Palace: Concerted Cabinet effort needed for federalism

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang admitted yesterday that it has to work double time to educate even President Duterte’s economic team on the shift to a federal system of government after Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III expressed apprehension over its adverse impact on the economy.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said that Duterte is still keen on making the shift from a presidential form of government to a federal system.  

He also urged members of the economic team to provide alternative recommendation to address concerns on the economy.

“I’d like to see if there are alternatives, because federalism remains a priority of the President and we need to address obviously even the financial aspects of the constitutional change towards federalism,” he said.

Roque said it is incumbent upon the economic managers to make sure that the President’s aspirations for federalism will push through, even if they have issues – particularly on addressing the debt burden.

“Actually the President will have to task them, because the President, as you know, the principal of all the alter egos of the President, has said that he is pushing for federalism,” Roque said yesterday at a regular media briefing in Malacañang. “So it is incumbent upon the alter egos to find ways and means now to make that happen.”

Roque was responding to questions on how the Palace sees the statement before the Senate during the budget hearing that the draft constitution on federalism did not address important issues about the economy and could not be subjected to financial analysis.

Dominguez said the shift to federalism could cause a “fiscal nightmare” if not sorted out properly. 

He added there is no official position yet from the economic managers.

Last month, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia was also quoted on cable news channel One News as warning of the possible damage to the country’s fiscal position under a federal setup.

“What they were objecting to is because they have unanswered questions on the existing proposals made by the consultative committee (Concom)... So, let’s find answers but if there will be no answers, it’s incumbent upon all alter egos of the President to make what President wants to happen a reality,” Roque said.

He added that the Palace needs to disseminate this even among members of the Cabinet and convince them to support Charter change.

He said the Senate and the House of Representatives will have the final say on Charter change since the Concom review of the 1987 Constitution is just one of the versions.

“It is now the task of Congress to study the proposal, and I’m sure the issues raised by the members of the Cabinet will be looked into by Congress and also by the people ultimately,” Roque said.

With proposals from the House of Representatives to amend the Constitution not gaining any support from the Senate, Sen. Francis Pangilinan urged the proponents to just wait until after the May 2019 elections before trying their luck again.

Speaking at a forum held at the Senate yesterday, Pangilinan, who heads the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, said he and his colleagues have all agreed that the process should not be rushed or forced before the 2019 elections.

The committee has held several hearings on the different proposals to amend the Constitution but now that the Concom has submitted its draft federal constitution to the Senate, Pangilinan said that this would have to be studied carefully.

He noted how the economic managers themselves have aired their apprehensions about the provisions of the draft federal constitution, with Dominguez himself telling the Senate earlier this week that federalism could be a fiscal nightmare if not managed properly. 

Pangilinan said it is not necessary to tackle Charter change before the May 2019 elections.

Just like the other senators, Pangilinan aired his apprehension about the Senate participating in a constituent assembly where at any time an individual could file a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to uphold the position of some members of the House that voting on amendments would be approved with a vote of two-thirds of all members of Congress, voting jointly.

The Senate has taken a position that voting should be done separately because by voting jointly, they would effectively be taken out of the picture because they are only 24 members while the House has close to 300 members.

Pangilinan said that he is willing to hear what the members of the House have to say about their proposed timetable as a matter of courtesy but said the Senate would not be bound by this.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone appealed yesterday to Cabinet members to get their act together on federalism, after President Duterte’s economic managers warned senators of the risks to the economy of the proposed shift to the federal system.

He reminded members of the administration’s economic team that federalism “is a major priority of the Duterte administration.”

In fact, the President mentioned it again in his State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress last July 23, he said.

However, Evardone acknowledged that the issues raised by the economic team at the Senate were valid. 

“The issues on debt repayment and sharing of equalization funds are a case in point. Unless these issues are clarified, the public will continue to have serious doubts on the viability of federalism,” he said.

He said the Cabinet should be in sync with the President in pushing for federalism.

“The President has repeatedly declared that this is the key to developing the regions, provinces and the countryside,” he said.

Dominguez told senators on Wednesday that the country’s investment grade credit ratings would “go to hell” if the nation shifts to the federal system.

Responding to opposition Sen. Franklin Drilon, the finance chief said he would vote against the proposed shift if it were submitted to the people for ratification at this time.

On the other hand, Pernia warned the Senate that the switch to federalism could be too costly for the government and could hurt the economy.

Duterte has expressed his desire for lawmakers to finish writing a federal constitution in time for the May 2019 election so that a plebiscite could be held along with the balloting to save on cost. – With Marvin Sy, Jess Diaz