Roxas says federalism leads to more taxes, won't solve Mindanao problems

MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II is against the proposals to implement federalism in the Philippines, saying it will only lead to more taxes.

Some sectors are calling for a change in the country’s form of government from unitary to federal, believing this would bring development in Mindanao. Advocates of federalism include Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a rival of Roxas in the presidential race.

Roxas, however, believes that federalism would not solve the problems in Mindanao.

“If you want additional taxes, choose federalism. Why? Look at all federal states. US has a federal income tax and state income tax. Look at Malaysia. All federal systems have national and local taxes,” Roxas said.  

“In the unitary system like ours, there is only one tax and the money collected is sent to the local (government),” he added.

Roxas dismissed federalism as another way of saying “we want more resources.” He claimed that the Aquino administration poured more resources to Mindanao compared to its predecessors.

“In the last five years, more than P260 billion worth of projects, infrastructure projects, were channeled to Mindanao. That is two times the amount channeled during the combined 12 years of President GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) and President Erap (Joseph Estrada). Only P125 billion was sent to Mindanao in 12 years,” he said.

Roxas claimed that under the present system, money is not stolen and reaches the local governments without kickbacks.

He, nevertheless, claimed that more work has to be done to promote development in Mindanao.

“Do we have a lot of catching up to do? Yes, we have to catch up. But federalism is not the answer,” the presidential candidate said.