Ex-SC justice: Federalism will weaken the nation

MANILA, Philippines — Shifting from a unitary to a federal form of government would weaken the republic, retired Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza said Thursday.

During the resumption of the Senate hearing on the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution, Mendoza told the panel why opposed the proposed shift to federalism.

"A shift to a federal system will weaken our republic, fragment our nation and render at moot the many years we have spent to attain national unity. This country will be fragmented by such an attempt and there will be attempts at cessation," Mendoza told the Senate panel.

Shifting to a federal form of government would intensify regional differences and would encourage the rise of village tyrants and village dictators, according to the retired SC justice.

"We know that patronage politics practice everywhere. We want to break up dynasties we cannot seem to end... How much more if you break up this country into more or less autonomous units, each one to be ruled by a village tyrant?" he said.

The former SC justice also said that it is not the right time to propose such amendments due to partisan strife preventing a national consensus.

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The failure of federalism in the country, which Mendoza referred to as an "experiment," would be long-lasting.

"It will not just be like the impact of a Brexit where the sovereign states can return to their former status as independent states in the case of a component state trying to become a federal system. It will mean separation from the moorings, exposure and making yourself easy prey to the cupidity of other states. It is as dangerous as that," Mendoza said.

Decentralization instead of federalism

Instead of shifting to federalism, the former SC justice proposed to promote greater decentralization in the country.

"I’m happy that one of the proposals for a federal system speaks for decentralization although looking toward federalism. I would say stop at decentralization because beyond that is a cliff into which we might fall and never be able to come back," Mendoza said.

Mendoza noted that the current laws already include provisions regarding decentralization but has not been fully practiced or implemented.

"We have not reached the end of the road, we have not reached the dead end so we have not reached the bottom so let us try decentralization instead of federalizing and dividing the country," he said.

The former SC justice stressed that the Philippines is not like the United States where they had self-governing bodies before joining a federation.

The strength of federal systems are self-governing bodies but applying this in the Philippines, which is already united, would fragment the nation.

"What will happen will be, at the very least, to weaken the bonds of this country," Mendoza said.

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