Irrelevant politicians

We can cajole, badger and coax elected public officials to do their constitutional duty but if they do not want to do so there is nothing we can do. It is as if the senators have created their own world of interests and would have nothing to do with anything that would disturb their privileges. I refer particularly to senators who stand in the way of constitutional reform. One senator told me the Lower House started with the wrong foot by promoting a unicameral parliament – "that means us – they want to eliminate us so why should we vote our own abolition." Whatever the reasons are, the fact is senators have a constitutional duty to debate the issue, otherwise they become irrelevant. They may be able to postpone constitutional reform, but that is temporary. The risk is they will become increasingly irrelevant as the people find ways to achieve political reforms with or without them.

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The Lakas-CMD candidate. A colleague asked why I did not include the incumbent president in my line-up of presidential candidates for May 2004 in yesterday’s column. The other candidates, FPJ or Ping Lacson are candidates based on their personalities. The case for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo candidacy is a party issue. Not her persona. That in itself is ground-breaking. It is for the Lakas-CMD program of constitutional reform. As the incumbent president she is in the best position to see the constitutional amendments and political reforms through. Not enough has been said of this important distinction between her and other candidates. In the coming days, Lakas-CMD leaders from the President down to the humblest barangay captain should keep the issue in mind. Their presidential candidate, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is a candidate who will implement the party political platform..

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Davide’s case is happening in a presidential system. Critics deceive the public when they blame the Davide impeachment case with the drive for constitutional reform, forgetting that it is happening precisely in a legislature under a presidential system. One of the stalwarts for Coalition for Constitutional Change Now (CCCN) wrote in reply to these misguided critics. Oppositors are completely off-based to point to Chief Justice Davide’s impeachment as another valid reason not to change our form of government to parliamentary without realizing the crisis it has caused doesn’t occur under the system. In fact, the crisis shows that impeachment is a dangerous flaw of our Charter copied from the US presidential system as stifling as an attempted coup, which should be excised from it.

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Davide’s impeachment makes it very clear that the most compelling advantage of the parliamentary system for Filipinos is the no-confidence motion. When this motion is made in parliament, ruling party members can vote with the opposition to force the resignation of the prime minister, Cabinet members and other high government officials. History has it that renegades from the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan coalesced with the opposition to call for new elections in 1993, which ended the LDP’s 38-year rule because of several scandals caused by party elders. Supreme Court justices and other constitutional officials, however, are dealt with in a judicial inquiry, not in parliament as done now in Congress.

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Under a parliamentary system, Davide would face such a judicial inquiry and as investigation proceeds, it would be up to him to resign or not because he knows of his guilt or innocence. Hence, there will be no constitutional crisis.A retired SC justice would be named to conduct the inquiry with full subpoena powers like the one presided by Lord Hutton to look into the circumstances of scientist David Kelly’s suicide, where Prime Minister Tony Blair was also called to testify. British media even predicted that Blair would be forced to resign had officials under him especially his communications director been implicated as responsible for Kelly’s suicide. Despite having been cleared, however, the director resigned because he won’t be as effective as before in serving Blair. Only in Britain.Would someone in such position in the Philippines resign? No way. Resignation is not in our vocabulary even for the most blatant, inexcusable or unmitigated act of graft and corruption especially for corrupt, faithless or deceitful officials who can be elected because of the 3 G’s: guns, goons and gold.

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There is no perfect system and constitutional reformists who advocate the shift to parliamentary federal are only too aware that it, too will have problems. But that is the human condition, whose defects are impossible to abolish. Governments made by imperfect men will always have its imperfections. But we must try to find something better than what we have now. The choice is between continuing with a system that has failed or trying another system. It does not presume in anyway that there would be no problems.Our brief is against critics who conveniently forget that the Davide impeachment is happening in a presidential system not in parliamentary government. They deceive the public. We will evolve our own political system that would meet the necessity of modernizing the Philippines.

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Regarding the evolution of political systems it is interesting to know that George Washington was actually offered kingship in the early American effort to find a unifying symbol for the country. He declined the offer and turned instead to the Royal House of Stuart. A delegation was sent to talk Charles II Stuart who was living in exile in France but he, too, declined because he had no legitimate male heir.Without a successor he feared the United States could easily fall to House of Hanover when he died, and defeat the purpose of the independence effort. That’s how the United States of America developed its republican system without a monarch.

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Memorial for our soldiers who fought in Korea. Although the Huh sisters performed brilliantly in a concert for peace and friendship, it was Korean Ambassador Son Song Hwa’s speech that will be remembered. Koreans, he said were grateful for the sacrifices made by Filipino soldiers and their families. It may have been 50 years ago (the concert commemorated the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War) but Koreans are grateful to Filipinos for making possible a free South Korea. He acknowledged the soldiers and their families in the hall. Although the world-renowned Huh Trio lived up to their reputation as impeccable musical artists, it was the encore number, a Korean piece entitled, The Emerald Mountain which enthralled the audience. The pathos of the piece was aptly interpreted. Only later did I find out that Emerald Mountain was in Northern side of Korea.

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