Under the administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, I am very interested on how the government would pursue the realization of the shift from our present presidential system to a federal system of government.
The federal system of government theoretically brings the government closer to the people where the powers of government are shared by the national and local government.
The local government shall be given ample powers to govern effectively since it would have the power to formulate policies and implement them.
Just like in the US, the local or state government shall exercise plenary powers of governance, while the national government shall exercise residual powers.
For Cebu, the federal system of government would work wonders because under this system the local or state government shall exercise ample power that would make them effective in governance.
The state government will come equipped with more funds unlike today when the local government is beholden to the national government especially when it comes to finances.
Under the federal system of government, the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) would be larger for the local and state government so it can be more ready and effective in governance and in attending to the needs of their constituents.
Today, under the present system, the IRA share of the local government is 40 percent while the national government gets 60 percent.
Under the federal system, the local or state government gets between 60 to 70 percent of the IRA while the national government gets between 30 to 40 percent of the IRA share.
The local or state government will take first crack in resolving the problems of their constituents since many of the powers of the national government will be devolved to the local government.
In my studies at the University of San Carlos, I concluded that the federal system is better than our present system.
* * *
With every change of administration, it is always expected for our officials and the community to support the new leaders.
But in the case of Acting Cebu City Mayor Margot Osmeña, she is apparently so overexcited to run the city government that it shows in her recent policies and decisions.
First she announced that the city’s finances are in disarray without conducting a study, declaring that the situation is so bad for the city that it is on the verge of bankruptcy.
But her claim is immediately debunked by the local finance committee which clarified that the city government has more than P8 billion in its coffers.
Osmeña then ordered the recall of all government vehicles issued to the local officials for inventory which did not sit well for some barangay officials who claimed that it would disrupt and affect the delivery of services to their constituents.
It had been observed that the vehicles that were returned were left parked at the South Road Properties (SRP) and not to the officials who need them to serve their constituents.
In the case of Adlaon barangay chairman Elvis Narra who returned his vehicle, he met an accident while riding a motorcycle and he is now in a coma at a hospital.
I don’t know why it has become difficult for the city to send personnel to conduct a physical inventory of the vehicles in order not to disrupt the delivery of public service to the barangays.
I hope that Osmeña would be more reasonable and listen to the pleas of the barangay officials.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
