New Year’s wish list

With so many unpredicted happenings in the year about to end, making accurate predictions of events for the coming year has become tougher and more strenuous. Perhaps it is better to just prepare a wish list as we blast away the old and ring in the New Year. After all, making wishes is in itself some sort of indulging in predictions.

I wish first of all that the President finally succeeds in putting to rest the vital issues bugging her administration from the alleged electoral fraud to the jueteng pay-offs and other anomalous transactions. She could stop the power hungry politicians dead on their tracks by simply facing these issues head on and coming up with a credible account and explanation that the CBCP is also asking for. By now, she must have realized that while she has the capability and the resources to survive the ongoing political turmoil up to the end of her term, the country cannot afford to have a government running on a survival mode. The evidence aired against her may really be weak, incredible, illegally obtained or inadmissible, but unless it is authoritatively declared to be such in a proper proceeding, political sniping and trial by publicity will continue. Sweeping the perceived dirt under the rugs or allowing her allies to squelch the process that can provide for a credible closure to the issues are not conducive to an atmosphere of unity that is so necessary for this country to move forward.

Second in my wish list is for our elected or appointed public officials to always have that intimation of mortality especially when they are at the pinnacle of power. They should realize deep in their hearts that life is short and their hold on power is transitory and may be taken away at any time by death or otherwise; that they could not permanently conceal or forever escape responsibility for their acts or conducts in betrayal of public trust. They should learn a lesson from the sad and cruel fate that befell abusive and corrupt leaders of the past so as to avoid committing the same reproachful and corrupt practices and to "at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives" as required by the Constitution.

My third wish is for our Congressmen to perform their legislative tasks as members of a separate and independent branch of government rather than as members of a political party who are more loyal to the party leaders than to their constituents. I long to go back to the golden days of yore when the men and women gracing the august chambers of the Upper and Lower Houses observed in their every thought, word or deed the time tested and salutary maxim that "my loyalty to my party ends when my loyalty to my country begins", first articulated by the great patriot and statesman, Manuel Luis Quezon.

Number four in my wish list is for the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve all the cases filed in connection with the current crisis like the constitutionality of the House impeachment proceeding, the validity of E.O. 464 and the CPR, the legality of the People’s Congress, etc. These cases give the SC a rare opportunity to prove its independence and impartiality not by deciding the issues for or against the administration but by upholding the supremacy of the Constitution and the law. A court’s independence and impartiality is gauged by the constitutional soundness of its rulings and the fairness of its decisions regardless of the parties involved. With a brand new Chief Justice, in the person of Artemio V. Panganiban, a brilliant man of integrity eminently qualified to hold the post, there is likewise a resurgent hope for a meaningful and far reaching judicial reforms aimed at speeding up the wheels of justice, eliminating its double standards for the rich and the poor, ensuring the judiciary’s fiscal autonomy to preserve its independence and protect it from political pressures, weeding out the undesirables and corrupt from its ranks and filling it up with men and women of proven competence, integrity and probity. His short tenure in office should not be a hindrance because he has already been at the forefront of these judicial reforms even before he became the Chief Justice. All he needs is a strong "political will" to carry out the reforms.

Lastly, I fervently wish that our Charter will undergo the much needed amendment. If only to save on public expenditure, expedite government action and put an end to destructive feud of politicians in the executive and legislative branches, switching to the parliamentary, from the present presidential system of government and replacing the two houses with a unicameral body should be carried out as soon as legally practicable. But as the year ends, the useless debate on this "no election" proposal of a superfluous body known as the Constitutional Consultative Commission (ConCom) should also end. Whatever may be its reasons, the ConCom cannot erase the impression that such proposal is tainted with politics and with self serving motive of ensuring that its non-binding recommendations will be adopted. This is the only way to secure its place in history despite its redundancy.

These are my wishes for the New Year. If all or any of them materializes during the coming year, consider them as my predictions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!