Presidential Systems Usually Kill 99.9% Of Accountability

I remembered how I wrote a post on how Philippine politics safeguards the ruling class -- that was back when I didn't think too much about shifting to a parliamentary system. So why are the Yellows and Reds so afraid of the parliamentary system and continue to spread malice against it? It's because the presidential system has one feature that's usually used by almost every presidential system around the world -- the ability to kill 99.9% of accountability?

So how does a presidential system kill most of that accountability? Let's go back to the whole record of presidency. Whether it was the Marcos years or post-Marcos years -- you have the problem of where the president selects the cabinet and appointees based on his or her choices. Noynoy Aquno really made some poor choices with people he chose such as Joseph Pabaya, Alberto Looney, Andres Bautista, Jose Honrado, Mar Roxas and Leila Dilemma to name a few. The Noynoying years should not even be regarded as the golden years in spite of the economic reforms that Noynoy placed. Noynoy may have had his strengths with economics but had his weaknesses when it came to choosing his cabinet members.

To say that it's just people but not the systems is stupid for this reason. The presidential system doesn't really have any real effective check and balance. How can the presidential system have any real check and balance when it lacks a formalized Opposition, when it's a tyranny of the majority where the minority is silenced and where is the weekly question hour that makes the president accountable for his or her actions? None! Would have Noynoy been subjected to the weekly question hour as prime minister -- maybe many of his failed or unfinished projects wouldn't have happened.

Now let's take a look at how the parliamentary can greatly improve accountability ratings...


The parliamentary system has the features that would put the Government Bloc at frequent scrutiny. It's true that the majority wins the Government Bloc yet the minority is given their important role of check and balance. There's always the need to listen to the voices of both the majority and minority because one side could be wrong and the other could be right. The parliamentary system would use the Minority Bloc where they would have their Opposition Leader, Deputy Opposition Leader, Shadow Ministers and Senators belonging to said bloc. But that's not the only feature that would do check and balance.


The other feature where the parliamentary system can greatly reduce even if it's not down to zero is the weekly question hour. The Government Bloc and the Opposition must face each other. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are part of the weekly question hour. Since the executive and the legislative are now present -- this would also make sure that all members of the Parliament must present their answers one by one. They can't just sleep or slack off like Senator Franklin Drilon does or can't just make stupid decisions like Representative Pantalon Alvarez does. This would require real intelligent answering.

The weekly question hour would bring up important national issues. It's the job of the Opposition to present alternatives or to oppose anything that wouldn't do better for the country. Both sides are required to be accountable to each other. Shadow Ministers on each side can help reveal the flaws of the Ministers and vice-versa. Anyone can be knocked out by a vote of no confidence in the long run which also helps improve accountability ratings.