Federalizing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for Good Governance and Quality Public Service

Abstract

This paper is about the “long fought for” self-autonomy in Muslim Mindanao as conceived in the peace agreement between the government and the Muslim organization and the prospect of federalizing the ARMM to achieve good governance and quality public service. The realization of self-autonomy can be actualized through federalization or the creation of the BangsaMoro federal state. Given the prevailing conditions of the ARMM as an autonomous region, is federalization politically viable? The focused area of examination is the ARMM specifically its political structure. Also considered in the analysis is the political culture like how patronage politics affects certain aspects of fiscal governance of the ARMM and its repercussion to the delivery of basic services to the people. The methodology used in this study is basically a single-country or area studies which is extrapolative for informational purposes but are also useful for comparison. It is also considered a case study where the unit of analysis is a specific region - in this study the ARMM region which is said to be a test case for the potential of federalism. The most significant outcome of this study is that federalism is politically viable in the ARMM in terms of its political structure of decentralization arguing from Brillantes Model that the next viable step to decentralization is federalization. However, there is much to be desired in actualizing decentralization and the need to enhance governance capabilities through accountability of public officials and transparency as well as providing solutions to the serious problem of patronage politics in the region.