Philippines as an Archipelago

From the debate on our national language to political activities, regionalism has always been apparent in the Philippines. Nevertheless, it is painted as a negative concept but this is rather a manifestation of the genuine Filipino identity. Our country is an archipelago—we are separated by seas and mountains geographically and by differences like cultures and religions, among others. But these differences do not mean rivalry, it only means diversity. And diversity is not inherently bad, it could even be good because this signifies the many different but substantial ways we, Filipinos, can exhibit the common beliefs and values we share including our love of our country, family, and God. 

Governance Amid Diversity

To direct and administer community and country affairs, governance is a critical component. Public trust, political will, competence and capabilities are all important characteristics in governance; however, identity management shall not be excluded. To respond to the diversity of the Filipino identity, Federalism will be effective. This means giving autonomy and power to the regions as a sign of recognizing and validating that even if each region has differences, our voices and welfare are equally important. At the same time, it maintains a national body to foster and harmonize a united direction for the prosperity and progress of the Philippines. Overall, our diverse identity is recognized and our solidified progress is taken care of.

Trust in the Government

As much as this sounds promising in theory, its implementation is the true determiner of its effectiveness and trustworthiness. The Filipino people are intelligent, skillful, and deserve something truthful. Paving the way for federalism does not and should not mean setting up easier means for corruption and slowing down of government programs in the regions. It should mean decentralization, deconcentration, and devolution of not only power, control, and resources but also of a mutual sharing of trust between the government and the people—an expression that the government trusts locals enough to make wise decisions for their regions and that the people trust both the regional and national government that they would work for progress and not harm.

Hedera Hashgraph as a Trust System

To enable trust to start and be sustained between the government and the people, transparency is vital. To create a reliable and transparent parallel of the activities of an institution as big as the government, the virtual realm has tools and in fulfilling the attributes of Federalism, Hedera Hashgraph can make this possible. 

Hedera Hashgraph, a third generation public ledger, is the latest technology operating through a “gossip of gossips” method that stores information in smaller chunks through nodes and connect them through a series of graphs that draws a larger picture, records the present, and writes history, one that we can all trust and can never be revised. Hedera Hashgraph does this with the use of nodes containing a timestamp, digital signature, your transaction, and hashes of two or more preceding events. This technology is also designed to work through mathematical algorithms and computations, administers human collaboration digitally, and when recorded is free from human intervention, making its operations detached from people thus removing the aspect of bias, friendship, and mistakes, among others. 

With Federalism in the Philippines through Hedera, regional and national government affairs and activities can operate digitally with trust and transparency.