read business mirror‘s nov 2017 editorial Federalism or feudalism, reacting to the economist‘s The Philippines has the most persistent poverty in South-East Asia and warning that federalism is not necessarily or absolutely the answer.

The Economist article concludes, “The popular perception of him [Duterte] as an outsider willing to fight against the elites of Manila has some grounding in reality.” Some will see this as a justification for the President’s call for federalism.

… the reality—and our concern—is that the line between federalism and “feudalism” can be easily blurred.

The belief that the Philippines has moved beyond the mentality and structure of the “provincial warlord” is dangerously naïve. No better example is the Maguindanao massacre. The feudalism of medieval Europe was the family of the primary landholder giving the peasants just enough sustenance to work the fields but not enough to give them the strength to rise up against the Lord of the Manor. Not much has changed in the past thousand years.

Interestingly and maybe just coincidental (or not) is that the best effort at poverty reduction has occurred in countries—China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand—with very strong and controlling national governments.

Federalism may be an important step to break the hold and power of Imperial Manila. But unless the rule of law can overcome the warlords, we are not going to accomplish anything positive.