THIS is a reaction to Mr. Orlando Carvajal’s column titled, “Rev Gov,” which saw print on SunStar Cebu’s Sept. 14, 2018 issue.
He wrote that the democratic republic of the Philippines is only “form and theory.” He further said that the country is ruled by oligarchs. Then, he mentioned that federalism can help establish a democratic republic. But he did not elaborate.
I pray that in his future columns he can discuss the reasons why federalism can truly establish a democratic republic rather than a democratic republic just being a “form and theory.”
But how can the present administration, which has an authoritarian bent, put in place a revolutionary government? Will the President revolt against himself? Or revolt against the oligarchs? Does he have to establish a revolutionary government to get rid of the oligarchs?
Will the oligarchs easily go away if the Philippines is already a federal republic? Will traditional politicians, who are mostly rich, disappear in an instant after a shift to federal form of government?
Democracy is not the problem. The problem is with the people who undermine it and who think it is not functioning.
The problem is with the voters who sell their power to elect competent representatives in government for a few pesos. Voting is an exercise by the sovereign people, but for some elections are just an opportunity to earn easy money. Can federalism fix the perennial problem on vote buying?
Federalism cannot fix democracy if the Chief Executive right now is committing unconstitutional maneuvers (i.e. ousting Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno) in our unitary democratic republic.