Shadow government; when the young die

With the Aquino government cancelling projects of the Arroyo government one after the other and causing mayhem to investments, it may be good to bring up the need for constitutional reform. Although seldom talked about, the shadow government is one of the strong points of the British parliamentary system.

The shadow government is made up of the leader and members of the opposition who keep close tab of the incumbent government by appointing its own ministers. That is the meaning of shadow. The opposition cabinet members shadow the policies and projects of ministers of the sitting government. The key to this structure is the permanent civil service who stay in their jobs whatever the government and ensures stability and continuity.

It addresses two things: one, to continue policies and projects that are good for the country when the Opposition takes over, and second to look out for defects and flaws. If the flaws are big enough it may call for a no-confidence vote. The principle behind this is at the heart of government. Because we do not have parliamentary government we will have the same vicious cycle that comes with every presidential election.

The president can say whatever he wants to justify canceling or reconsidering foreign-funded infrastructure projects worth $2 billion, but it will never make up for the damage it has done and will do to the country. Among these is a Belgian-funded lake dredging project, a restudy of a Chinese-financed rail line and a renegotiation of a French-funded port work.

It does not mean that that there was no graft in the projects, but if the task of government is the welfare of its people, then we are doing it wrongly.

It fails to see time is a precious commodity and we pay a high cost for postponement. Not just in terms of money, also about life and limb. We will continue repeating mistakes because the system is ineffective. Do you wonder why investors would rather invest in other countries?

Peter Hennessy’s book “Whitehall” gives a good account of the Westminster system of government and its principles. He quotes Sir Geoffrey Elton who said:

“The purpose of constitutional history is to study government, the manner in which men, having formed themselves into societies, then arrange for the orderly existence, through time, and in space of those societies. It is therefore like every other form of history, a form of social history, a form of history of society. But it takes particular note of the question of government.

“It is concerned with what is done to make that society into a properly structured, continuously living body so that what goes wrong can be put right, so that the political action of which that society is capable can be efficiently and effectively conducted. Machinery, yes. But also thought, the doctrine, the searching, the conventional motions. What does the society think its government is, what does it do to amend it? What forms of change are possible, what reforms?”

So if we transpose the British shadow cabinet into the local scene, the opposition will not be groping when it comes into power. At the same time, the sitting government is properly in check. It is not all about politics.

The time to criticize or recall projects should have been done earlier. Had we had a shadow cabinet the projects could have come under scrutiny and corrected earlier. The opposition can be critical as well as collaborative.

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With the help of University of Asia and the Pacific’s Dr. Bernie Villegas, we put together a round table discussion on Structural Reform to join calls to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. As long time advocates, we were careful not to touch on the big questions for constitutional reform ie shift to parliamentary government, evolving federalism. We had planned to confine ourselves to structural reform that would tackle specific issues that made the Philippines unattractive to investors. To our surprise as each participant spoke whether businessman, politician or media, the question of constitutional reform was brought up. Nevertheless all agreed to tackle small things first.

I was surprised that some rules not sanctioned by law were being imposed on foreign investors. Tackling that problem could be a beginning. I will write more on the discussions in future columns. The round table discussion was held July 1, 2011 from 8 a.m. - 12 noon at Telengtan Hall, University of Asia and the Pacific. Senator Manny Villar, Congressman Elpidio Barzaga, former National Security Adviser Jose Almonte, Ambassadors Delia Albert, Jose Romero, economist Gerry Sicat, BOI head Cristino Panlilio, Biznews publisher Tony Lopez and Mr. Henry Schumacher of the European Chamber of Commerce-Joint Foreign Chambers gave a valuable inputs to the lively discussion.

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I attended the Sagittarius Mines Inc. launch of their Sustainability Report for 2010. Mark Williams who heads the group told the audience that the “annual sustainability report demonstrates SMI’s commitment to the standards of sustainable development and reflects our transparent approach to stakeholder engagement.”

I think that those who are really interested in how mining has helped in country development should not only read the report, they should see for themselves how the community benefits in Tampakan Copper. If we want responsible mining, we must also have responsible reporting.

“This Global Reporting Initiative is the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework which enables our stakeholders to compare our sustainability performance against our annual targets,” Mark Williams said in his speech.

SMI has invested P135 million on corporate social involvement programs on education, health, livelihood and capacity-building ventures for the communities. It won two awards for safety performance — the Safest Mine Award (exploration category) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

More than just money and development it has granted financial support for the education of around 19,000 elementary, high school and college students.

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Many of those who trooped to Funeraria Paz in the Manila Memorial Park for the wake of a daughter of former President Fidel Ramos did not know Jo.

We were there to offer our condolences to President FVR and Ming. The death of a child is painful to a parent because the natural course is for the parent to go ahead. It is an occasion to remember that death does not choose. All of us, young or old, rich or poor can go anytime. We are reminded not to give too much importance to ambition, wealth or power. When death comes, all is vanity.