A PROFESSOR of the University of the Philippines Cebu yesterday said that federalism will not strengthen the political structure of the country but will eventually cause Balkanization.
“We will surely be disunited as Filipinos. If Yugoslavoia was turned into six states, we might have more than 30 states, which would not unify a fragmented country like ours,” said Professor Phoebe Umbay Sanchez.
She also cited India, which was converted into a federal state from a compact state, which she believes has led to extremism.
“Federalism will not unite us. We are already a fragmented country and it will further disenfranchise and vulcanize the Philippine society,” she said.
Balkanization refers to “the division of a multinational state into smaller, ethnically homogeneous entities.” According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it dates back to the Second World War, when the division of the Ottoman Empire, particularly in the Balkans, caused “ethnic and political fragmentation.”
Sanchez also believes the approval of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) was intended to facilitate Balkzanizaion so that each entity can get economic sustenance from the poor, not from the rich.
“It will entrench the political dynasties. So it’s negativism. Poverty will be entrenched but political dynasties will have more power,” she said.
“It’s very clear that Train is connected to federalism. They passed the Train ahead. If we look at it, dungan gyud unta nang Train and federalism. It so happened that federalism did not snowball and only Congress is interested in it,” Sanchez said. (EOB)