Millennials must learn about federalism

When will we really have Charter changes? Right now I just learned that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is moving forward to assist “millennials” who probably constitute a larger part of the Philippine Constitution and it is true that many of these young blood don’t even know the issues on why we should change our Charter. How sad for millennials who have instant education because of the Internet yet cannot even tell us enough why we need to change our Charter.

So far, the issue on our shift into a federal state has been handled by the Liberal Party (LP) and the Yellowtards, when in my book the federalism of the Philippines should not belong to any political party as it gives our nation a chance to come up with an improved system of governance regardless of political parties. For instance the Office of the Ombudsman could work better under a federalized system of governance. Unlike today, the Office of the Ombudsman is run by a single person who dispenses justice based on his own political agenda.

Right now, the nation has 80 provinces and 26 regional development councils (RDC). This is broken into major federal states of at least four in Luzon, four in the Visayas and four in Mindanao. The issue of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) can become a federal state within the Mindanao area. This is something we should teach our millennials while we are still educating our people of the goodness of federalism for our nation. Above all, we need to embrace a new political system where our nation embraces the merits of people that they hire in government…rather than what we have today… where only the friends of the powers-that-be get hired!

* * * This week, I just read the news that former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone who turned a hundred years old last Sunday was pushing for Charter changes in Japan to clarify the role of the military in these times of uncertainty, a role which is shared by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Today the Japanese military is only for defense purposes and if possible, the Japanese leadership wants this changed.

Meanwhile regarding the problem of the Kuril Islands, which was taken over by the Soviet Union toward the end of World War II, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged last Saturday to move forward with a peace treaty to solve the territorial dispute over Kuril Islands. This is indeed a positive move that both Russia and Japan have embarked to end this territorial issue that is poisonous to both nations since after the end of World War II.

* * * Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra is apparently looking into the flagged disbursement of some P816 million in DOJ funds during the full year of the fiscal term under then DOJ Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II for the year 2017. Call this a threat to the former DOJ Secretary, but from the way things are, Sec. Guevarra just wants to ensure that the DOJ brings back the “dignified and respectable image” of the Department of Justice by introducing institutional reforms.

Sec. Guevarra said in a speech to DOJ employees, “The DoJ building remains the same, but it’s somehow corroded inside; it looks solid but its structural integrity metaphorically needs to be checked.” Apparently, in the annual audit of the DOJ’s financial transactions in 2017, the COA discovered that P33.5 million in DOJ funds have been deposited in bank accounts without proper authorization. Former DOJ chief Aguirre said last Saturday, he had no participation whatsoever in the transactions which involved operations between the personnel division and the accounting division.

Whatever the result of this investigation, it will certainly clear up many issues that seem to have haunted the DOJ under Sec. Aguirre. Meanwhile, this issue has nothing to do with Sec. Guevarra, but before Sec. Aguirre was removed by Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte last April, he was on hand with a report that clearly pointed to a person who claimed that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was a “drug protector.”

What we would like to know is whether there’s some truth to this allegation against the Cebu City Mayor because if it is not true, then I would like DOJ Sec. Guevarra to clear the name of the Mayor of Cebu City. In a year’s time, it would be another election season and it is better to clear the Osmeña name now before the mid-term election period comes to us. If you ask me, the DOJ should refrain from being used as a tool to fight the enemies of the President. So we just hope that the new DOJ Secretary would not simply clear up the DOJ name to regain its structural integrity and competence!