Prof. Edmund Tayao, Executive Director of the Local Government Development Foundation (LOGODEF), pointed out both autonomy and federalism have common feature, which is decentralization that focuses on the re-distribution or dispersing of functions, powers, people or things, away from a central location or authority.

He explained that devolution is the State’s granting of powers at the sub-national level while deconcentration is the process by which the agents of central governmental control are relocated and geographically dispersed.

Tayao added that both autonomy and federalism are ways to decentralize powers but both have tendencies to centralize, considering that decentralization is an option for unitary systems of governance, but at the implementation level, the central government remains the superior level of government. However, the LOGODEF official emphasized that both autonomy and federalism could be limited by fragmented political subdivisions.

“We need to understand the context of reform, still ongoing democratization, and realities of governance, that federalism may be a way to strengthen democracy, among others,” Tayao stressed.

He mentioned that the Cordillera is in a better position to achieve autonomy because its local governments are conspicuously located near each other, unlike in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao where the Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi provinces are separated from mainland Mindanao, making transactions difficult for the people and local officials concerned.

Further, although the demand for autonomy in Muslim Mindanao is anchored on identity, this is challenged by physical separation which at the same time, is supposed to bring out the advantage of identity with the unity it can provide. Thus, even with effective leadership, coordination and administration is a challenge, he concluded.

Tayao believes that aside from the existing provisions of the 1987 Constitution providing for the establishment of autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera, there should be a separate article for autonomous regions to compliment the other provisions that describe the special character of these, among others.

He encouraged autonomy advocates not to be disappointed by the failures of earlier quests for self-governance, saying that the process to be undertaken must be calibrated, key elements that favour democracy are identified, structure is distinguished from mechanism, and complimentary functions are clearly delineated, as well as standards and procedures are set.

Tayao exhorted autonomy advocates to sustain their aggressiveness in pursuing the renewed quest for autonomy because it is already explicitly provided in the Constitution while the proposed federal form of government will need amending the Constitution and may take a longer period of time, thus, the autonomous region in the Cordillera should be put in place prior to the establishment of a federal form of government where both autonomy and federalism could co-exist. (PIA/Dexter A. See-PIO Baguio City)

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