Political Perspective on the Proposed Federal System of Government of Local Government Officials in SAMARICA, Occidental Mindoro

Abstract

In 1986, the Filipino people made history by overthrowing the 13-year Marcos dictatorship through a peaceful people power revolution. As a result, the country restored democracy and free elections through the 1987 Constitution which promised to empower citizens and Local Government Units (LGUs). Decentralization and local autonomy were further enhanced to put greater freedom and autonomous powers to local governments. However, it was the shortcomings of decentralization that paved the way for the interest of conversion to federalism. Thus, the present administration of the Philippine government has planned to convert the country's political system from democratic to federal. The study employed descriptive research design. The 58 local government officials in SAMARICA area were purposively selected. It includes the municipality of San Jose, Magsaysay, Rizal, and Calintaan in the province of Occidental Mindoro. The instrument underwent validity procedures and in the reliability test, it was found reliable. Result shows that the local government officials are middle-aged, male, and college graduate. In addition, they are the only politician in the family, members of the Liberal party, and councilors serving in the third class municipalities with short political experience. Lastly, officials have been attending seminars and trainings in the national level with few membership in organizations. The officials are "moderately perceptive" about the issues surrounding the proposed federal system of government. There is a significant difference in the respondents' perspectives when they are grouped based on age, the class of municipality, position, and attended seminars and trainings.