The provinces and cities that will compose the states to be created by the Duterte administration-initiated Federalism shift will have to be capable of financing the numerous governmental operations that will be transferred to them upon approval of the shift. This means that at least one “• ideally more than one “• of the components of each new state will have to be possessed of substantial financial capability, if the state is to be a viable political entity. Unfortunately, not many of the country’s 81 provinces can be said to be financial heavyweights.
It has been said that of the ten or more states that the Duterte administration’s planners have in mind only three are certain to be financially viable. These are the National Capital Region (composed of 16 cities and one municipality), Central Luzon (Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Tarlac, Bataan, Zambales and Nueva Ecija) and today’s Region IV (Cavite, Batangas, Quezon, the two Mindoro provinces; Palawan, Marinduque and Romblon). Most “• not all “• of the provinces that make up these three regional groupings are sufficiently wealthy to help make the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Southern Luzon, formally viable political entities.
Apart from the provinces that compose these three regions, there are not many others that can be classified as wealthy. The rest are second-class or third-class provinces, financially speaking. Most of the other relatively wealthy provinces are in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Visayas and Western Visayas.
Cebu is a very rich province. Because of the presence of Cebu, a state composed of that island, Cebu, Leyte and Samar would be a viable entity.
A state composed of the islands of Negro, Guimaras, Siquijor and Panay likewise would be financially viable because of the presence of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
In the same manner, the progressive province of Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental would generate the financial resources necessary to keep a Northwestern Mindanao state afloat.
The resources of Camarines Sur and Albay would be severely stretched to ensure financial viability for a Bicol Region state, which would encompass the island provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate.
A Southern Mindanao state would be heavily dependent on “• and would be kept viable by “• Davao City and Sarangani.
With its inadequate economic development, a Northeastern Mindanao state composed of Central Mindanao and the Caraga region would almost certainly have a difficult time financing the numerous economic and social responsibilities it would inherit from the national government as a consequence of the shift to federalism. Not one of the Central Mindanao and Caraga provinces has financial capability sufficient to compensate for the financial weakness of the state’s other components.
It is not certain whether the planner of the Duterte administration’s federalism initiative have undertaken enough study of the advisability or unwisdom of lumping provinces together in federal state. What is certain is that some provinces will be givers of resources and others will be takers.
Is that a good state of affairs? Yes, if a province is a taker; no, if a province is a giver.
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