One of the biggest factors in considering the governmental structure of a country is the geographical set

up. In the archipelagic nature of the Philippines, the highly centralised unitary form of government makes
dealing and communicating with different regions, especially in the remote areas and those far from the
capital, extremely time-consuming and costly. As a result, implementation of projects and economic
development is staggered and unsustainable. Previous legislators have responded to this dilemma by
enacting the Local Government Code in 1991 to further local autonomy and promote participatory
governance. The key features of the Code that we have seen and experienced in the past two decades are:
First, the LGUs have the legislative authority and regulative power, although limited, are necessary and
appropriate to protect the interest and the welfare of their respective constituents, the city ordinance, for
example.
Second, the LGUs are accountable for the delivery and development of various basic services that used to
be the responsibility of the national government. This will allow the facilitation of a faster response to the
issues.
Third, the Code increases the financial resources available to local government units by (1) broadening their
taxing powers; (2) providing them with a specific share from the national wealth exploited in their area, and
(3) increasing their share from the national taxes, through internal revenue allotments (IRA), from a
previously low of 11% to as much as 40%.
Finally, the Code lays the foundation for the development and evolution of more entrepreneurial-oriented
local governments.
The enactment of the Code has been welcomed and supported by our society, and its continuous
implementation is the attestation that it has been the most effective in addressing the unnecessarily
prolonged delivery of basic services. With this system in effect, we are just short of revising the constitution
to make it a formal federal government structure.
Under the proposed of the current administration, the said features of the Local Government Code will be
reinforced and strengthened to be more responsive to the economic and social development issues that
bureaucracy cannot address.
First, The states will now have supreme legislative authority that will help achieve faster, substantial and
equitable development in different areas of our country.
Second, the internal revenue allotment will increase in favor of the states and they will have more control
over the funds generated, which will allow them to exercise acts that will directly benefit their
constituencies.
Third, according to Pimentel, this will hasten the economic development among the various regions of the
country by allocating power which at present is concentrated in the central government to the regions that
will be converted to federal states. The devolved powers will allow the federal states to mobilize their
resources for development without being hindered or controlled by the central government;
Fourth, the federal structure is viewed to be the possible solution to the conflict in Mindanao as it will help
address the peculiarities in the BBL that are not applicable in the nation as a whole.
The foundation, which is the Local Government Code has been laid for more than two decades now. In
short, we are a unitary government which follows a federal system that needs strengthening and proper
implementation. Federal political systems do provide a practical way of combining, through representative
institutions, the benefits of unity and diversity. It devises a flexible arrangement for varying forms of selfgovernment to suit different circumstances and contingencies. As the saying goes, it provides unity in
diversity.