MANILA - A portion of the taxes paid by Filipinos will be going to political parties if the proposed parliamentary-federal form of government pushes through.

Jonathan Malaya, PDP-Laban Federalism Institute executive director, explained that allowing political parties to receive state subsidy is key to lessen the influence of businessmen on politicians.

"If political parties receive a certain subsidy from the government, their dependence on campaign contributions from big businessmen will be diminished," Malaya told ANC Wednesday.

Malaya said the proposed state subsidy for political parties will be dependent on electoral performance, giving power to the people in terms of how they want the government to be run.

The draft Charter adopting federalism submitted by the PDP-Laban to Congress will require the parliament to pass a law that will make political parties public institutions, he said.

Malaya added that details like clear prohibitions on "turncoatism" or "balimbingan" in Filipino will be the job of the legislative once the shift to federalism begins.

"If the people don't like a party because there have been reports of scandals or misappropriation of funds, they can not vote for that party so they will not receive state subsidy anymore," he said.

Subsidized political parties are not new as the concept has been tested in many European countries already, said Malaya, adding that strong parties are key to an effective parliamentary system.

"Parliamentary system is a system that is about electing political parties. It's no longer personalities. The parliamentary system has been called a party government," he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte, a member of the PDP-Laban political party, has been advocating federalism even before the 2016 elections.

The PDP-Laban draft of the Charter adopting federalism currently being reviewed by several members of the party in the Senate and the House of Representatives.