Senator says shift to federal government will make regions poorer

Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel on Tuesday, July 17, questioned the draft Federal Constitution proposed by the President’s Consultative Committee, warning that the shift to federalism may have negative effects to the country’s economy.
“Aside from the massive democratic deficit President Duterte’s version of federalism suffers from, I am worried that his federalist vision is not even economically viable and practical in the first place. Instead of redistributing wealth and dispersing economic development to the regions, President Duterte’s federalism might only make the regions poorer and their economies weaker,” she said in a statement.
“Ang pederalismo ni Pangulong Duterte ay hindi lamang salat sa demokrasya, sablay pa sa ekonomiya. (It is severely lacking in democracy and a burden to the economy),” she added.
The senator cited a study based on the Readiness Index for Sustained Economies Under Federalism (RISE-UP), indicating that only five of the proposed 16 federated regions were more ready for federalism, while two regions were neutral and nine regions were relatively less ready.
“Did the government take this into consideration in the drafting of the Federal Charter? Were the country’s economic managers consulted? Has the economic cost of federalism been studied alongside the impact of inflation and the current state of the economy?” Ms. Baraquel said.
For her part, Senator Leila M. De Lima on Tuesday raised concerns over the omission of the phrase “human rights” in the Article on Declaration of Principles and State Policies.
Under the Article 2, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution, “The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”
Meanwhile, its counterpart provision in the proposed Federal Constitution provides that “The Federal Republic values the dignity of every person and guarantees full respect for the person and the right of all citizens to participate in all government processes.”
“Was the deletion of “human rights” deliberate? If so, why?” Ms. De Lima said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo