With JDV gone, we want reforms in Congress!

What happened in the hallowed halls of Congress the other night proves to all and sundry that the month of February is indeed the month for political turmoil and change! While I didn’t really stay glued on tv except for a few glimpses to monitor the yes votes who agreed to the declaration of the speakership’s seat vacant, however when Congress began its session, I already knew that the die has already been cast and that those who wanted to end the long reign of Speaker Jose de Venecia (JDV) already had the numbers to kick him out and that’s exactly what happened last Monday night.

Remember a few months back when our very own Rep. Pabling Garcia spearheaded a charge to oust JDV? At that time, Pabling didn’t have the votes to launch him to the post of Speaker of the House. In fact, Congress didn’t even go into a similar voting that happened Monday night. But when I saw Rep. Pabling Garcia administer the oath of office of the new Speaker Prospero Nograles, I’m sure that Pabling felt a sense of a poetic justice for he was part of the coup that finally ended the 5-term reign of JDV in the House of Representatives.

 Will changing the leadership in Congress usher in badly needed changes in the Legislative Branch of the government? At this point, we can only say that we are hopeful that it would, but my political hunch tells me that too many of the members of the House of Representatives have been elected into their respective offices from this very same kilometric, but faulty constitution, hence I have become a skeptic.

The supposed independence of the three branches of government - Executive, Legislative and Judiciary - branches of government is a total farce simply because they are so far from being truly independent of each other. The President is voted by the people at large, but has a term limit, but the Speaker of the House is voted by his peers and has no term limits; while the head of the Judiciary is not chosen by his peers and is appointed by the President. So where’s the independence there?

Call it a major flaw in our democracy, but it is a serious flaw, which is why staunch promoters of democratic principles always say that democracy may not be perfect, but it is still the best type of governance we can have because the other ways are even worse!

If there was something I learned from the various speeches of Congressmen and women explaining their votes, it is that we do have a few jewels in Congress who do not possess great names, but they are endowed with an eloquence and love of country. The suggestion for instance by one Congressman to set term limits for the Speaker of the House is a noble attempt to stop or prevent a repeat of what Rep. Jose de Venecia has done in the House for so long. I call it the Dictatorship of the Legislative Branch.

So back to the question of changes and reforms. Will Speaker Prospero Nograles agree to enact a rule in the House of Representatives for term limits to the position of Speaker of the House? I’m sure there will be a great debate on this, but if our Congressmen want to show to the Filipino people that they truly want to usher in those reforms, then this suggestion should even come from them and not from outside sources.

If they agree to term limits for the position of Speaker of the House, let me suggest further that the Speakership should also be shared with Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. For instance, the Speaker today is now Speaker Prospero Nograles, this mean that the next Speaker should now come from the Visayas, while their deputy speaker should also come from Luzon and Mindanao. These are just a few of the examples of real reforms that we are suggesting to the House of Representatives so that the Filipino people would know that a new dawn has now emerged in the House of Representatives.

As for Smoking Joe, I can only pity him. He may have his place in Philippine history as the longest reigning Speaker of the House, but last Monday night, instead of showing us some kind of statesmanship (after all, like the Captain of the Titanic, he already knew that he would lose the Speakership) he gave a 59-minute tirade against the First Family, accusing the President of ingratitude, listing down what he did for the President, then accusing her of poll fraud and even graft! Above all, he promised that if he is ousted, he would join the opposition.

Here is a man who through political patronage and favors held the post of Speaker for so long, the least we expected from him was to calmly accept his fate (like what happens in most Western Parliaments) but for his last speech in Congress as Speaker JDV showed how ugly politicians have become which is why we are happy that he is gone and insist on all Congressmen to push for more reforms and changes for a better run Congress.

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