“Imperial Manila”

Isn’t this just about the most annoying expression you have ever heard?

You don’t have to go much further than today’s Inquirer, where “33 dead, P900M lost in 8 days of rains in Bicol, east Visayas” is buried on page 4, for evidence of the dominance of the capital city in Philippine political life.

Although Tokyo, for example, is at least as dominant a capital as Manila, it is true that there is a need to strengthen the Philippine regions.

However, despite the tirade against “Imperial Manila” in President Arroyo’s state of the nation address in 2006 and the phrase’s recent resurrection during the current ZTE crisis, I haven’t seen evidence of much genuine commitment to regionalism in government policy.

As the wonderfully named Planet Naga points out:

If she (and any other president for that matter) were really sincere about dismantling "Imperial Manila," a regional block allocation system should be the non-negotiable centerpiece of the annual budget.

In fact, as Mayor Binay of Makati has pointed out, not only is there no regional block allocation, even the internal revenue allotment (IRA) to local governments is distributed in an inequitable and partial manner.

“Under Mrs. Arroyo’s regime, the timely release of IRA and other development funds to LGUs is a reward for loyalty. This is a perversion of the objectives of the IRA as envisioned in the Local Government Code, which is to provide LGUs a degree of financial independence from Malacanang,” he said.

Binay said if Mrs. Arroyo is really sincere in her statement that LGUs are very vital in economic development, and if it is really true that the national government has the money, then she should release the IRA on time.

“The statement about the provinces being controlled by Imperial Manila was meant to play to the galleries. The reality, however, is that the local governments, the entire country, are being held hostage by Imperial Arroyo,” he said.

I’m with Binay on that one. It seems that the president’s deep love for the Philippine regions tends to surface only when she is in grave political difficulty in Manila or wants to demonstrate the strength of her provincial powerbase. "Imperial Manila" is just another empty expression with which to divert attention from the real issues facing us.

Comments

[cvj]

Sad to say, she's not beyond risking national unity by rekindling regional rivalries in order to keep power.

[Lester Cavestany]

I wonder if the placement of the Inquirer article was affected by the demographics of their readers. I think companies nowadays make decisions based on surveys of customers.

Thanks,
Lester

[Gian Paolo]

The annual budget is not decided by the President.

[Tommy]

HM, King Anthony S. Martin will bring city development in all provinces around Philippine Islands.

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