State of uncertainty

It has been two years since Duterte took over the helm of the Ship of State supposedly as the duly elected President of this Republic. But up to now Filipinos still do not know where the ship is heading. The air of uncertainty still prevails all over the land. These are indeed days of living precariously mainly because of the helmsman’s vague, loose and contradicting statements laced with cuss words and foul language spouted during his long winded speeches. Hence his spokesperson Harry Roque is always busy and encountering a lot of difficulty explaining what he utters.

Even his actions which “speak louder than words” have stirred a lot of controversy and much ado. This is again shown by the lips to lips kiss he gave to a Filipina married to a Korean in his recent visit to South Korea. Once more, Roque has come out to defend such scene by claiming that it was simply “a playful act accepted in Filipino culture.” Apparently Roque has forgotten or completely overlooked and ignored the high esteem Filipinos give to women in this country, especially those who are not yet married that even gave rise to the age-old saying: “Filipino custom no touch.” Of course this kissing scene would not have stirred so much fuss if it was done by an ordinary Filipino. In this case however it was done by the President of the country who is expected to be more circumspect in his public actuations so as to set a good example especially to the young ones. Obviously this latest “scene” he made in South Korea is conduct unbecoming of a President aside from his previous spouting of cuss words and foul language in his speeches.

At this stage of Duterte’s rule, I cannot help but recall that one of the reasons why he apparently won was his commitment to convert our government from the present unitary presidential system to a federal system. People were really sick and tired of the present system of government we had since we became an independent nation because too much power is concentrated and given to the Chief Executive, the President of the country that even gave rise to the phrase “Imperial Manila.” Hence when he assumed office, people were expecting that even before the amendment of the Constitution to effect this change, he would already be taking legally feasible steps to devolve some of his powers to the heads of the local government units and would strictly adhere and observe the principle of separation of powers so as to preserve the independence of the Legislative and Judicial departments.

Unfortunately, the exact opposite is happening now in our country. Duterte appears to have control of the Legislative and Executive departments of the government which are supposed to be separate and independent. He has the “super majority” in both houses of Congress and has apparently instigated the filing of the Petition for Quo Warranto by the Solicitor General of the Department of Justice, to remove the Supreme Court Chief Justice who has been trying to assert the independence of the Judiciary. And in an unprecedented but questionable move, a slim majority of the justices of the Supreme Court granted said petition to kick out their Chief. Apparently the impression created here is that the Chief Executive has interfered in a separate and independent branch of government.

It is really about time therefore that Duterte should take concrete steps to carry his commitment to convert to federalism. He should ask the leaders of both houses either to call a constitutional convention or constitute itself into a constituent assembly for the purpose of amending or revising the Charter. And since he has also created a commission who will study and propose the amendments, it should expedite the submission of the proposed changes, the adoption of a federal system of government, to the constitutional convention or to Congress as a constituent assembly so that the proper amendment or revision can be done as soon as possible.

Undoubtedly, federalism will be more beneficial to our country and people. Based on the experiences of other countries with federal form of government, economic progress and development especially of the countryside will be easily and speedily achieved under this form of government as each federal state will have a more compact and smaller area and population to govern. It will thus be easier and faster to attain the various plans and programs of government that will redound to the best interest of the populace and the common good. This is not merely hypothetical because it is already shown and proven in other countries.

Even on the political aspect, federalism is more advantageous to our people. The over-concentration of power in the Chief Executive or the President will be eliminated. Basically, our country will be composed of a confederation or union of “sovereign states” created by the adoption of a federal constitution for the purpose of presenting to the world the appearance of a single state while retaining the rights and power of internal regulation and administration or at least of local self government. Every citizen of each particular state owes obedience to two governments – that of his own State and that of the Union or Federation with constitutional limits of the authority of each precisely and clearly defined.

So it is about time for Duterte to take concrete steps in this regard in order to comply with his promise. He should also realize and accept that this system is the best anti-dote against a one man rule which he seems to be contemplating now. If he will take immediate and concrete steps towards this direction, people will be convinced that he is not inclined to acquire more power and is really sincere in serving our country especially in fighting corruption because “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]