Are Anti-Reform Pinklawans Saying That The Marcos Sr. Years Were Parliamentary Out Of Ignorance Or Of MALICE?

As the 50th anniversary of September 21, 1972, approaches - I feel that I must write this article. This is one of the most BLATANT lies that have come out from some Pinklawans. In due fairness, some supporters of Atty. Leni Loud Robredo (such as economist Andrew J. Masigan and the late Carlos Celdran) have been proponents of constitutional reform. Meanwhile, we've got ANTI-REFORM Pinklawans who still propagate a BLATANT LIE that can be so easily disproved. That lie is all about that the Marcos Sr. Years were supposedly under a parliamentary form of government.

When the Pinkies' favorite icon contradicts their claims of the Marcos "parliament"

The big lie has been disproven by research. Yet, the cartoon I shared above the first paragraph still perpetuates that lie. One of the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s opponents (and perhaps his GREATEST OPPONENT) was the late Ninoy Aquino. Ninoy himself had even explained in his speech in Los Angeles that the MARCOS YEARS WASN'T A REAL PARLIAMENT. With Youtube now and the speech online - can anybody dismiss the empirical evidence provided by Ninoy himself? Ninoy had actually mentioned how the Butasang Pambulsa of Marcos Sr. was no real parliament. The devil's in the details, right? Well, let's get INTO THE DETAILS:

And so my friends, we started with an American-type constitution, we move to a British-type constitution. We had a parliamentary form of government without a parliament. Until 1978, we did not have a parliament. And yet, we were supposed to be a parliamentary from of government. And Mr. Marcos said, “I declared martial law to save democracy.” But by saving democracy, he killed it.

And so my friends, it was not until 1978 that the Batasan was convened. Now, what do we hear? Mr. Marcos once again, is up again to his new tricks. He said, “I lifted martial law but I think we should now elect a president by direct vote.” But there is not such thing. Under the new constitution now, the president is purely ceremonial. Tagabukas lang ng pinto, tagatanggap lamang ng credential ng ambassador. Purely ceremonial elected by parliament, he is not elected by the people. The power of the government under a parliamentary system lies within the Prime Minister. And the Prime Minister must be elected by parliament, and this prime minister may be removed from office, if there is a vote of no confidence. That is the British type. So what did Mr. Marcos do in 1976? He amended the constitution and said, “I, Ferdinand Marcos, as Prime Minister/President, may dissolve parliament, but parliament cannot dissolve me.” And then he said, “Parliament may legislate, but if I think they’re not doing their job, I will also legislate.” So now we have two parliaments, Mr. Marcos and parliament. And it’s costing us 300 million to have that tuta parliament, what’s the use? If Mr. Marcos is doing all the legislation, why keep these 200 guys? So what do they do? They change the name of the street of Divisoria. They change the name of a school. But when it comes to public decrees, like Public Order Code 1737, only Mr. Marcos signs it. And so we have a situation, where we have a man who can dissolve parliament, but parliament cannot dissolve him. And under the Amendment No. 6 of the 1973 constitution, Mr. Marcos is a president-for-life. And now, all of a sudden, two weeks ago, sabi niya, “I have lifted martial law but I now want to go to the Filipino people, and I want their mandate of 8 years. I will defend martial law. Anybody who oppose it can oppose me. I want to go to the people and get their mandate.” But how can you get the mandate? There’s no such thing in the constitution. Sagot ni Marcos, “Let us amend it.” So now, we are going to amend again the constitution. And so we ask Mr. Marcos, but what form of government will we have? “Ahh,” sabi niya, “I want a president with powers.” What happened to the parliamentary British? Forget it. Let us now go to France. Let us have a French model. And so my friends, it is like the odyssey of Jules Verne “80 Days Around the World”. We started with America. We went to England. Now we are going to France. Under the new proposal of Mr. Marcos, we will now have a president and a prime minister. But the prime minister will be appointed by the president. And this president now will be all powerful. It will not be the American type; it will be the French type. And I suppose two years from now, when he gets tired of that, he will go to the Russian type, whatever that is.

Just the statement where Marcos Sr. said that he can dissolve parliament but parliament can't dissolve him ISN'T how a real parliamentary sytem works. Instead, it's more of a mockery. It reminds me of the line that Grand Wilhuff Tarkin (acted by the late Peter Cushing) when he announced that the Imperial Senate was dissolved by his majesty, Emperor Palpatine in A New Hope. The whole Butasang Pambulsa of 1973 by Marcos Sr. is comparable to Palpatine's New Order. Palpatine made it so that HE CAN DISSOLVE THE SENATE BUT THE SENATE CAN'T DISSOLVE HIM. In other words, the Marcos Sr. "parliament" was just for show. Marcos Sr. could even abolish the legislative if he so wanted to do so. Fortunately, Marcos Sr. wasn't able to or he'd have much power like Palpatine did as Galactic Emperor. Technically, a monarchy was formed. If Marcos Sr. died in power - Bobong Marcos would've become the spoiled emperor of the Philippines last 1989. Imelda Romualdez-Marcos would be the empress dowager. Sandro Araneta Marcos would be born the crown prince. Maria Louise Araneta-Marcos would be the empress. Maybe, Imelda's shoes will go beyond 3,000 would've Bobong been crowned emperor back in 1989. Fortunately, Marcos Sr. wasn't too keen on letting his spoiled son inherit the throne. Right now, Bobong is simply the 17th president under term limits. 

Pinklawans tend to quote from the late Lee Kuan Yew regarding the Marcoses

I'm afraid that the book From Third World to First is often cherry-picked. Yeah, I think these are by the likes of Raissa Espinosa-Robles. Seriously, if she studied it well, she would've already know this one simple fact - Lee Kuan Yew had called Cesar Virata a SITTING DUCK. These words from the book should be taken seriously:

As soon as all our aides left, I went straight to the point, that no bank was going to lend him (Marcos, emphasis mine) any money. They wanted to know who was going to succeed him if anything were to happen to him; all the bankers could see that he no longer looked healthy. Singapore banks had lent US$ 8 billion of the US$ 25 billion owing. The hard fact was that they were not likely to get repayment for some 20 years. He countered it that it would be only eight years. I said the bankers wanted to see a strong leader in the Philippines who could restore stability, and the Americans hoped that the election in May would throw up someone who could be such a leader. I asked whom he would nominate for the election. He said Prime Minister Cesar Virata. I was blunt. Virata was a NON-STARTER, A FIRST CLASS ADMINISTRATOR, BUT NO POLITICAL LEADER, further, his most politically astute colleague, defense minister Juan Enrile, was out of favor. Marcos was silent, when he admitted that succession was the nub of the problem. If he could find such a successor, there would be a solution. As I left, he said, "You are a true friend." I did not understand him. It was a strange meeting.

Take note of the words NON-STARTER AND NO POLITICAL LEADER. Virata was even considered for the PRESIDENCY. As Ninoy said, the president in a parliamentary government is purely ceremonial, tagapagbukas lang ng pinto, when we have a real parliamentary system. Marcos Sr. wanted a president with powers - something that will NEVER fit in a parliamentary system. That kind of role would've hit the late Cory Cojuangco-Aquino better. Tita Cory herself was the UNIFYING figure during EDSA so why did she get two job posts? Tita Cory should've remained a national symbol of unity like the late Queen Elizabeth II. She was fit to play the role of Queen Elizabeth II but NEVER the role of the late Margaret Thatcher. 

Besides, the way the arrangement of the Butasang Pambulsa was truly NOT a real parliamentary. The setup was still similar to what we have today - A PRESIDENTIAL LEGISLATIVE. This is the so-called "parliament" of Marcos Sr. which is comparable to Palpatine's Imperial Senate. Strangely enough, A New Hope came out in 1977 - four years after the establishment of Marcos Sr.'s new order. Like Palpatine, Marcos Sr. was the one calling the shots. That's not how a real parliamentary would function. A parliamentary system, as Ninoy said, can and will call for a VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE over an erring leader. 

If Marcos Sr. were a prime minister back then - the opposition could've called for a vote of no confidence. The Marcos Wealth would've been seized back ASAP. You can imagine how weekly debates will force Marcos Sr. to be transparent about his funds. Instead, Marcos Sr. held near-absolute power like Palpatine as the Galactic Emperor. The Philippines nearly became like North Korea with ONLY ONE CHANNEL, welfare statism, and cronyism. The Marcoses could've become like the Kim Monarchy of North Korea. Kim Il Sung became the first emperor, Kim Jung Il became the second emperor, and Kim Jong Un became its current emperor. If Kim Jong Un should suddenly die - his younger sister Kim Yo Jong can be crowned as its empress. 

The Butasang Pambansa never had this format...

A REAL parliamentary system as portrayed above would have a PRIME MINISTER and an OPPOSITION LEADER. Above is a picture of the Singaporean parliament - a real parliamentary system. We have the majority bench (left side) and the minority bench (right side). It wouldn't stick to a winner takes all scenario. Instead, the winning side gets the government seats while the losing side has a voice. The parliamentary system gives the minority a real voice. It's because democracy isn't tyranny of the majority. Rather, it's the rule OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE. The minorities are part of the PEOPLE!

Would've we been in parliamentary today - Leni Loud would've been marching into the Parliament with her set of ministers. Kikoman Pangilinan would be sitting down has the Deputy Opposition Leader. Maybe, we'll have #OtsoDiretso occupy ministerial posts. Maybe, we can imagine Bum Aquino as shadow finance minister (since he's good with business) and Florin Hilbay as shadow minister of human rights. Maybe, we can have Michael Aguinaldo as shadow minister of audit. Every minister that Bobong has will be answerable to every shadow minister that Leni Loud has. Just think of Finance Minister Jose Calida must now face against Shadow Finance Minister Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo will scrutinize Calida's audit. There are also MANDATORY WEEKLY DEBATES between both sides. Bobong can't refuse a debate. Leni Loud can't serve merienda if ever she can't answer the question. 

Evidence has PILED UP against that claim but why do Pinklawans still insist that a parliamentary wouldn't work because of Marcos Sr.? 

This is where things get rather tricky. Are they saying it out of ignorance or malice? It's very hard to determine. Though, there's always IGNORANCE IS BLISS. I guess that can be said whenever Raissa Espinosa-Robles keeps insisting that the Marcos Sr. Years were a real parliament. Some will still insist it because it's what they grew up believing in. I think it's a real problem among some of the older generations to think they're always right. They can narrate stories of their early blooming. It's really THAT DIFFICULT to deal with old generation people who always think they're right because of this and that. Some may insist that their children become EXACTLY LIKE THEM never mind that times change a lot. 

I think one reason why they insist that the Marcos Sr. Years were a parliamentary government is because of their comfort zone. Somebody was probably in their 20s during the Marcos dictatorship. I think many of these guys qualify as the Baby Boomers (1946-1964). I even heard how a lot of these people are usually THAT RESISTANT TO CHANGE. I guess it's because they feel their accomplishments back when standards were LOWER. What's the use of finishing college early if the education system SUCKS? What's there to be proud of about graduating valedictorian if the education system was SEVERELY OUTDATED? I guess they're still thinking that a parliamentary system exists as long as there's a prime minister. South Korea has a prime minister but it's still a PRESIDENTIAL country. Taiwan has a parliament but it's still PRESIDENTIAL.

Though, I can't ignore the possibility of malice. Maybe, I can't say that Hilarious Davide is saying things out of malice - more like he's stuck in his comfort zone. Meanwhile, I think some people who are spreading lies that the Marcos Sr. Years had a "real parliament" are doing it out of MALICE. Why do I say that? It's because I think their only real aim is for the Pinklawans to return to power VIA THE PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM. I guess they're still bitter that the late Noynoy Aquino was succeeded by former president Rodrigo R. Duterte instead of Mar Roxas. Maybe, they wanted Leni Loud to win instead of Bogong. I think they only want a Pink-dominated government without any real opposition. Then they play the democracy is dead card, right?

What they never realized is that this assumed MALICE was their loss. Would've the Philippines been a parliamentary - the Pinklawans would've had a voice. Leni Loud could've been the Opposition Leader and we'd have a pink-colored Opposition. The Pinklawans could've had the Liberal Party prove itself WEEKLY. The Liberal Party could've been formed in Parliament because they'll be forced to engage in weekly debates. I wouldn't mind it if Bum became the Philippine prime minister as long as he and the Liberal Party do their jobs right. Instead, by sticking to the presidential system and wanting to return in power via that faulty system - they really have an INCREDIBLY MASSIVE FAILURE OF THE MIND.