Feature: Federalism and Its Challenges and Opportunities to Higher Education

“There is no one model of Federalism, there is no one shape of Federalism, there is no one way of going Federal,” Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Officer-In-Charge (OIC) and Commissioner Dr. J Prospero E. De Vera said was the first lesson he wants to impart to the audience during a Symposium.

To gain thorough understanding on what Federalism is and what education would look like in a Federalist Government, the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) College of Public Affairs and Development Center for Strategic Planning and Policy Studies, in partnership with the UPLB Graduate School, organized a symposium titled, “Prospects of Education in a Federal Government,” held last March 12.

Federalism, in the most generic term as Commissioner expressed, comes from the word ‘foedus’ which means a covenant between two co-equal partners comprised of the Federal Government, at one hand, and the State Regional and Local Government, on the other.

He stressed, “It can co-exist only if there is a partnership of equals, it is a covenant that essentially means that both parties have to agree to work together to make the system work.”

There is no superior-subordinate relationship and there exists an agreement between two co-equals that are committed to retain their own identity but, at the same time, agree that their identity being together is equally important.

He underscored the need for Filipinos to assess if the concept of this kind of agreement is existent in our country, where there is commitment to a long term inseparable relationship that one’s interest is as important as the interest of the rest.

The question that a lot of people fear is “If you give substantial power in the Federal States in the Philippines, what will stop them from going on their own?” he figured. For instance, in a place like Mindanao there is fear that it might secede and create its own entity.

Federalism is basically a system where powers in the constitution are divided between the Federal Government and the States and Local Government, explained the Commissioner.

Since the powers are constitutionally divided and written in this form of government, constitutional change is needed to rearrange the power distribution between the Federal Government and the States and Local Governments.

Government Systems

Aside from the introduction of what Federalism is, he also enlightened his audience on the different systems of leadership to which many confuse on.

He clarified, “Federalism talks about the distribution of power from the top to the bottom.” While, it is called Unitary if more power is concentrated to the top where almost if not all the power is constituted in the national government. This is a vertical distribution of power.

On the other hand, he explicated that the horizontal distribution of power comprises the Presidential and Parliamentary.

“In the Presidential System, the powers are equally divided in the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judiciary,” he continued. Contrary, in the Parliamentary System, the Executive and Legislative powers are fused together and the Judiciary is separated. There is a horizontal distribution of power.

These systems can be mixed and matched, he said as example, “In the US, you have Federal-Presidential, but you go at the border to Canada what you have is a Federal-Parliamentary System.” Philippines’ system is Unitary-Presidential, while, there is Unitary-Parliamentary in the United Kingdom and Singapore, he added.

Commissioner de Vera pointed out that a clearing up of perspective and understanding among Filipinos is necessary because the Presidential-Parliamentary debate is getting confused with the Unitary-Federal debate.

“When you talk of Presidential versus Parliamentary you talk of separation of powers across branches of government, and Unitary versus Federal (is) across levels of government,” he reiterated.

The control that must remain to the hands of the Federal Government includes currency, national defense, foreign affairs, customs, immigration, civil political human rights and citizenship. “These are the powers that can only remain with the Federal Government all over the world,” stated Commissioner.

He said that apart from the aforementioned, all the other powers could be mixed in any way. The key elements that Filipinos must be talking about is which powers will be exclusive to the Federal Government or the Federal State and which ones shall be shared.

“We get excessively captured by the political aspects of Charter Change, (but) we are forgetting that what will matter in lives of every Filipino are the substantive aspects on where power will go and why,” he pronounced.

Higher Education in Federalism

“On the one hand, you can say it is good because education becomes more responsive to local conditions,” he said pertaining to the possible implication of Federalism to education in the country. As he stated as example, through this it can be ensured that the students in Mindanao will be able to read Philippine History with a flavor of Mindanao.

Muslims are rarely included in the Philippine history as if they have no history at all and have no contribution to the development of the country, and this is because History Books were written primarily by the Tagalogs who are in power, he said. “Those who are in power tend to write history to glorify themselves,” said the Commissioner.

He pointed out that if history shall be tailored based on a locality’s own accounts, the students therein will have their own identity, thereby, shall essentially take pride of being Filipinos.

This is one of the advantages of going Federal, “You’re sure that history will be more responsive to the conditions on the ground.”

The downside, however, is if we give history exclusively to the locals we might develop ethnicity more than national character.

“We might be more Ilocanos than Filipinos, we might be more Muslims than Filipinos,” he says.

Mentioning what is happening in the US and Canada as an example on how possibly a Federal Government appear in terms of education, he explained, “They (the States) set educational standards, mandate standardized tests, supervise state colleges and universities’ funding coming from local state and federal government, and education follows the contours of State socio-economic and political conditions.”

If the Higher Education is given fully to the States and Local Governments, the bad side is there will be no National Standards and there will be disparities across jurisdictions, and the Federal Government will not be in a position to adjust and address these disparities, noted Commissioner.

“Second, ethnicity may be emphasized at the expense of national identity, and access and equity may suffer in poorer regions,” he said, citing further that there might be a conflict if a licensure exam is not prescribed in the National level and it shall pose a bigger problem because there is already an existing competition in the ASEAN field.

Wherever the power goes that is where the money should go. “The resources must follow the power because if there is no money then the Federal or the State Government will not be able to implement its constitutional tasks,” de Vera said.

He said this is an important concept to scrutinize because the development pattern in the Philippines is uneven across regions. We will need in the Philippines significant subsidies and transfers from the Federal Government to the poorer States and transfers across richer States going to the poorer States.

This discourse must be raised and talked about according to de Vera because, economically, right now only about three States in the Philippines can survive on its own.

“If the Federal Government gives the power with no additional resources the Federal State of Easter Visayas will fall behind, the Federal State of the ARMM will fall behind, especially in education because it requires huge resources throughout the educational system,” he said.

It had become more problematic now because free tuition and miscellaneous will now be given to higher education in which money would come from the Federal Government. The question that must be pondered upon and analyzed as he pointed out is, “If you give higher education to the State Governments, what happens to the subsidy of the Federal Government for free tuition?”

As he framed, if higher education is given to the Federal State then the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) should perform the critical role of producing the manpower needed in the Federal State and their programs should contribute to its economic development.

“My general idea for higher ed is this: governance of SUCs you give that to State and Local Governments, the day to day operation but national standards, licensure exams must remain with the Federal Government,” he stated, referring to it as a happy mix that the Philippines could have. (GG/Joy Gabrido, PIA4A)