I remembered writing a post where I said that the PCSO and not the COMELEC should be the one running the presidential elections. It's because when people vote - they're gambling for their future. Some people voted in hopes that Rodrigo R. Duterte wouldn't be president. Some people voted in hopes that Joseph Estrada wouldn't be president. However, there was no real voice as winners take all. Now, the Duterte Administration has revealed one thing - the presidential system is like a game of mahjong. You get your blocks, you make a bet, you scramble them, and it's very much winner takes all!
Now, let's take a look at the Duterte-Robredo Administration. The "opposition" right now is in a very unclear position as the government. Now, let's think of the game of mahjong that was played and how both sides are distributed:
- Duterte as the president is the head of the state and government. However, his vice president, Leni Loud Robredo, is SIMULTANEOUSLY his vice president and leading the opposition.
- Duterte has his appointees in certain offices such as the DOJ, the DOH, and BOC. However, other offices such as the CHR and the COA have their heads who were appointed late during the late Noynoy Aquino's term.
That would be a very weird check and balance. People say that the presidential system's check and balance system is allegedly better. However, both sides must question themselves if they want 2022 to have this kind of set-up:
- Leni Loud becomes the president and Sara Duterte (or even funnier, Bobong Marcos) is her vice president.
- Leni Loud becomes the president and Duterte becomes the vice president.
- CHR and COA will have appointees from PDP-Laban while the DOJ and DOH will have appointees from the Liberal Party.
That is the problem behind the presidential appointees - it's pretty much a game of mahjong. I mean, think about how Conchita Carpio-Morales was Ombudswoman until her term expired under Duterte. Duterte then appoints a new Ombudsman. Gascon was appointed late in Noynoy's term. Now, Gascon is a Liberal Party appointee under Duterte's government. It's pretty much a mess if you ask me. We might as well have the president and vice president play mahjong every week then!
However, such isn't the case in the parliamentary system. It's because all government appointees will have corresponding opposition appointees. Let's say that Duterte is the prime minister and Trillanes is the opposition leader. Let's say that Nacionalista party merged with the Liberal Party and their best bet is Trillanes. Trillanes must appoint his own set of ministers to counter Duterte's own set of ministers. A minister's term is dependent on the status of the government. In short, we're having this scenario that the government and the opposition have their own set of appointees.
How is that more formalized? All of Duterte's appointees are his men. All of Trillanes' appointees are his men. Duterte's appointees are scrutinized by Trillanes' appointees. For example, Karl Chua as the minister of finance says this, and Florin Hilbay as the minister of finance says that. The government and the opposition are UNIFORMED in their roles. Just because all the ministries are under the government doesn't mean there are no shadow ministers to prove that they could actually do better than the government. Maybe, we would have Morales as the shadow ombudsman too since her status is dependent on which side she's on and not on some expiration date. All expiration dates will depend on when it's time to dissolve the parliament or not for the elections.
This is why the presidential system sucks. Who can be sure that Michael Aguinaldo of the COA is biased or not? Why isn't Francisco Duque fired from his position right now? Who is scrutinizing who when the appointees are so scattered? Why not formalize both sides instead?
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