This is not about the four-letter one, but the much longer “F” word now prominent in current political discussions. As if to highlight the confused state of public discourse on the issue, a recent University of the Philippines forum asked: “If federalism is the answer, what is the question?” Earlier this week, state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) held the forum “Critical Perspectives on Federalism for Regional Development,” amid many more. The proposed shift from our current unitary state to a federal form of government appears to prominently motivate moves in the legislature toward amending the Constitution. Meanwhile, the longer-standing concern to ease the Charter’s restrictions on foreign investment has taken the back seat.

For such a major change with profound implications for our future, the lack of more essential details from the proponents of federalism is remarkable. I’ve heard cynics claim that its loud proponents in the government are mainly interested in accompanying transitory provisions that will indefinitely extend the term of the sitting president. Whether valid or not, I see it incumbent on proponents to provide more details on the intended changes so that the public could have something to chew on. My fellow Inquirer columnist, Prof. Winnie Monsod, tried to pin down speakers in the PIDS forum with the direct question: “So are you in favor of federalism for the country or not?” Hardly anyone could give a categorical answer, with the rationalization: “How can we answer when we don’t know what it is?”

The broad-strokes definition is perhaps well-understood. An online dictionary defines it as “a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs.” Someone noted that the Philippine case is unique and distinct from that of other well-known federalized countries. Existing federal states typically resulted from a decision by previously separate states to come together, a bottom-up process where the felt need was to unify distinct states under a central authority. We, however, are pursuing a top-down process of decentralization starting from an existing centralized system. In other words, most federal nations today federalized because they wanted to centralize; we are pursuing it because we want to decentralize. Someone argued that this makes it less useful for us to look to the experience of federalized countries for guidance on how to pursue ours. That is, the various “models” out there may not necessarily be responsive to our needs, because they had the opposite motivation for it.