Arroyo bats for shift to federal gov’t

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — President Arroyo reiterated her support for a long-running proposal to change the country’s form of government to spur Mindanao’s development.

"What we need now is to amend the Constitution to set up a federal form of government. This is the only way to give more opportunities to Mindanao," she told local barangay officials during the launch of a government road maintenance program.

Although Mindanao is rich in natural resources, it is the country’s poorest region mainly because of the decades-old Muslim insurgency.

Mrs. Arroyo, who is seeking a full six-year term in the May elections, also promised local officials that she will give local governments more funding if she is elected, as well as relocating the main office of the Department of Agriculture to Mindanao so the government can monitor the region’s agriculture industry more closely.

"One of my first acts after becoming president is to give 100 percent of the local governments’ share of the national tax," she told her audience. "Those are not just words but action."

She was referring to her order reversing an executive order issued by her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, that withheld 20 percent of local governments’ share of the so-called internal revenue allotment or share of revenue collected by the national government.

Mrs. Arroyo added the recent re-opening of the mothballed National Steel Corp. in nearby Iligan City would help boost Mindanao’s growth.

"All of these are just downpayments for the progress and peace of Mindanao," she said, promising more development for the region if she wins a fresh term in the upcoming polls.

Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr. is spearheading the latest move to change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary.

In March last year, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for a constituent assembly.

It proposed changing the form of government from presidential to parliamentary with a unicameral legislature. A federal system would be adopted after a fixed 10-year transition period.

De Venecia said changing the current form of government will remove legislative gridlocks inherent in a presidential form of government and speed up economic reforms and development.

A federal set-up, he added, would allow local governments to have more say in their affairs.

However, the Senate recently derailed the charter change drive because the chamber disagreed with the House on when and how to introduce constitutional amendments.

It said amendments should be made by a constitutional convention after the May elections. The House favors amendments to be made by a constituent assembly.

But senators said amendments made by a constituent assembly would be viewed with suspicion by a public wary of politicians who want to abuse their stay in public office.

Previous attempts to amend the Constitution during the administrations of Fidel Ramos and Estrada were derailed by fierce public opposition.