Stands and Awareness of Taytay Senior High School Students on Federalism

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Federalism is the allocation of power in the government to easily respond to the needs of the community. It enhances freedom and empowers racism (Kramer,1994). Over 30 years, the Philippines adopted the 1987 constitution. There are many administrations who tried to change the constitution of the Philippines, but all of their attempts failed. According to Dante Gatmaytan of the University of the Philippines College of Law, the charter change was started at the Marcos era. When the country was ruled by dictatorial type of government in the decade of years lead by the then President Ferdinand Marcos. In the present time, President Rodrigo Duterte attempts to change our government into a federal type of government through revisiting our 1987 constitution (Tomacruz, 2018). The purpose of this study is to give knowledge to those people who do not know what Federalism is.

METHODS

The research used quantitative research design. 60 HUMSS Grade 12 Students were randomly chosen. The researchers used a survey as an instrument to gather information from the respondents. This study utilizes a validated survey questionnaire to gather data, and descriptive statistics to describe the data gathered.

RESULTS

Result of this study showed that majority of the respondents were not informed of the basics of Federalism. It was seen that only 4 (6.67%) respondents are very informed, while 20 (33.33%) of the respondents are informed, and 36 (60%) of the respondents show they are not informed at all. Base on this study, 69% of Filipinos have no knowledge of the proposed federal system. The majority did not also agree on the charter change, because for them, it will just increase the number of corruptions. In these two questions, on the first part of the survey will test if the respondent is really aware of Federalism. Their response showed that 58% of the Filipinos are not aware of the name of the state being promoted while 31% are aware of the proposed states.

DISCUSSIONS

The results showed Filipinos’ unawareness on federalism. As one Filipino claimed, the reason why the people in the Philippines don't want to have a charter change is that they are not well-informed on the nature and benefits of Federalism. While the findings of this study represent a small voice, it should be considered for it represents the voice of the people of this country.