It's More Than About Time To Say Bye Bye To Imperial Manila

Although the Philippines is not in any way part of any foreign empire ever since July 4, 1946 - it has its sovereignty but there's a tag called "Imperial Manila". The term itself was used to describe how most of the affairs of the Philippines are decided whether business, politics or economics is decided by Imperial Manila. There's the statement that no leaf may even fall down in the Philippines without Manila's permission. Remembering basic Filipino history, Imperial Spain ruled the Philippines for 377 years and Manila was the capital of the Philippines. The irony is that even after the Imperial Spaniards were thrown away, the practice of imperialism still prevailed as today, Imperial Manila decides almost everything and the rest of the Philippines has no such power in decision making.

Depending on the country, a different kind of system is needed. The Philippines is composed of 7,107 islands that means a centralized government is not ideal at all. Vesting majority of the powers of Philippine governance having been vested to the National Capital Region with Imperial Manila making all the decisions. You want your important documents? You have to pass through Imperial Manila. Get your papers processed? It still has to pass through Imperial Manila. With almost everything if not everything under Imperial Manila, You want to settle a local dispute? It still has to go with Imperial Manila. Oh the irony that many Tagalogs protest against what they see as "imperialism" but they love the system of Imperial Manila which is killing the Philippines. Does everything really have to undergo through Imperial Manila if the problem is not at a national scale? Does Imperial Manila have to butt in just everything in the Philippines? Sad to say but that kind of attitude has really caused 

The difference between federal states and highly centralized states can be seen in its administration. In the centralized system of the Philippines, all decision making is done by the National Capital Region without consulting the other regions. If Imperial Manila decides that there will be no more homework on Saturdays then the whole country must follow without consulting the rest. In the case of federalism, it means that decision making is not restricted to just the capital and everyone has their own fair share of the decision making. If there was not too much intervention in local development, every region of the Philippines can develop without having to depend too much on the national government. If there was more sharing in the decision-making process by region, there is bound to be more adjustments because not all islands in the Philippines are equal which calls for equity over equality.

Please, heavy traffic is not a sign of booming economy but a sign of utter irresponsibility and lack of decentralization. The more I think of why traffic in Manila is that heavy can be blamed on the imperialist system of the Philippines. I really wonder where in the world does President Nobita Aquino even get his idea that "traffic is a sign of progress". The result of everything is concentrated in the capital has caused all that traffic nightmare. The traffic nightmare is also a testimony to why progress is slow in the Philippines. Only if the Philippines and Filipinos were under federalism than centralized form of government would be this - less traffic, more progress and development. But really, how long will many Filipinos choose to remain in their culture of anti-intellectualism.