One of the biggest pieces of misinformation against the parliamentary system is that the presidential system can do better check and balance. Many objections have flown into the desire to shift from presidential to parliamentary. There's the still propagated myth that parliamentary systems don't having term limits means prime ministers rule for life (HUH?!) and that the separation of powers is less defined because the prime minister is chosen by the Parliament (rather than by his or her party). However, this is far from reality because ANY SIMPLE RESEARCH will help you see how parliamentary systems would actually define the separation of powers better than the current 1987 Constitution.
The presence of the head of state and head of government
The parliamentary system first separates the powers by defining two roles - the head of state (unifying figure) and the head of government. The very idea that Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. tried to become both prime minister and president at the same time was a mockery. Ninoy Aquino even admitted in the Boston speech that the Philippines was not a parliament. The two are meant to be two different offices than merging into one. Cory could've done a better job as a ceremonial figure that unites Filipinos than being also the head of government due to her inexperience in politics. Fidel V. Ramos was fitter to be the head of government at that time. Ramos' rule was characterized by an economic boom though his ambitions were thwarted by many naysayers. I believe that Ramos could've solved the energy crisis IF it wasn't for the naysayers who didn't know anything about foreign investments!
How would separating the two offices be more beneficial to the state? One person unites the people. The other is the chief executive. For example, any state visit can be done by Cory as a representative while Ramos can stay behind in the Philippines still running the show. Cory could be used for ambassadorial duties, keep the Filipino people united, and may continue to be president for another term if need be.
The Government's power is now limited by the presence of the Opposition
Fearing that the prime minister's powers are not limited? The problem with the presidential system is that there's really no defined role for the opposition. 2019 became a turning point when the Liberal Party launched the #OtsoDiretso campaign and it failed. However, under the parliamentary system, the Liberal Party won't need to create #OtsoDiretso because the eight senatorial bets will be automatically voted INTO the Parliament IF people vote for their party. All I need to do is to shade Liberal Party in the ballot and the #OtsoDiretso candidates will go straight into Parliament. If the Liberal Party can't become the Government but they want to hold PDP-Laban accountable - it could become the Opposition or the voice of the minority.
Every prime minister has an Opposition Leader to deal with. Now, let's say that we have 1Sambayan as the Opposition led by Antonio Trillanes IV. Let's say that PDP-Laban becomes the Government while 1Sambayan becomes the Opposition. The Opposition Leader is given a very defined role. Trillanes as the Opposition Leader must question Prime Minister Rodrigo R. Duterte and hold him accountable. But it's not only Trillanes but also his own set of cabinet to hold the WHOLE Government accountable.
Every minister has a corresponding shadow minister. The minority is given the voice to speak up and look for loopholes in the Government. For example, Samira Gutoc's job is to scrutinize Leonor Briones as both are in charge of education. Briones is the actual minister while Gutoc is the shadow minister. Gutoc's job is to question the validity of Briones' arguments. The same goes for every position like if Karl Chua faces off against Florin Hilbay in the areas of finance. For example, Chua plans to do this but Hilbay plans to do that. It would be time for Chua to answer Hilbay. However, Hilbay must provide an alternative. Both sides are engaging to duke it out. Even better, the Opposition Leader has his Shadow Cabinet which can compete against the actual cabinet.
Let's imagine the weekly question hour. The Opposition is given its chance to prove itself and to complete attention away from the government. Trillanes is given the chance to prove himself better than Duterte. It's all about don't just say it, show it, and PROVE IT. The Government's powers are now limited by the Opposition who are the represented minority. The majority wins but the losers are given a chance to have a voice. It's like in sports - we've got a rematch. The weekly question hour is like the chance for the minority party to prove that they may be the next party worthy of winning the government seats.
It's also because the call for a vote of no confidence can happen anytime a member of parliament fails to do his or her job. Anybody can only get more terms in office only if they're qualified. A vote of no confidence may be more than enough to make sure that same person can get disqualified from office. The big problem is that the anti-reforms just don't bother to do research, right?
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