Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel Jr. — Filipino Federalist

Aquilino Pimentel might be dead but Filipino federalism is alive among the followers who took the trouble to understand what it is all about. Federalism, like freedom, is less a system than it is a concept. You cannot long stay believing in it unless this is the vantage point. In my opinion one cannot accept federalism as a system of government unless it is regarded as an expression of freedom.

I have seen how Pimentel went through the phases to believe in it and how to pass it on to other Filipinos. That is not an easy task. It takes a lifetime.

As I had written many years ago, most Filipinos especially Christians, are not aware that the mosque in Marawi is one of the oldest in the Philippines. When the Mautes and their foreign allies, ISIS attacked to take over the city, the origin of Islam was not in their minds.

Islam came before Christianity and it came to the Philippines by way of colonialism. The Muslims fought bravely, if in vain, to stop the colonialism of the Philippines. Bangsa Moro was incorporated as part of the defeated North. I do not favor the Mautes or their ISIS allies’ rebellion and their chosen path of violence. But studying it will help us understand the roots of the  conflict.

It came to the Philippines in the 14th century with the arrival of Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf, Southern India, and their followers from several sultanate governments in the Malay Archipelago. In fact there is an Islam neighborhood in Port Area near the Philippine STAR. It is the second largest religion in the Philippines.

Most of them live in parts of Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu Archipelago. These make up what is called Bangsamoro or the Moro region with their own way of life, law and beliefs. In time, the colonial Philippine government encouraged Christian Northerners from Luzon to move to Moro land. So we now have a mix of Muslims and Christians living together in different areas of the Philippines.

It led to economic and political but also religious conflict. Federalism would give Bangsamoro some political control of their region while staying within the nation state of the Philippines. How do we do that?

I was one of Filipinos invited to the Forum of Federations in Brussels. It was  there that I learned about the universality of federalism. There I learned that more than 25 countries in the world today have federal systems of government. That means more than 40 percent of the world are governed by a federal system in one form or another.

Critics will not understand Federalism unless it is recognized as both a concept and a system of government. I began to accept it when federalists explained it more as a concept than a system of government. It is freedom. It poses problems when it is defined as a system of government because it divides countries to ethnic, political or religious groups.

A good example is the 13 colonies in North America or the 26 cantons of Switzerland that came together to form federal government. That means ‘the smaller communities retain some powers to themselves, but pooling others with the central government.”

There are also unitary countries – such as Spain, Belgium and South Africa that have adopted federal structures. It could be the solution to Muslim Mindanao and Christian Luzon that came about because of Western colonization.

According to political experts, federalism is emerging as the central ethos of an emerging civilization that recognizes both national and sub-national identities and promotes regional and global frameworks for better understanding, coordination and cooperation. “In this sense, the philosophy of federation is transcending much beyond the system of governance to a way of life and civilization in the new millennium.

In Brussels the federation elected officials, civil servants and scholars. It was started by the Government of Canada in 1999, and currently has eight other partner governments: Australia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Switzerland.

The Forum’s aim is to make it possible for experienced federalists to share their knowledge and experience with new members. The first Filipino group invited by the Forum was headed by former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and Senator Aquilino Pimentel.

Today the champion of federalism in the Philippines is President Rody Duterte who is from Mindanao. He champions federalism.

He will work for the Philippines to stay as one country but with smaller communities especially in Bangsa Moro with political clout to govern their communities.

With this kind of division, it is understandable why the local authorities will be unable to support themselves. The unjust division is also one of the reasons why the Muslims would rather secede. So not surprisingly federalism is the best antidote to secession feared by most Filipinos who do not understand the system.

President Rodrigo Duterte is determined to change the Constitution to structure our politics and government to parliamentary federal government. I must add that to do this we should support the moderate Muslims who want political solutions against extremists like the Mautes and ISIS.

“Kinausap ako to carry the torch of federalism,” Duterte said. “I will build a nationwide consensus for federalism.”

Islam was here at least 200 years before the Spanish invasion. These Muslim merchants originally came from present-day Malaysia and Indonesia to the southernmost points in the Philippines, namely the Sulu islands and Mindanao. influence of Sri Vijaya) who lived in different barangays.