Closer look at proposed regional election of senators sought

NAGA CITY – Opposition senatorial candidates Edgardo Angara and Juan Ponce Enrile called yesterday for a closer look at the proposed regional election of senators.

Angara, a former Senate President, said that regional representation would assure the representation of each region in the Senate.

"There was no senator from Mindanao from 1992 to 1998. Eastern Visayas has had no senator since the ’60s," he noted.

He said that regional representation should be equal throughout the country and not based on population.

"We should follow the example of the United States where each state has only two senators regardless of its size and population," Angara proposed.

He said that aside from assuring the representation of each region, regional election of senator would also make election campaigning less tedious and cheaper.

"We have an archipelagic country, and it is very difficult to campaign in all provinces," he said.

Angara also said that limiting a campaign to a region would lower the expenses of a candidate.

"A candidate for senator needs from P18 million to P20 million for the 180 minutes of air time specified in the Fair Election Practices Act," he calculated.

Enrile echoed Angara’s observations. He added that with the national election of senators, many senators have come to believe that they are equal to the President.

"There must be a political hierarchy, but some senators do not believe in it!" he lamented.

He expressed the belief that the regional election of senators would stop this sentiment of some senators.

Former Press Secretary Ricardo "Dong" Puno, meanwhile, said he is not convinced on the need for regional election of senators.

He said that he has not had enough experience and data to go for regional election. At the same time, he expressed fears that regional election would encourage parochialism.

"There is a need for senators to think on a national perspective, and his cannot be encouraged if there is regional election," Puno added.

In another development, Muslim candidates for senator Santanina Rasul and Dr. Ombra Tamano said that Congress should also seriously consider the proposed shift to a parliamentary form of government.

The two opposition candidates said that federalism, not just autonomy, provides the adequate answer to the call of many sectors in Mindanao to secede from the republic.

Rasul, however, said that there must be ample information campaign and preparations before an actual shift is attempted. – Efren Danao