Let us not pay extra for nothing

A draft of a revised constitution prepared by the committee on constitutional amendments of the Philippine House of Representatives continues to give President Arroyo ample powers until 2010 even after a new parliamentary system shall have kicked in,

In the sidelines, former president Fidel Ramos, continuing to be fired by fading notions of self-importance, is stepping up his own calls for Arroyo to step down by 2007 or else face the consequences.

Even just these two things illustrate, with unambiguous clarity, that even the best political system in the world will not work in the Philippines unless Filipino politicians begin to rearrange their priorities away from self-centered interests.

Right now, this country, which continues to feed on the self-deluding claim of being the showcase of democracy in Asia while the rest of its " less democratic " neighbors surge ahead with better discipline, is being led in the direction of a systemic change in government.

The sugar-coated lie being pandered all over the length and breadth of this hapless nation is that it is the system of government that is to blame for all our woes and that so long as we can succeed in changing the system, everything will all be hunky-dory afterward.

We have been taught early that " government is of the people, for the people and by the people " but that since we cannot, all 87 million of us Filipinos, be in government at the same time, we have chosen representatives to run the affairs of government for us.

It is these representatives, from the president down to the lowest barangay official, plus the unelected bureaucracy that fills every nook and cranny of government, who are the people who ought to be held accountable for much of the failings of the system.

But no, no one is up to owning anything. Better to blame the system. After all, it is inanimate. It does not feel hurt by criticism. And the beauty of it all is that it cannot talk back and argue.

And so, since it is convenient for the real culprits to blame the system, it is similarly convenient to change that system to perpetuate the essence of the blame. It is, in other words, finding the easy way out, even if it means the surest way to no really solve the problem.

This is actually not the first time that the system has been blamed. Ferdinand Marcos did it in his time, titillating the people with an experimental shift to a parliamentary form from the then presidential system while holding on to much of the powers in both.

This appears to be the similar thread running through the draft proposed by the House committee on constitutional amendments - the enjoyment of both worlds, which means the system is not really the essence but the powers that can be derived in the process.

Hence, it is difficult to believe that Arroyo and Ramos are embracing constitutional change for purposes other than protecting their own self interests. Arroyo wants to protect her hold on power while Ramos wants to broker power to protect his interests.

In any human endeavor, any tool is only as effective as the hand that wields it. Be it an entire government, the latest model car, or a pair of scissors, no practical, meaningful and lasting benefit will ever be derived from it unless wielded by wisdom, expertise and patience.

There are those who are morally convinced that the parliamentary form of government is better than the presidential, and they could be right. But their being right will not guarantee the shift they are pushing will achieve the meaningful changes for the better that we all seek.

For as long as the people we place in government to run things for us do not change, the proposed shift will only be a costly exercise in futility. Staying put with the presidential form may mean the same thing, but at least it will not cost us extra for nothing.