WE DO not know yet what new States will emerge in the proposed federal system of government for the Philippines, but suffice it to say for now that these will most likely be formed along the jurisdictions of the existing sub-national regions.
Although there are no existing formal government structures within these regions as of now, suffice it to say also that these will be formed out of what now exists within the present Regional Development Councils (RDCs).
Of course, politics is politics and the people might want something else, but it is best to prepare as early as possible, starting with what we already know.
Looking back, it is really just political gerrymandering that caused the division of the big old provinces into the smaller provinces that now exists. For example, there was just one big Davao that is now separated into several provinces. Same goes for the old Cotabato and the old Surigao.
In the case of what used to be the old Davao and the old Cotabato, I do not think the people would mind using the old names for the new States. It could be different in the case of what used to be the old Surigao, because the people there might want to keep the new name Caraga as the name of the new State.
By the way, Caraga is not an acronym like MIMAROPA. Caraga is the name of an old kingdom in the area, and it could still be a fitting name for a new State.
I think that as early as now, we could already predict that there will be at least three ministerial functions that would remain at the federal level, and these would probably be foreign relations, national defense and fiscal policy. There would certainly be a number of federal agencies that would have to be formed, but these would no longer be at the ministerial level, meaning to say without cabinet rank.
That said, it is possible to prepare as early as now to build the future infrastructure for State level governance, and these should include all functions other than the prospective federal functions that I earlier named.
As it is now, the RDCs are composed of the existing Provinces, and because of that, it could be said that these Provinces are now the building blocks of what could eventually become the prospective federal States. As it is now, all these Provinces would already have the existing Departments for the delivery of public services, such as trade and industry, labor and employment, education and health.
That being the case, it would be very easy for these Provinces to contribute their existing manpower and material assets so that the Departments at the prospective State level could be formed as early as possible, in a way that they could hit the ground running. (To be continued)/PN
