Get rid of partylist only through a Con-Con

There are now an additional 55 new Congressmen and women coming from the ranks of the Party-list groups, in a new formula coming from the Supreme Court alloting these new Party-list seats. With this huge number of Congressmen and women added into the House of Representatives it tips the balance of power, as to whose favor, we still don’t know. Party-list groups come from many organizations which are often at odds with each other. In the end, you can expect both the majority and minority parties to be courting these newcomers and then we will find out who’d win the confidence of these newcomers. That means; they will be bribed into creating a new coalition, of what? We’ll soon find out in the next few days.

I fully concur with The Freeman editorial yesterday entitled, “Time to scrap Sectoral Representation” which clearly pointed out, “Having sectoral representation when these sectors are already part of the population and therefore represented by regular population and place-based congressmen and women was a big mistake and ought to be corrected fast. Right now, not only as the 250-member limit been breached, but the new additions caught everybody, including Congress itself, unprepared. According to estimates, the new faces will need P2.5 billion to accommodate. Where in heaven will we get that?’

Since I started writing columns in The Freeman and later in The Philippine Star I have always frowned on Party-list groups, especially when they come to me asking for my support during elections. I have politely refused to help them because they are obviously focused on their own selfish interests. It’s bad enough that we have politicians who cater only to their own selfish interests, though in the name of the poor. I find Party-list groups are not much better. So now Congress is in a bind, thanks to the Supreme Court. So where will they find the money to fund these new faces?

While The Freeman editorial wants to scrap the sectoral representation, this cannot be done by mere legislation but by Constitutional change. I believe that the best way to change the constitution is via a constitutional convention (Con-con). Sectoral representation was the fruit of the Cory Constitution who rebuffed then Vice-President Salvador “Doy” Laurel’s offer to go back to the 1935 Constitution. Obviously, there was a plan by the 49 framers of the Cory Constitution to put a Sectoral Representation and now look where it has brought our country.

I have yet to see or hear any great strides or reforms coming from the Sectoral Representatives that we can proudly admit that we were wrong about Sectoral Representation. The best these Party-list groups in Congress have done is to make noise within the hallowed halls of Congress. Actually if there was no Sectoral Representation, those people would be making noise in the streets and still get the media coverage they want. But then, it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers an addition P 2.5 billion, which is money that could have been spent for a more worthy cause.

We’ve always pushed for a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) where the elected delegates to this political exercise would be elected together with those seeking public office in the coming 2010 Presidential elections. This doesn’t cost much as only the name of the Concon delegate would be added into the ballot.

Thanks also to the Cory Constitution, House Speaker Prospero Nograles pulled another stunt by trying to pass up a Constitutional amendment just like an ordinary passing of a bill in the House of Representatives. This is dubbed as the 4th mode of changing the charter but this one is clearly unconstitutional as it is not even mentioned in the kilometric Cory Constitution. Nice try Mr. House Speaker!

It is time to take stock at our political problems, that thanks to the Cory Constitution… we shifted from the hated One-Man Rule and shifted to the rule of the mob! This is because we are creating too many politicians as if more politicians would make for great nation. We need to strike the right balance of proper representation and over-representation!

It is high time to depoliticize the Philippines, reduce the number of Provinces (this was dubbed Gerrymandering) and Cities that are not much better than first class municipalities. Look at what too much politics have done to this nation. Many politicians apparently believe that they have a Torrens Title to their seat of office, where political succession should come from within the family members, just like what they do in family corporations. But then we can only change the system through a con-con; otherwise, we just might have a violent upheaval. God forbid!

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