If a parliamentary system is so good…?

I hope you’ve read that piece of news from Japan… that politics is the principal cause why the Philippine economy hasn’t gone where it should! I would like to believe that even we Filipinos know that we have a great country with a strong potential for economic growth given the natural resources that God has blessed this nation with. However, we have an accursed bunch of no-good politicians who are always out to take personal advantage of the meager resources of this country all in the name of the poor.

Our media is no help either, giving more news space or air time to all those "Gloria Resign" movements as if that’s what all Filipinos want to see happening in this country. Again, let me reiterate what we wrote a couple of weeks ago when we read that Pulse Asia survey, which showed that 65 percent of Pinoys wanted PGMA out! But if you crunch all those numbers, you will realize that they are consistent with the number of people who voted for Gloria, while the rest — the 65 percent — voted for the other candidates… this is why PGMA is a minority President. But why fret? Didn’t former President Fidel V. Ramos get a smaller percentage when he was elected President?

The problem with this country today is that politicians use every kind of trick up their sleeves to achieve their own goals to make themselves stronger than ever. A case in point is what is happening today with the so-called "People’s Initiative," which supposedly allows for the amendment of the Constitution. Since it is crystal clear that only one amendment would be given priority, that means if the People’s Initiative pushes through (and they are doing this by hook or by crook… but mostly by crook!), we will pretty soon see a parliamentary system put in place in this country.

What pains me is that news articles or radio reports are already thick in discussion as to who would be the next prime minister… and if you’re not tuned in, it may just come as a complete surprise that Speaker Jose de Venecia would be it!

Again, let me point out that my faithful readers know that I have always been consistent in my view that the 1987 Constitution cannot help bring progress to this nation, regardless of what Fr. Joaquin Bernas says.

But the only way this Constitution should be changed is through a constitutional convention (con-con). Ahhh! But as the politicians say, there’s no money for such a big activity, which could cost around P2 billion. Since no one would like to argue with that, Speaker JDV now tries to shortcut the process… through his constituent assembly (con-ass) where he risks a full-blown confrontation with the Senate. This is why they are now pursuing a People’s Initiative with the same tenacity as the opposition’s in pushing for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Surely by now, these people know in their hearts that a parliamentary system of government is a hard-sell, more so when the Filipino voter realizes that he can no longer directly vote for his President or Prime Minister. Is this perhaps the reason why barangay captains are offered, if not given, certain amounts of money so that the poor people would just sign the People’s Initiative without understanding what the heck all this is about?

What is even more distressing is the news that the Philippine government is releasing some P2 billion for the so-called "People’s Initiative." When we wrote that the best method to change our Constitution is via a con-con, Speaker JDV immediately shot down this idea, saying there was no money for it. But because it is their plan… to turn Congress into a constituent assembly… all of the sudden, there’s money for it.

Again, let me point out that a parliamentary system of government is simply the fusion of the Executive and Legislative branches. This means Imperial Manila would become stronger than it already is! While I agree that a parliamentary system would cut election expenses since we would no longer have to vote for the Prime Minister, but only for the members of Parliament in our respective districts, if this system is good as it sounds, why then is this not being brought down to the level of the local governments? Can we hear from JDV about this?

Indeed, if we make this shift to a parliamentary form, then it must follow that it should also be good for the local governments. In the context of Cebu, we should no longer be voting for the governor or mayors, but we’d only vote for our respective barangay captains who, in turn, would be voting for their respective city or town mayors. Then it would be the mayors who would vote for the governor, as the municipal mayors would now become the members of the provincial board, much as the barangay captains in the cities would replace the city or town councilors. But why isn’t this being suggested by Speaker De Venecia huh? Heeellooow, Mr. Speaker?

Clearly, JDV just wants this power for himself and the hell with the local government units or federalism! This is what Msgr. Teodoro Bacani told me a couple of years ago… "The evil in politics is happening today because good men like you out there do nothing to stop them!" Again, I’m selling the idea that a better way to fix this country is to keep the presidency… but amend it to a four-year term with one re-election like before. We have always believed that six years are too short for a good President (we had that with President Ramos) and too long for a lousy one… like we had with Erap.

As far as the legislative branch is concerned, let us keep the Senate, but amend the Constitution to have our senators voted on a regional or state level. More importantly, the salaries of the President, the Speaker and the Chief Justice should be at par with the executives of the top five corporations in this country, while the congressmen would get lesser salaries and NO PORK!

Then all we need is to add a federal system to give true fiscal autonomy to all local governments. However, we must redraw our present political boundaries, which only help the politicians keep their turfs. The best examples are the islands of Camiguin, Siquijor and Biliran, which are practically ruled by one political family each. Turn them into counties if you wish, but if this nation needs to progress… we should depoliticize our country!

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Last Wednesday, I was in a bit of a huff to catch my plane back to Cebu, but I dropped by the Rotary Club of Parañaque-Central to make up for my absence at the Cebu Rotary Club (Mother). I was graciously welcomed by the group led by its past president, Voltaire Rex Castro, who made me an impromptu speaker. This article would have been the whole speech if I had more time with our fellow Rotarians from Parañaque-Central.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.