Examining the Everyday Lived Experiences of CAS UP Manila Students Under a Unitary Government: Implications to the Proposed Shift to Federalism

Abstract

The study looked into the everyday lived experiences of CAS UP Manila students under a unitary government and how it affected their views on federalism. The paper started due to the perceived gap in studies regarding federalism since they mostly focused on the perceived benefits of federalism instead of the reasons people want it in the first place. The researchers sought to accomplish the following objectives: 1) provide a thick description of the students’ lived experiences under the unitary government, 2) analyze the differences and similarities in the lived experiences and views between students from different categories, and 3) examine the implications of their lived experiences on their views about federalism. To realize the study's objectives, the researchers selected 15 students from CAS UP Manila who live in urban non-conflict, urban conflict-prone, rural non-conflict and rural conflict-prone barangays via purposive sampling. The researchers then conducted semi-structured interviews on Zoom to gather their experiences which they then analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. In the analysis of the data, the researchers observed four recurring themes. The first theme provides thick descriptions on the experiences of the students under the unitary government, revealing the challenges they experience while living in their barangay (e.g., inaccessible necessities, ineffective services and safety concerns) and their evaluation of the barangay officials. The second theme shows the problems of the respondents in the unitary government, particularly about the politicial dynasties. The third theme reveals that the respondents only had a basic knowledge of federalism. Lastly, the fourth theme presents the idea that the respondents believe that federalism has its advantages and disadvantages. The researchers through the findings concluded that the lived experiences of students do affect their view of federalism. However, the most significant factor which pushes the participants whether to agree or disagree with federalism is their knowledge about federalism and the problems of the unitary government.