(Delivered at the Kusog Mindanaw Conference 2016 on 29 November 2016 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel by Lito Lorenzana, Centrist Democratic Party)

Federalism is a subject matter that has occupied its Philippine advocates over the last three or four decades but has only gained traction through the candidate Duterte. A lot of us are somewhat familiar with the concept, but allow me to examine Federalism thru the prism of the people of the South – particularly people from Mindanao – where the concept is much more understood.

 

The Centrist Democracy Political Institute (CDPI) in partnership with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines brought together experts and partners in the shared effort of paving the way to Federalism through a conference and dialogue last 25 November 2016 at St. Giles Hotel, Makati City.

 

In an earlier commentary (“The federalism project in PH,” 11/9/16), I listed three key points from the institutional design literature that undermine the federalism project and the overall Charter change campaign.

This one, still an extension of my lecture as speaker at the recent Jaime V. Ongpin Annual Memorial Lecture, focuses on the most political of the three: the argument that a constituent assembly (Con-ass) which also functions as a legislative assembly and is riddled by vested interests is a highly risky mode of overhauling a constitution.

 

The leaders of both chambers of Congress have signaled that they are about to move into the Cha-cha (Charter change) phase of this administration’s national development plan. The debate being framed in this regard is a constitutional convention (Con-con) versus a constituent assembly (Con-ass).

How to explain the stunning victory of the Donald as President of the US of A, and of Brexit and even our very own PRRD victories? Some analysts and even President Obama picture it as the “populist backlash” against globalization, its super elites and governing institutions that seems to be run by paid hacks of corporations. In other words, a stiff reaction of voters against the great inequality — between the 1% who have and the 99% who can only trying to get by — produced by rapid globalization in the past 40 to 50 years.

I want to extend a very warm welcome to all of you here who have joined the 7th National Congress. I am very pleased to be surrounded by our newly elected officers, our members and fellows and our guests.

MANILA, Nov. 29 - The Duterte administration is spending a whopping P860.7 billion on large-scale infrastructure projects next year, which represents 5.4 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in keeping with its commitment to disperse growth and create enough jobs for Filipinos, especially in the countryside.

MANILA, Nov. 29 - Two hundred eighty families received an early Christmas gift yesterday as Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino led the completion of all Yolanda resettlement sites so that typhoon victims could be transferred before Christmas.

 

THIS is a sequel to last Thursday’s article on Trump winning. But instead of exploring the implications of what happened to Hillary and its consequences on Philippine politics (Nothing! Nada!), I will proceed to assess the US elections–from a purely subjective point of view.

 

The economy grew by 7.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, the fastest since the second quarter of 2013 at 7.6 percent – driven largely by the strong performance of manufacturing, trade and real estate, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced yesterday.