Reforms? Or let’s get rid of the Senate?

I fully concur with fellow Philippine STAR columnist Federico Pascual Jr. who wrote in his column Postscript, “We fly to Davos, spend P49 M to wash our linen?” Pascual quoted President Benigno Aquino saying that when he assumed office in 2010, he came upon “a government where corruption was rampant, and a citizenry that had spiraled into apathy after almost a decade of absentee leadership.” If P-Noy was referring to former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo… it was the wrong way to describe her Presidency. She was the most hardworking President we have ever known, next to former Pres. Fidel V. Ramos (FVR); she was never absent.

Perhaps because P-Noy had really nothing else to report in Davos, he once more trumpeted his “same-old” achievements in putting to jail a former President and getting rid of a sitting Chief Justice Renato Corona (which for sure, those foreign leaders now know was an act of revenge by this President for what happened to their Hacienda Luisita), which he unwittingly end up damaging the Judiciary.

In the headline of last Sunday’s Philippine STAR, it blared “Noy to Senators: End feuds, pass vital bills.” Will these money-hungry politicians listen to the President? I doubt it! To paraphrase Julius Caesar before he crossed the Rubicon, “iata alea est,” “the die has been cast.” This means, there is no turning back as harsh and hurtful words have been said in public.

While there’s just a week left before the Senate goes on recess, we are once more hearing calls for the resignation of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE), specifically from Sen. Antonio Trillanes who vowed to oust him from the Senate leadership. At this point, let me dare Sen. Trillanes to do it as quickly as possible… that’s if he has the guts or the numbers to dislodge JPE from the Senate leadership, just after he got a huge majority in last week’s vote of confidence.

But Senior Senator Edgardo Angara tried to appease his fellow Senators that this row must be resolved internally. How can they resolve this internally when they threw brickbats at each other publicly? Last Friday Sen. Angara pleaded with the warring Senators, “Let’s heal this as quickly as possible because the damage is not so much on our personal capacities, but the damage is greater on the institution.” Sen. Angara’s fears may have already sunk into the consciousness of the Filipino people… that the Philippine Senate has been damaged permanently by this misuse of its funds.

JPE and perhaps the other Senate Presidents before him or the previous House Speakers may have gotten used to this misuse of government funds, taken from our tax money in order to grant gifts to their fellow legislators. Gifts of P1.6 million is just too much for the ordinary Filipino to fathom. A Rolex watch perhaps costing P300,000 might be a good gift to give. But P1.6 million will buy you a nice SUV…courtesy of the People’s money!

Also in last Sunday’s Philippine STAR editorial entitled “Slip in Transparency”, allow me to quote an excerpt, which goes; “Those who have been following the debates on the utilization of funds by the Senate will agree with the results of an International survey on Budget Transparency. In the Open Budget Survey 2012 covering 100 countries and conducted by the Washington-based International Budget Partnership, the Philippines garnered a score of 48 percent— a seven-point slip from its score in the previous survey in 2010.

That’s not a good sign for the administration of Daang Matuwid, which is touting transparency as a come-on for investors to take a look at the country. The budget survey, undertaken every two years, showed the Philippines trailing Indonesia, although scoring better than Thailand and Malaysia…. The controversy at the Senate combined with the results of the budget survey, should lead to reforms that will bring more transparency in fund utilization in all branches of government.” Reforms? Or let’s get rid of the Senate altogether?

What kind of reforms will those warring Senators present? If you ask me, the removal of the Pork Barrel would be the greatest reform that these politicians can give as a gift of transparency to our nation. But then… this is wishful thinking. At this point… we can only hope that the Filipino people would be so incensed by this squabble that no one from the ruling party would be elected into the Senate.

Last Sunday morning, I watched Nick Gowing of the BBC hosting the BBC World Debate in Davos… and it was quite an interesting discussion on democracy. Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist made a great statement, “A functioning democracy is based on trust— you must have a constitution that everyone feels embraced by it.” In mentioning Egypt, the speakers said that their constitution was transitory in nature, which is why they are still making adjustments.” Our 1987 Constitution should have been considered also as transitory, but our politicos made it permanent because our ugly politicians are happy with the people’s money they are getting. 

*  *  *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.