A COUPLE of days ago, I stumbled across a pile of books I bought while I was a student of political science in Germany. The questions those books dealt with (and also the thesis I had to write) could be summarized as: “What is good for development and prosperity in democracies?”

Growing up in Germany does not necessarily lead you to believe that everything we have is perfect just because we’re one of the richest countries in the world.

A Conference that will focus on the imperatives of pursuing a Federal Republic of the Philippines with a Parliamentary Government will ensue before President-Elect Rodrigo assumes public office this July 1.

Entitled “Pursuing Federalism: A Shift from Unitary - Presidential to Federal - Parliamentary Government”, renowned Federal advocates in the Philippines are expected to attend. Some members of the 2005 Consultative Commission for the Amendments of the 1987 Constitution Dr. Jose Abueva, Atty. Raul Lambino, Ms Carmen Pedrosa, Prof. Alex Magno, and Atty. Rita Jimeno, CDPI President Lito Monico Lorenzana and PCCI Chairman Emeritus Amb. Francis Chua have confirmed their participation in the dialogue. Speaker of the House, Hon. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez and PDP-Laban President Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, were invited to give their commentaries on the administration’s initiatives.

THERE’S A variety of incantations being offered to break the spell of poverty in our provinces. These include “anticorruption,” “antidynasty,” “federalism,” and many other magic chants.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has made known that “federalism” is his choice of incantation to spur economic development and to help stamp out poverty in the countryside.

Dr. Jose Rizal put this idea forward in an essay published in La Solidaridad in 1889-1890. “Las Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos (The Philippines a Century Hence)” is deemed the national hero’s most prescient essay for a number of predictions he boldly made, most of which have come to pass.

This particular prophecy, however, inched snail-paced down the century, prompting remarks that Rizal had failed with this one. Today, his prognosis is catching speed toward the finish line of probable fulfillment with the election of Rodrigo Duterte as the 16th President of the Philippines.

MAKATI, PH – Newly-elected Davao del Norte First District Representative Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, Speaker for the 17th Congress meets with the CDPI President, Lito Monico Lorenzana along with some members of the 2005 Consultative Commission and Amb. Francis Chua of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) to discuss on the impending Constitutional Initiatives of the President Duterte.

It is now official. Rodrigo Duterte is president-elect.

At noon of June 30, he will assume the highest office in the land. The handover ceremony might be intentionally simple; but the expectations are overblown.

Duterte sought the highest post on the theme “Change is Coming.” His inaugural message should be: Change has Come.

DAVAO CITY - Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte said he expects long and contentious discussions towards achieving peace with communist and Muslim rebels and establishing a federal form of government.

Duterte admitted eradicating criminality, illegal drugs and corruption is a much easier task than reaching peace in the country’s strife-torn areas.

A shift from a presidential to a federal form of government is possible for the Philippines if President-elect Rodrigo Duterte pushes its legislation and Congress works fast to amend the Constitution, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and incoming Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez prefers to have a constitutional commission or con-com draft Charter revisions that will change the form of government to a federal system.

Alvarez, who is incoming president Rodrigo Duterte’s choice to be speaker of the House of Representatives in the 17th Congress, said yesterday he liked the move of the late president Corazon Aquino to form a con-com that wrote the 1987 Constitution.

Although the topic of federalism has been discussed since the 1971 Constitutional Convention, there are still many areas that are not clear even to political analysts. In the interest of full disclosure, I will state now that I have always been in favor of a federal system of government and I have written several columns in the past about this topic. However, today I want to focus on clarifying certain issues.