The end of the republic By Geronimo L. Sy The Mani;a Times | July 28, 2005 http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/jul/28/yehey/opinion/20050728opi4.html
BESIEGED with a political crisis that refuses to go away, a promise to take power from the center to the periphery becomes the key to winning the approval of the people in the great hall of Congress. This hardly surprises. Parliamentary system for lawmakers, federalism for local government officials, Charter change for allthis could be the beginning of the end of the republic. It was barely 10 years ago when the very mention of "Cha-cha" made us jump. We were suspicious of the motives. We assumed that under the cover of changing the economic provisions of the Constitution, national laws on patrimony and progressive laws such as term limits for legislators would also be revised to favor the political elite. Note that since the passage of the 1987 Constitution, no antipolitical dynasty bill has seen the light of day. The recent political events erased our already short memories and Charter change is once again being presented, this time as the solution to our problems. A constituent assembly, composed of legislators to change the form of government to a parliamentary system, will only increase the dominance of political families. As it is, the present legislature embodies the merger of political and economic powerpolitical power that is national in scope and economic power that is local in origin. If the present system cannot live up to the letter and intent of the Constitution, a parliamentary system made up of the same people and the same interests will not usher in a wave of genuine reforms. Interestingly, our neighbor Indonesia, also an archipelago and with a bigger population, recently changed its form of government from a parliamentary system to a presidential one in the name of progress. In federalism, local governments will enjoy autonomy over their affairs to an extent hitherto unimaginable. It is more than 10 years since the passage of the Local Government Code of 1991, which mandated devolution from national government agencies to local governments. Except for pockets of best practices and model cities, the local government landscape is not dramatically different and better. If devolution did not bring this out, federalism will not either. The answer is not more devolution or total devolution, which federalism is. Our country is unique with our seven thousand islands, a big population, cultural diversity and regional loyalties. These are the reasons why the Spaniards never controlled the Philippine Islands. These are the same reasons why it took us centuries to become aware that we are one people, one nation. Federalism, recklessly called for and acceded to, will stunt the growth of our young republic of barely 60 years, reverse our collective national psyche as Filipinos and return our loyalties to local elites. Federalism will hasten the breakdown of our national consciousness painstakingly built upon the sacrifice of so many heroes. On the verge of national greatness founded on our patience and hard work, we choose to take the easy way out and blame everything on the system. We turned away from confronting the crisis that we have to account for in the first place and ran away from our challenges instead of conquering them. We are defined by the difficult decisions we make as a country and as a people. This is the essence of a Republic. There is no quick fix or cure-all solution. The problems we face today, unless exorcised, will come back to haunt us the very day we change our government. To simply state that a dichotomy exists between our economics and politics and claim that politics is the culprit and the hindrance to economic takeoff and present Charter change as the fundamental answer will not solve our problems. Rather than change the system, it is people-change that we needactive participants in governance, leaders living out their mandate. Acknowledging that we are our own worst enemy, individually and collectively, we must develop our own unique system of government. Call it by whatever name, it will not matter as long as our government serves our purpose and responds to our needs. Instead of theorizing from the top down on the structure of government and working the levers of power, the fundamental way is for us to engage in continuous dialogue and continually give power away. It is not the system, it is us. Are not our political and economic ills the sum total of the abnormal arrogation and exercise of power? Parliamentary system for lawmakers, federalism for local government officials, Charter change for allthis is the beginning of the end of the republic. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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