Editorial

Educative citizenry in BOL and federalism

Scholarly discussion on the different forms of government is associated with academics as in the unitary and federal states and the parliamentary system. What our compatriots know in our political setting is the existence of the central and local governments as well as administrative regions such as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Region XII.

        People have heard about the Bangsamoro Basic Law but with certain skepticism by some sectors or ethnic groupings. And now, to what extent do many know about the Bangsamoro Organic Law that will replace the ARMM under parliamentary-democratic form to be called Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao? Under the BOL, the chief minister is elected from among the members of the regional legislative assembly and not elected at large by the people, except for legislative representatives, who shall lead regional governance. Still, the constituents have to know the extent of the powers of the BARMM whose definitive territories shall be determined through a plebiscite which will be called by January 2019. There is a lot to learn about the provisions in the BOL.

        Another political push is federalism espoused by President Duterte whose model has been crafted by the Constitutional Committee and now under scrutiny in both chambers of the Congress. Under the proposal, the vote for the presidency is also a vote for the vice president of the same political party fashioned after the United States of America which has several states such as California and Texas and what have they. There is no prime minister post in the proposed federal state. The proposed federalism is now a heated debate. Should the people ratify federalism through a plebiscite, the BARMM could be one of these regional states in Mindanao if such is established under the BOL.  Each regional state will have its respective elected senator(s), hence, the number will increase in the Senate from the original 24 elected nation-wide.

        The BOL and the BARMM affect the tri-people in south of Mindanao and the push for federalism as well. We are the stakeholders here. Politics is not all about government but affects also our economic and social dimensions.

While social institutions have their respective functions and places in a society, they are interactive as politics would affect the economic sphere such as sharing of revenues between the central and local governments. Each federal state has to seek its own revenues for its own sustainability and progress..

        So these two political issues have to be learned by the stakeholders --- the constituents. How? Schedules of series of forum or assemblies for presentation of political issues are insufficient since not many are attendees to these gatherings. Information dissemination have to be massive. We have the social media but not many households have internets, except for televisions or radios. Information campaign have to be both extensive and intensive so we could develop an educated political citizenry.

        We want a citizenry that is well learned and knowledgeable, at most the basic political concepts, before they exercise their political empowerment through a plebiscite. Say, if the BOL and BARMM are for peace and development, people, the stakeholders, have to be convinced that these will work or we go back to square one. Information and educational campaign starts now and it has to be penetrative like schoolers in attendance to absorb the academic lessons. So be it!