A Parliamentary Philippines with Mandatory Weekly Questioning Will Be Better Than Its Mandatory Yearly Presidential SONAs

Rappler

I must admit that ignorance of the difference between the parliamentary system vs. the presidential system is there. Some people still insist on the myth that the first Marcos Administration headed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., was really a parliamentary system. In reality. the Marcos "parliamentary" years during the Martial Law era, were still presidential (read why here). A simple research would show that Cesar Virata was called by the late Lee Kuan Yew, as a non-starter and no leader. LKY would know how a real parliamentary system works.

Sure, it's one thing that those who consider themselves Dilawan, voice their criticisms. However, the big problem of the Dilawans is their focus on political idolatry rather than solutions. I can talk with the Dilawans all they want that we do need to shift to the parliamentary system and some of them still cry foul, say that it'll be a repetition of the first Marcos Administration, and gossipers like Mrs. Raisa Espinosa-Robles still insist that they were parliamentary. It's a failure for Mrs. Robles' mind, really, considering that she's written in international publications. Either Mrs. Robles is plain condescending to blind herself from the facts or she knows she's lying. Anyway, it's easy to bash me because I'm just another blogger, an ordinary citizen, and Mrs. Robles is a journalist and has written for the South China Morning Post a couple of times. However, in this digital age, we can now search for information or even pay for information online ot get what we need. Seriously, Mrs. Robles needs to prove her claims to Malaysia and Singapore that the first Marcos Administration was a parliamentary government!

I was looking at Rappler columnist and resident economist, Jan Carlo "JC" B. Punongbayan, PhD. I believe we need to have an Opposition to criticize the Government. However, under the current 1987 Constitution of the Philippines--we are still under a presidential government. I'm not saying it's the worst constitution in the world but it's not the best either. One should really look at mistakes in the constitution, offer amendments, and if possible, write a better constitution carrying the good and doing away with the bad. If the Dilawans believe that they can hold President Marcos Jr. accountable merely through Facebook (or other social media platforms) or press conferences--I dare say they're dreaming.

If we think about what a State of the Nation Address (SONA) is--it's that time of the year when the president addresses the nation. It's something that's mandated in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Sure, the preamble and so and so can talk about this and that. It's written in Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines:

Section 15. The Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session, unless a different date is fixed by law, and shall continue to be in session for such number of days as it may determine until thirty days before the opening of its next regular session, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The President may call a special session at any time.

Let me ask how the Dilawans expect to keep check and balance with just doing press conferences. For example, can the Liberal Party of the Philippines members like former vice president Atty. Maria Leonor S. Gerona-Robredo, Senator Mrs. Ann Theresia "Risa" N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, Atty. Leila De Lima, Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino, etc. expect to hold President Marcos Jr. directly accountable just by talking on the media? Sure, one can say that the SONA keeps the president in check. 

PARL

However, that's very different compared to how a parliamentary system works. Under a parliamentary system, the governing party is scrutinized directly by the opposing party. For example, if the government is dominated by Uniteam--the opposition is dominated by the Liberal Party. Parliamentary questionings are done every week. Mrs. Robredo's supporter Andrew J. Masigan wrote in "Understanding Charter Change" the following truth of the parliamentary system, something not present at all during the first Marcos Administration:

A parliamentary system is one where a “shadow Cabinet” exists. A shadow Cabinet is the corresponding, non-official Cabinet composed of members of the opposition. Each Cabinet minister has a shadow equivalent who is mandated to scrutinize every policy done by the official minister. The shadow minister may offer alternative policies which can be adopted if it is deemed superior.

Going back to Punongbayan, PhD, from the UP School of Economics--I would like to say he may not just be saying things on media right now. Instead, Punongbayan, PhD, may become one of the shadow ministers under the leadership of either Mrs. Robredo or Mrs. Baraquel. However, my preferred illustration would be the Liberal Party under the leadership of Mrs. Robredo and Atty. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan because of the presidential campaign. We can imagine Punongbayan, PhD, having been appointed to Mrs. Robredo's shadow cabinet, as the Shadow Minister of Economics. Punongbayan, Phd, will not only raise up the issue like he did--he will also be required by the parliament to come up with alternative policies.

Even better, both Uniteam and the Liberal Party are face to face against each other. As a video by Aris Olea on Facebook said, "The Liberal Party should be the Opposition in parliament now." That means the Liberal Party (or I'll call it the Robredo Opposition) should be questioning the Marcos-led Government in person. The weekly questioning requires two sides of the coin to talk to each other. The Robredo-led Opposition questions the Marcos Government. The Marcos Government must answer right away. Mrs. Robredo and company would still have a voice only if the Philippines were a parliamentary government. 

Fortunately, some Liberal Party members are supporting charter change. It's time to really take the people's initiative. For a real working opposition, charter change from presidential to parliamentary is needed. As always, never believe that the Marcos Years were under a parliamentary system.