THE Philippines appear to have no expert in federalism.
Thus, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has invited at least seven international experts on federalism who will tackle the various aspects of the political system in a two-day forum on May 11 and 12.
The DILG is the government agency tasked by President Duterte to lead the national government’s resolve to convince the Filipino to agree with the Duterte administration’s agenda to change the existing presidential system into a federal form of government.
In a news statement issued by the DILG’s Public Information Office (PIO) headed by Tess Vergara, the interior department’s Center for Federalism and Constitutional Reform being chaired by Assistant Secretary Jonathan E. Malaya will spearhead the two-day forum in Subic.
The Center for Federalism and Constitutional Reform has invited Forum of Federations President and CEO Rupak Chattopadhyay; former Secretary of the Inter State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India (India’s peak intergovernmental agency) Ravi Dhingra; Senior Advocate and a constitutional legal advisor to the President of Nepal Dr. Surya Dhungel; External Expert Panel on devolution of the Scottish Parliament member Dr. Sandra Leon; Curtin University Law School Professor Bertus de Villiers; University of the Western Cape’s Dullah Omar Institute Jaap de Visser (LLB, LLM, PhD); and Forum of Federations Executive Director for Asia and Australia Phillip Gonzalez.
Aside from above mentioned, hundreds of local and international participants are expected to attend the two-day affair, the DILG statement said.
The forum will carry the theme “Multi-level Systems of Government—Structural Features and Intergovernmental Relations.”