The 1987 constitution provided many checks and balances as it served to provide solutions to the pre-existing problems during the Marcos Administration. We must all agree that it has already served its purpose, and in a growing democracy like ours, our current charter lacks the political synergy to support the evolution of our free existence today. The apparatus for independence, for exchange of ideas through debate and to combat anti-repressive mechanisms have already been put in place, with the freedom of the press as one of the clear manifestations of that. The challenges of today's modern democracy calls for that a synergistic system be established that will foster increased political cooperation. The dynamism of the challenges today does not only call for a renewal of values or perspectives, but also a renewal and re-strengthening of our systems and institutions, since institutions influence, shape and motivate behavior.I will enumerate the many salient points which point at Structural Reform as a main component towards a progressive Philippines.
1. Strengthening of our Government structures through increased political autonomy and capacity building in regions.
Our local government units rely heavily on the Internal Revenue Allotment set forth by the national government towards services that it needs to provide to their locality, aside from the local revenues their generate. Usually, a municipality accounts for 90% of total revenues and cities get around 30-50%, based on land mass and population. This has resulted local government over dependence on the National Government for funding.
Teodoro’s platform thus aims at providing a capacity building mechanism at the regional level. This means that Congress would grant more autonomy to regions based on specified criteria, by giving them for example, the power to charter their own companies and get fees from that, the power to establish some type of regulated business practices based on their own norms. The correlative cost now to this is that they get a lesser share in the IRA, so that we could funnel the IRA to those regions which cannot afford, and need capacity building from national government. This capacitates local government units to be the sole providers for the needs of their own communities. This is a response to the problem of National Government’s current state of perpetually financing basic services in local government. A period of capacitating and wheeling away period will thus serve as the time framework, to give ample time for regions to make the needed adjustments and susceptible actions. This might also entail consolidation of certain LGU’s, under the assumption that some municipalities cannot provide for themselves. This system gives the power to Congress to make the determination without the gruesome process of Constitutional Amendment.
2. Eco-Tourism with a cultural backbone
Tourism is one of the more productive industries we have as of present time. Given the vividness of our culture, we have provided the best sights and scenery for tourists coming in and paying a visit. However, much has our tourism has fostered, many cities seem to have devised a dysfunctional strategy, not being to maximize the potential of their investment, given that it is using a similar formula to attract tourists based on what works for the other tourist destinations in the country. What happens now is that we have a multitude of beaches for example, that not a lot of tourists go to, considering some of the characteristics of some beaches do not fit in accordance with its natural beauty. We are only replicating the same formula, and often, visitors will only get tired of seeing beaches in each and every corner of the country.
Teodoro’s platform addresses this issue by devising a tourism strategy for each locality, based on its ethnic cultural strengths- eco-tourism with a cultural backbone. This makes each area of the Philippines distinct from each other, based on culture, not for us, but for those who want to pay a visit. A wide range of choices then makes our country susceptible to the promise of increased tourists.
This provides great opportunity for tourists to have a diversity of choices, and a differentiated perspective for many of their vacation needs. It also re-enforces the strength of each culture.
3. Opening up the economy as a function of employment and increased revenue.
Revenue Generation
The National Budget and Appropriation measures have always been a problem in the country, and most often than not, like this year, we fail to meet our collection targets and many of us complain that basic services are not delivered to us due to the lack of funding. Major reason is we rely on a set of legal allowable activities in the industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors, taking into consideration that we are a sovereign country- and this does not empower us to expand our revenue base. We say let’s spend more on this, more on that, and as it turns out, we just keep on plugging holes given our constraints, putting more on this and less on that, but it turns out, we’re only working on the same revenue base.
Teodoro’s platform addresses the problem of revenue by opening up the economy, and opening up our industries to competition, so that we can align our policies with that of the rest of world. Liberalization through direct foreign ownership in the industrial, commercial, residential and certain tourist destinations brings together dependent functions of employment, tourism and most importantly, additional revenue. Of course, we must keep agricultural land, marine resources, timber land, mineral land and forest land solely for Filipinos, and control should be for Filipinos, not for ours but for future generations, as responsible stewards of these resources and not owners.
Creation of Jobs
Migration has always also been an issue amongst many Filipino workers, and that is why brain drain continues to plague The Philippine society today. We cannot prevent the Filipino from exploring opportunities abroad, but we can definitely encourage the Filipino to stay here by providing sufficient opportunities through the creation of new jobs and higher income. The so-called nationalistic provisions in the 87 constitution have actually become restrictive in a sense that it does not allow the entry of foreign investors in industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors. This provision serves as a hindrance to the country's economic takeoff. This restrictive measure should be taken off to allow portfolio investment to increase, thus many of our laborers would have access to more quality jobs and increased opportunity towards financial freedom.
-The following platforms were addressed by Sec. Gilbert Teodoro, with some substantiation from Aaron De Leon-
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