I admire the gentlemen from Albay for at least stepping out of their comfort zone and thinking big on Federalism. If the Federal system these gentlemen are proposing is the same system as I understood it in Canada and USA, it will give a lot of autonomy to local governments, i.e. provinces as we know now. This includes the Muslims in the south of course, who are already enjoying to some extent the benefits of local autonomy. Does it mean we can rename the Bicol region as the Federal State of Kabikolan?

        Under the Federal system, Bicol will control its destiny, control taxation and natural resources. We can probably make a bold statement to paraphrase Manuel L. Quezon’s, “I’d rather have Bicol run like hell by Bicolanos, than run like heaven by Tagalogs”. By the way, this asinine and selfish statement of one our former Illustrados, is the major reason why the Filipinos are still in a lot of trouble.

        Unfortunately, this Federal system proposal is dubious. The Federal system will not fix the economic, social and political problems of the country. Secondly, with Federalism, it will only worsen the regionalism mentality of Filipinos. This regionalism masquerading under the guise of cultural mosaic of the Philippines is obstructing unity, economic progress and cultural cohesiveness of the country. Thirdly, I question the motives of these gentlemen.

        Albay is the major source of electricity. Under the Federal system, Albay will completely control the electricity supply of Luzon. Albay will become the geothermal sheiks of the country, and Sorsogon is not too far behind.

Manny Ilao
Vancouver, Canada