Toledo too far,” Cuenco said.

Eleven senators filed last month “A resolution convening the Congress into a Constituent Assembly for the purpose of revising the Constitution to Establish a Federal Form of Government.”

They proposed to create 11 states with their own centers of finance and development, so that the country’s development programs are not centrally determined, planned, funded and implemented by the National Government in Manila as it is under a unitary system. (LCR)


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Press Release
April 23, 2008

PIMENTEL FILES RESOLUTION ON FEDERAL SYSTEM

CARMONA, CAVITE -- Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said he has completed the draft of a resolution calling on Congress to amend the 1987 Constitution to pave the way for the adoption of a federal system to replace the highly-centralized unitary system of government.

Pimentel said the federalization of the republic is meant to accomplish two main goals: 1. Cause the speedy development of the entire country by unleashing the forces of competitiveness among the component federal states, and 2. Dissipate the causes of rebellion in the country, particularly in Mindanao.

"The federal proposal will hopefully provide a just and lasting redress of the grievances of the powerless and the neglected sectors of society, like the Moro peoples of Mindanao," the opposition senator said in a keynote address at the seminar on federalism hereunder the auspices of the UP Center for Local and Regional Governance/National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP CLRG/NCPAG) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Manila Southwoods, Golf Country Club, Carmona, Cavite.

Under the 63-page resolution, Pimentel proposed the creation of 11 federal states out of the existing political subdivisions of the country, and one federal administrative region.

To be established are the federal states of Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Bicol and Southern Tagalog in Luzon; the federal states of Minparom (Mindoro-Palawan-Romblon-Marinduque), Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas and Western Visayas in the Visayas and the federal states Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Bangsamoro in Mindanao.

Metro Manila will be converted into a federal administrative region along the lines of Washington D.C. in the United States, New Delhi in India or Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

"The move to federalize the country is not simply a 'political' undertaking. It is also an economic effort. By creating 11 federal states and by converting Metro Manila as a federal administrative region, we immediately establish 12 centers of power, finance and development throughout the country," Pimentel said.

In contrast, he said that under the existing unitary system that has characterized the government for centuries, the country had only one center of power, finance and development - Metro Manila.

Pimentel said the boundaries of the federal states will cut across the present regional boundaries. He said he has recommended that the component states be constituted out of bigger political territories to provide the environment for competitiveness and sustainability rather than create states and provinces that in many instances might simply be too small to survive as a state.

The resolution defines the territory of the proposed Federal Republic of the Philippines and unequivocally includes the Scarborough Shoal as part of Central Luzon and the Kalayaan Islands as part of the Minparom region.

Pimentel said the resolution disperses the seats of power of the three major branches of government. Thus, the executive department will hold offices in the Federal Administrative Region of Metro Manila, the legislative department in the Federal State of Central Visayas and the judicial department in the Federal State of Northern Mindanao.

"By doing so, the two other geographical regions of the country, the Visayas and Mindanao will now fully appreciate that they are important parts, and merely appendices - of the Republic," he said.

In terms of allocating the resources of the Republic, Pimentel said a formula is provided in the resolution: 30 percent will go to the Federal Government and 70 percent to the component states. Of the 70 percent accruing to the states, 30 percent will go to the state governments and 70 percent to the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays.

The resolution will require the revision of 14 of the existing 18 Articles of the Constitution and the addition of two new Articles. It was prepared by Pimentel upon the request of some of his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representative, some local government officials and friends from the non-government organization sector.

From www.senate.gov.ph

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