The Current Opposition's Problem Isn't Criticizing President Duterte -- It's Their Failure To Give Better Alternatives!

I remembered how I wrote an imagined scenario if President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Antonio Trillanes IV were both Prime Minister Duterte and Opposition Leader Trillanes. I wonder how it would be if these two faced each other every week and it's TELEVISED for all to see. The rules of the Weekly Question Hour will include a limit of 7.5 minutes per participant -- which means Trillanes can't Talk Ng Talk himself as he pleases. Opposition Leader Trillanes may get his microphone turned off to give turn to Deputy Prime Minister Leni Loud Robredo.

Now, let's address the problem of the current opposition and why it's really defective. The defectiveness of the current opposition lies on one fact -- it's all fault-finding and criticizing while it fails to give useful alternatives. A good example is how #OtsoDiretso's trip to Marawi could've been an excellent opportunity not just to point the slow pace of the work but to also give alternatives to how to make them work better. Rehabilitation of Marawi isn't something President Duterte can accomplish alone. Just imagine if  Chel Diokno and Pilo Hilbay appeared at the Weekly Question hour and presented their findings. Then they can present their plan on how to make Marawi's rehabilitation work faster and better. Instead, all they did was point out the slow progress without giving alternatives.

So why is Trillanes himself a defective "opposition leader"? It's because the presidential system doesn't have the Weekly Question Hour which is in the parliamentary system. Can you imagine if the current opposition were under a parliamentary system? Opposition Leader Trillanes himself will have to prove his charges against Prime Minister Duterte in national TV, with Prime Minister Duterte every week, and he will have to respect the proceedings. If he's given only 7.5 minutes to talk then that's it. Everyone whether members of the majority and members of the minority has to comply with that rule. Trying to go beyond the time allotted may result in one getting held in contempt. Worse, Opposition Leader Trillanes will have to give better alternatives if need be while he criticizes President Duterte aside from proving his said accusations.

A good opposition would point out the mistakes of the majority party AND to give out better alternatives. A good opposition leader may have Panfilo Lacson confronting Prime Minister Duterte about the current row with China. Then, Opposition Leader Lacson himself should give alternatives on how to solve the current row with China without the need to go to war. It would also involve trying to make sure that major ambitious projects are given proper allocation. It's not about opposing for the sake of opposing. Rather, it's about opposing when need be then giving better alternatives.