Commentary on the Pimentel Proposal, Part II: (Ivory) Towers of Power

Still on Senate Joint Resolution No. 10, we continue from our previous post on proposed legislative laziness to another topic: power.

Yes. POWER.

Touchy subject, but let's try to discuss this topic with a cool head.

(This means I have to try to calm myself down after Punzi's confirmation of another media mention of The Journal of The Jester-in-Exile. I'm mababaw like that hahahaha -- it may just be a couple of seconds on TV5, but hey, grant me that couple seconds' worth of fame, won't you? After all, it's not as if I maintain an influential blog -- which Filipino Voices is -- and have oodles and oodles of readership.)

(I'm so proud of Filipino Voices, and I have to say yet again how proud I am to be part of the team... which means I have to turn this series into something on FV later on, don't I?)

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So. Power.

Let's first talk of the power that has been delegated by the people; ergo, representation. Let's first focus on how the people get to choose their officials.

We have this revision on deck:

Page 13, line 16

Section 4. Article VII. Manner of Election.

The President and the Vice-president shall be voted for as a team as defined hereunder. They shall be elected by the qualified voters residing in the Republic or working or residing in foreign countries pursuant to the Rules provided hereunder and pertinent legislation.

This revision, and the revisions related et sequentia, make sure that the people's choice of the country's chief and deputy chief executives is circumscribed. The people cannot make the choice between candidates; instead, they get to choose the slates.

Perhaps this is a good thing for professional politicians such that it ensures that the Veep will be less likely to backstab the Pres (like what GMA did to Erap in 2000), it takes away the right of the people to choose whom they want to put in the top two position in government. Instead of electing a President and a Vice-President separately, the people have to choose a slate.

This puts less pressure on traditional political parties' campaign machinery, doesn't it?

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Likewise, the right to suffrage (which also implies the right to aspire to office) is designed to be elitist. Take a look at this:

page 31 line 28

New Section. Article XI. Qualifications of a State Governor.

No person may be elected governor of a State unless he is a natural born citizen, a registered voter of any province, city, municipality or barangay of the State, at least, a graduate of a public or private high school recognized by the government, at least, thirty years of age on the day of the election, and an actual resident of the State for, at least, five years immediately prior to the election. The State, however, may require higher educational requirements for the Governor.

Quite obviously, the revision is designed to ensure that power remains in the hands of an elite having had education. A farmer unable to read or write -- even if he has proven his worth and integrity as a leader -- is barred from seeking office; conversely, a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law, member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi, inept as a bureaucrat and corrupt to his black bones, seeking office as a means to riches and power, has de facto run roughshod over the said farmer by way of his credentials.

Such is the government we want. We can very well have a situation where paper credentials PWNs practical ability, diploma's words PWN dedication to service, and education PWNs integrity.

We can very well have a situation where a government official will end an argument with a constituent in a manner similar to the judge in Mane vs. Bulan.

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Likewise, it seems that a revision has been included to reduce the representation that the 1987 Constitution has mandated for sectors considered to be marginalized (fisherfolk, labor, et cetera). How so? Consider:

Page 8, line 1

Section 5. (1). Article VI. Composition of House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of not more than three hundred fifty members. Three hundred representatives shall be elected from legislative districts with, at least, 250,000 population in the States apportioned among the provinces, cities, and the Federal Administrative Region of Metro-Manila coming from contiguous areas, and fifty representatives shall be elected through a party-list system of registered federal or regional sectoral parties or organizations.

Party-list representatives are proposed to be limited to 1/7th of the total population, instead of 1/5th (20%) of the total population of the House of Representatives. More, therefore, of the collective power of the legislature, is given to legislative district representatives.

As it is not farfetched to assume that representatives of legislative districts are generally dynasts, de facto feudal lords, and capo di tutti capi (trapo di tutti trapi?) of their constituents (I would suppose that this might be especially true in the rural areas, where mainstream media tends not to cover adequately and thus serve as a check), we could therefore assume that Congress will become more of King John's court of barons than the farmers and traders representing their peers in Philadelphia's Independence Hall.

This would seem to be supported by this revision:

Page 24 line 13

New Section. Article X. State Legislature Sector Representatives - How Appointed.

The sectoral representation coming from the farming, fisheries and senior citizens sectors as provided herein shall be nominated by the sectors concerned within seven days after the elections of the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the Sangguniang Panlungsod. They shall be appointed by the State Governor within one week after the submission of the nominations to his or her office by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the Sangguniang Panlungsod concerned within fifteen days after their first session.

Only groups of farmers, fisherfolk and senior citizens that are duly registered with the State Social Welfare department or office shall qualify for the nomination by the sectors concerned and for appointment by the State Governor.

Note that the limits to sectoral representation. The representatives are hampered if they do not have the patronage the state administration, via the governor, the state legislature, and the governor's version of the DSWD.

So much for the will of the people.

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More on taking of power away from the people, this revision should be of interest:

Page 26, line 1

Any member of the State Legislature may be recalled by majority vote of the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or Sangguniang Panlungsod concerned after ten months of the term to which the State Legislator concerned had been elected but not within six months prior to the end of the term.

Note that there is no mention that constituents can exercise the power of recall.

Inclusio unius exclusio alterius.

Oh crap.

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But how about increasing power? This little snippet speaks volumes:

Page 12 line 30

Section 1. Article VII. The President

Except as ordained in the Constitution, the executive power is vested on the President.

This seemingly innocuous statement is in fact deadly on its face. How so?

Simple, really: with this statement, the Supreme Court has been divested of its power of judicial review over acts of the President. All a government lawyer has to ask when defending an act of the President is this: "Is this act expressly prohibited by the Constitution?"

'Nuff said, yes?

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Further on diminishing the powers of the court, we have these revisions:

page 17 line 21

Revision No. IO.

Section 8. Article VIII. Abolishing the Judicial and Bar Council.

The Judicial and Bar Council is hereby abolished.


Revision No. 11.

Section 9. Article VIII. Judicial Appointments.

The Members of the Supreme Court and Judges of the lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of, at least, three nominees prepared after appropriate public hearings by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and approved by the Commission on Appointments pursuant to its rules.

Notice that the appointments of judges and justices are to be approved by the Commission on Appointments. That will quite likely ensure that candidates can very well become beholden to those on the COA -- a situation that erodes judicial independence and the integrity of the judicial institution.

So what happens to judicial review, then?

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I said it previously, I'll say it again: Senator Pimentel, your proposal is a sheet of used toilet paper.



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