People or systems? The answer is obvious that bad systems will create bad people and corrupt good people. The problem with the presidential system is the lack of mechanisms that would allow better check and balance. Some crazy old man who keeps saying that it's the quality of the politicians and not the system that matters. Ironic, said crazy old man is supposedly a systems engineer but how can he miss the point that systems defect will always undo whatever good components a system has. Worse, he can't even understand that while a constitution is not an operating system but that the metaphor is emphasized to see why a bad system is a bigger problem than bad people who operate the system! Worse, said crazy old man says that parliamentary systems will only work where there is party division between government and opposition which the Philippines doesn't have. But does he know WHY the Philippines doesn't have it? Because the presidential systems doesn't have it! They don't have a real defined role for the Opposition!
The presidential system lacks a real role for the opposition members
Right now, the problem is that the Philippine "opposition" doesn't even have a real formal role. They just oppose and oppose for the sake of opposing. It's also really undefined in its purpose and they're not even united. One can think about how the current "opposition" itself only opposes and opposes. One can think of the problem of the current Opposition -- it doesn't have a defined role. You have other opposition members such as Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares and Senator Richard Gordon providing alternatives but what about the rest? The problem is you've got another opposition member in Senator Antonio Trillanes IV who spends more time spreading lies against President Rodrigo R. Duterte rather than offer alternatives on how to get things done. But that's not the only problem. The real problem has to be that the presidential system actually lacks any real definition. Right now just who is the formal Opposition leader? We don't really have any.
So why would Senator Lacson make a better formalized Opposition Leader than Senator Trillanes? Although Senator Trillanes may have graduated cum laude from the Philippine Military Academy and got a master's degree in the University of the Philippines but we know who's making more sense. Senator Lacson is doing what should be done -- to oppose the president when he does something wrong while offering alternatives. On the other hand, Senator Trillanes is better off endorsing Talk N Text than working as a senator. Yet, one must understand that Senator Trillanes' Talk N Text promotion is but a symptom of the defective parliamentary system.
The Liberal Party itself also collapsed for one good reason -- it's the Presidential system more than they themselves! Almost every party list in the Philippines have relied too much on popularity contests than credibility contests. I'd actually blame the presidential system more than the Liberal Party to why both Mar Roxas and Senator Bum Aquino both went from becoming promising politicians into clowns. Mar Roxas a one-time banker investment who once supported economic liberalization ended up flip-flopping his stance to saying that it's not even necessary -- so much for spending time and money to graduate at Wharton huh? Then Senator Bum ended up throwing away his brilliance by engaging in attention seeking tactics than run his business programs during his campaign. The Liberal Party would've probably not collapsed into its state today if it weren't for the presidential system's popularity-driven contests!
So how does the Opposition in the parliamentary system work better?
What does an Opposition do in a Parliamentary setting? They serve as the side to question the Majority Bloc or government of the day and hold them accountable. But not only that -- they also have to provide correct ideas with just about everything. They must appoint a competent leader to who would qualify as their Opposition Leader and appoint Shadow Ministers who will serve to balance the power of every Minister in the Parliament. These members of the Opposition will hold them accountable for their actions -- something that's hardly done in the presidential system.
I don't want to deny that Noynoy Aquino himself had some ambitious projects but not all of them were carried out. Some of them had to be finished by President Rodrigo R. Duterte such as the second terminal in Mactan Airport. The problem of the presidential system is the ridiculous time limit and how can you expect much change to happen in just six years? One good example is Noynoy's ambitious expressway for Baclaran to Bacoor. The project sounds good but the problem is the implementation ended up hanging because of the presidential system. Noynoy could've accomplished it under a parliamentary system and under the office as prime minister. His projects could've been scrutinized and made better during the fault-finding process such as making sure the budget is just right along with finding the right suppliers.
So how is the Parliamentary Opposition formed in the Parliament? The Parliamentary Education Office says that the opposition is formed by the largest party or coalition of parties that does not have the support of the majority of members in the House of Representatives. This would be where while the Majority wins but it doesn't mean that the Minority is silenced. Rather, we have a formal role that will allow both the Majority and Minority to voice their voices. The Minority stands in to scrutinize the government, to question the government, debate legislation, work on committees and to provide useful alternatives -- not to seek the popularity spot but to show who's been more knowledgeable as both sides are held accountable for their actions.
_____
So what's why it's time to stop saying that it's just people but not the systems. It's because systems do matter and the parliamentary is superior because it has a real formal opposition. Presidential systems only promote popularity contests.
Comments
Post a Comment