By Sabrina Anonas
POLITICS is not something that young people would discuss. Au contraire, student leaders from all over Central Luzon woke up at the crack of dawn to prepare themselves for the #FedUp Youth summit to talk about Federalism.
A survey of 1,537 respondents by Brand Philosophy Inc. most Millennials have already taken their stand about federalism. However, the survey during September 1 to 15 showed only a few are actually knowledgeable about it. Of the survey, the rate of respondents were About 44.45 percent of the total respondents were from Luzon, 22.23 percent from Mindanao and 20.82 percent from the Visayas. Only 11.50 percent were from the National Capital Region (NCR).
Majority (58 percent) of the respondents has no idea what federalism is. About 25 percent said they have little knowledge of Federalism. Ten percent said they have sufficient knowledge while 6 percent said they have knowledge of federalism.
The survey results showed 65 percent of the respondents believe Federalism can improve the country’s situation. Majority of those who said so were by Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon respondents (84 percent, 70 percent and 59 percent, respectively). About 39 percent from the NCR believe Federalism can improve the country’s situation.
Great interest
DESPITE the misconceptions about youth involvement in politics, the young people at the “#FedUP Youth Summit” on October 1 at The Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City showed great interest in the forum.
Questions were thrown to adult resource persons mostly on how having a federal form of government would affect issues such as traffic problems, education, employment, health, taxes and cultural identity. Lawyer Raul Lambino said Federalism cannot be done overnight—he doesn’t even see it being implemented within the decade.
“But it will happen; it is only a question of when,” Lambino, the former spokesman of former President Gloria Arroyo, said. “Which is why educating the youth about Federalism is important.”
Education on different government systems (federalism included) should be incorporated in basic education to avoid the misconception due to ignorance and misinformation, according to Lambino.
Supreme Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez explained that a federal system of government could make the justice system better as cases could be processed faster. Marquez said different states can have their own different laws and provisions while all states in a federal government will still follow the same basic constitution.
Very informative
MADISON Morillo Dominguez, 24, a participant and also a fresh graduate of the University of the Philippines Manila, found the summit to be very informative.
He told the BusinessMirror he has read a lot about federalism but attending the forum and listening to Lambino and Marquez is different.
“Iba talaga pag-physical; naka-clarify mo yung mga nababasa mo,” Dominguez said. [It’s different to be physically present in these fora. One gets to clarify things read in books.] “It’s just like I expected. I expected it to be informative and I actually expected that it would be an advocacy because they would not speak about federalism if they didn’t advocate [for] it.”
Dominguez added that even if he thinks the speakers were advocating for federalism, “they were being objective.” “They showed both the pro’s and cons,” he said. “That’s why I’m kind of leaning towards supporting their advocacy.” Other participants the BusinessMirror spoke with said they didn’t regret attending the forum. They proved to be more interested in learning about federalism and were enthusiastic in talking to speakers after the event.
“Millennials are interested in politics,” Marquez said. “They just have to be made aware that it is not all too technical to understand.”