A failed experiment

Party-list organizations disqualified from the 2013 polls by the Commission on Elections won one round yesterday when the Supreme Court (SC) temporarily stopped the implementation of the Comelec order.

It’s good that this issue has reached the high court, which can clear up certain gray areas that have cropped up since the enabling law for the party list, Republic Act 7941, was passed in 1995.

There is the question, for example, of what happens when a group graduates from marginalized status and goes mainstream. Should it then be disqualified?

For taxpayers burdened by the upkeep of party-list congressmen, abolishing the system altogether is a better idea. The party-list system, envisioned by the Constitution to promote the welfare of marginalized sectors, has become a farce.

The system has become a way for regular congressmen at the end of their term limit, or who are making way for relatives, to continue sitting in the House of Representatives.

Consider Mikey Arroyo, who gave way for his mom the former president to replace him as Pampanga representative. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is too sick for detention in a regular jail but healthy enough to seek re-election to Congress. Mikey was allowed to represent security guards under the party-list system, enjoying all the perks and privileges of regular congressmen including equal share in the pork barrel.

Mikey’s group has been disqualified from the 2013 polls, but like the other disqualified organizations, the representatives will be allowed to finish their term. Why is this fair? According to reports, Mikey’s group will not appeal its disqualification by the Comelec.

The party-list has paved the way for an expansion of the public trough from which entrenched politicians and their families want to feed forever.

Many Filipinos consider the government a perfect employer. It is unlikely to shut down because of bad management or bankruptcy, and while salaries are nothing to die for, the funding is always there – plus opportunities to make a fortune.

Political clans aren’t the only ones that have abused the party-list system. Major political parties and religious groups (despite a specific prohibition under RA 7941) also have party-list representation. In every electoral exercise since the enactment of RA 7941, groups have found more creative ways of defining “marginalized.”

The fault may be in the wording and provisions of RA 7941 itself, and in jurisprudence that paved the way for ever-growing party-list representation in Congress.

Several legal experts have emphasized that if the nation still wants the party-list system to continue, RA 7941 will have to be amended so that it does not subvert the intent of the Constitution. But at this point, with all the major political parties having party-list extensions, waiting for such an amendment is like waiting for Congress to pass an enabling law on the constitutional provision against political dynasties.

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With so many lawmakers (and more in the works if gerrymandering efforts succeed), surely the genuinely marginalized can find a non-party-list congressman or two willing to sponsor their cause, including provision of funding for pet projects.

Are women, for example, still marginalized? Even in the 24-member Senate, there are enough members, among them self-styled “honorary women,” who have sponsored and continue to support legislation advancing women’s rights.

Do we need specific congressional representation for every small and medium enterprise? Legislation for SMEs must be coordinated. Measures sponsored by non-party-list lawmakers have been passed over the years, and more will likely be passed.

Every party-list representative added to Congress gets a regular share of the pork barrel, which is at least P30 million a year per lawmaker. While no money actually passes through the hands of congressmen, the pork barrel system tends to wreak havoc on coordinated and long-term planning for projects such as road networks and other infrastructure. The system also opens a wide range of opportunities for corruption, especially in the earmarking and award of infrastructure projects.

Some quarters sick of the party-list system have suggested that RA 7941 be repealed. Without an enabling law, the system cannot continue. It will save a lot in public funds, which can go to many worthy projects.

President Aquino, with his unusually high performance ratings as he nears the midpoint of his term, has the popularity and credibility to pull this off with the help of his political allies.

With the elections approaching, however, P-Noy is starting to look increasingly risk-averse, with his focus mainly on getting majority support in Congress in 2013. He’s even pulling the rug from under the Reproductive Health bill, one of a handful of measures he had championed in his last State of the Nation Address.

P-Noy can say that the fate of the party-list system is in the hands of Congress. But that fate can be influenced by a presidential nudge to political allies.

Like the frenzied effort to build political dynasties, the abuse of the party-list system has become unrestrained. Unless the Supreme Court or Congress stops the abuse, the party list will increasingly be seen as a failed experiment that is better abolished.