Current DOH Woes Will Be MUCH EASIER To Address In A PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

It should be a sad state whenever politicians demand accountability BUT they still want to stick to the 1987 Constitution. Are they still too enamored by the now-proven WRONG statement by Hilarious Davide Jr.? If so, the current hearing to scrutinize the Department of Health (DOH) in regards to spending are a joke. I'm not saying it's wrong for Senator Richard "Dick" Gordon and Chief Auditor Michael G. Aguinaldo to do some scrutiny - we need that! However, the recent current system doesn't define the government from the opposition. A very good example is how Vice President Leni Loud Robredo is both the vice president AND opposition leader at the same time. Not a very well-defined role, right? That's why I call presidential appointees as MAHJONG appointees. Aguinaldo of the Commission on Audit (COA) is a Liberal Party stalwart hence he's automatically an opposition member.

However, such is NOT the case in the parliamentary system. It's because the government and opposition are more well-defined. There are times there's a coalition govenrment and a coalition opposition. If the Liberal Party is to be in the government then it is to be the government - not mixing its members across both sides. In parliament, Leni Loud can't be both deputy prime minister and opposition leader at the same time. In fact, under parliament, the late Noynoy Aquino could've led the parliament's opposition until his death this year then they may hand it over to either Mar Roxas or Leni Loud. The roles are more defined because the parliamentary system requires the government and the opposition to have their own set of appointees. 

Now, let's imagine the scenario of the current parliament. We have Duterte's appointees facing off against the Liberal Party appointees. Let's say that Noynoy appointed Aguinaldo to be the shadow minister of audit. Rodrigo R. Duterte will have his own minister of audit. Let's say that Noynoy had to get Dr. Willie Ong because Janet Garin got deposed of when he was prime minister. Now, think about it that if Duque faces off against Ong and Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo will not be the real head of the Ministry of Audit (MOA). Instead, Aguinaldo will be the shadow minister of audit who will scrutinize the actual minister of audit for any irregularities that he may find along the way.

This would be the picture of the opposition now. Duque must present weekly reports to Ong. Ong is backed up by Aguinaldo who now must question the DOH's expenses with the actual minister of audit from Duterte' side. Even better, these are done weekly to monitor the goverment's performance. It would be an actual audit vs. the shadow audit. The shadow audit is done is done based on the records of the actual audit. It's because the opposition and the government must have access to each other's records. If example, Aguinaldo finds some overpriced PPEs then he directs it at the minister of audit with actual evidence. If Ong finds Duque to have some irregularities then the former must raise them up. If ever, it would be even necessary to call for a vote of no confidence.

The big question for those who still insist it's just the system is this - how often has the current "opposition" questioned the government? How often was Duterte scrutinized directly since 2016? How often were very other presidents scrutinized? The presidential system really lacks transparency one way or another. If the Dilawans really want the right to hold the government accountable then they must really support the shift to parliamentary system. If not, the Dilawans can forever remain an informal opposition because they lost the popularity they once had with the crowd. Only a parliamentary system can help the Dilawans become relevant again.