“The corrupt and their dynastic heirs will just lie low for a while, until they re-invent their methods, manipulate the system, mangle the budget once again, and steal more”
Investigate the flood control mess, and other shenanigans in our infrastructure programs, and file charges against the perpetrators. That is the order of the day.
But will it cure the endemic malaise of corruption?
It will not. The corrupt and their dynastic heirs will just lie low for a while, until they re-invent their methods, manipulate the system, mangle the budget once again, and steal more.
Chel Diokno rightly asks his colleagues to do away with unprogrammed appropriations? Did the HoR listen? They may take slimmer cuts of pork, but no pork? No elbow room for “projects” that line their hungry pockets? No way, Jose.
Will speedy prosecution and speedy conviction, courtesy of a suddenly energized Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan justices mollify the angry public?
Yes it might, depending on how high it goes. But will the corruption in the three branches of government stop?
It’s the system that cultivates bad governance in all its manifestations — entrenched political dynasties to flags of convenience that masquerade as political parties, to regulatory capture by a few oligarchs who control the economy and “own” these political parties, and a social order where the greedy few profit much while the many are kept on hand-to-mouth existence.
It’s the system, stupid.
Which is why an increasing number of people, especially among the youth, are desperately yearning for a reset. The center will not hold for as long as it is cocooned in the present constitutional order.
Whether change is wrought by a new president or by revolutionary short-cut, transition will require a change in the political system.
To this I propose, as I have written about in past columns, the following:
Maintain a presidential form where the president and vice-president are elected by the people at large. The public will not readily accept a form of government where they will be denied the right to elect the head of government.
Perhaps as the electorate matures and the political culture improves, we can transition to a parliamentary set-up, but for now, with dynastic politics and oligarchic elites entrenched, a strong president is needed.
Let us revert to a two-party system where conventions decide on their candidates, the better to defeat dynastic entrenchment and winnow the misfits out of political office.
Without prohibiting other parties to spring, the two major parties must have access to public funding of electoral campaigns, from subsidizing poll inspectors, to allowing tax subsidies for free party advertising on media, so that candidates for elected office need not secure millions or billions from vested interests.
The Senate must be elected by regional vote to ensure fair representation and a better share in the national budget for poorer regions, thus distributing growth potential.
If we elect two senators per region, given the present 18 administrative regions, we will have a Senate of 36 members. Always, there will be two senators to represent deprived Cordillera, Regions 2, 4B and 8, 9, 12, Caraga and BARMM regions, instead of so many from NCR, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.
Abolish the party list system and instead define the truly marginalized sectors in the Constitution, representatives of which would be appointed by the president subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.
Thus, voters will choose a president and vice-president through one vote, two senators, and a congressman in one election every six years.
In the mid-terms, also for a term of six years, they vote for local officials, using a similar tandem voting where governors and mayors have their “vice’s” elected as a team.
We should rationalize the number of barangays, making them more representative of population and territory, instead of the present anomaly where Manila for instance has 897 barangays while a larger Quezon City has only 142 and Cebu just 84.
In time, to simplify local government decision-making, we can abolish the provincial boards by making the municipal mayors constitute the provincial legislature, and the barangay captains the city and municipal legislative bodies.
Before this drastic transition to lesser elective positions, we can reduce the number of said provincial board members and city councilors.
The less we spend on elections and maintain so many elected officials, the better. That will mean more budgetary support for teachers, health workers, and peacekeeping forces.
Spend more on frontline services, on civil servants who work more, and not on elected officials whose output is more talk.
This should be the long-term solution, along with teaching the right civic and moral values from childhood, which will take some time to produce the desired effects.
Realistically, we cannot trust present leadership to initiate constitutional change and governance reset. So where do we go from here?
