The Philippines is currently under a unitary form of government - this means that the central government is the highest governing power. It receives a large part of every region's income and redistributes it, often disproportionately so. Our autonomous regions, provinces, municipalities and barangays can only exercise powers and enact policies that the central government chooses to delegate to them.

Federalism is a proposed type of government wherein sovereignty is constitutionally divided between the national government and subdivisional governments (such as states or provinces). Federalism divides the country into several autonomous states with a national government.

The autonomous states are even further divided into local government units. They will have the main responsibility over developing their local industries, public health and safety, education, transportation, and culture. These states have more power over their finances, policies, development plans, and laws. The United States, Switzerland, Germany and Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia and Brazil are examples of countries with a federalist form of government.