Abueva: Parliamentary form to avert political crisis

The present political crisis in the country can be avoided under a parliamentary form of government, said Dr. Jose Abueva, chairman of the now defunct Consultative Commission.

Abueva pointed out that the main cause of the problem currently besetting the country is the separation of powers, and the multiple checks-and-balances between the executive and legislative powers in government.

Under the presidential system, Abueva said powers are separated among the executive, legislative and judiciary branches. The president, who is elected nationwide, has to deal with an independent coordinate legislative branch composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

"But we have had so much problem with our separation of powers and the checks and balance. Senate and the House have been checking each other to paralysis," Abueva said.

Abueva made the statement in the midst of the controversy hounding the proposal to amend the Charter, along with the just concluded barangay assemblies held in various parts of the country.

"Too much checks and balances, poverty continues and corruption cannot be checked, we are losing the competition to our neighbors, hundreds of Filipinos migrating every year and there is a feeling of hopelessness among the young people," he said.

Abueva was tasked to conduct consultations and studies, and propose amendments and revisions to the 1987 Constitution.

He had recommended the change to parliamentary form, explaining that in the latter's context powers are combined and not separated. The executive and the legislative branches are merged in a parliament-a set-up that the country needs much today, he said.

In the proposed parliament, the members are elected from the same congressional districts, with the same proportional representation from the party-list or marginal sectors or major political parties. Then from among the members, the prime minister will be elected, said Abueva.

He said parliamentary form lessens graft and corruption since there will be no nationwide elections, and the party in which the prime minister belongs is held accountable and assumes responsibility of governance.

Abueva said the recent public consultations and assemblies were good gauges of what the government is in the perception of the public and to determine if the people want to amend the Constitution or what part of it should be amended.

However, militant groups have tagged the Charter Change move as "political maneuvering" to ensure that Arroyo remains in power. - Wenna A. Berondo