A change of Philippine president in quiet coup

Neal Cruz, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network/Manila

Few people realized it, but a quiet coup d'etat took place in Malacanang last Friday. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) is still in Malacanang, but she is no longer the President. She is still called President, but she is no longer the real President. It is Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) who is the de facto President. He is like a regent, and Gloria is her ward. Or hostage or dummy, depending on how you look at it.

Did you notice that it was FVR, not GMA, who presided over the press conference in Malacanang Friday? He was calling the shots and GMA was quiet, confused, bewitched, bothered and bewildered.

GMA might have gotten a reprieve, but FVR gave her only 10 more months to stay in Malacanang. After which, a new prime minister will take over. That would most likely be (guess who)- FVR.

Yes, FVR's proposal to give GMA-according to him-"a graceful exit" is to convene Congress into a constituent assembly, change the Constitution, change the presidential system of government into parliamentary, have it ratified by the people, hold elections next May; and the new set of officials can assume office in May. All of these done in a matter of 10 months. GMA will be cast away like a rag after being used.

If I were GMA, I would step down now with honor and be a statesman rather than be a dummy and be discarded in less than a year after being used. If I were to step down in 10 months, I might as well do it now and be spared all that aggravation.

With a new Constitution and a new system of government, FVR can run for membership in Parliament in his district in Pangasinan and then run for the position of prime minister.

This has also been the fondest wish of Speaker Jose de Venecia, who has long been working for a shift to a parliamentary system because he can never be elected chief executive in a presidential system. He tried once and ended up in a kangkong patch. (As a consolation to JDV, let me add that no speaker in Philippine history has ever been elected president immediately after leaving the House. Several very popular speakers tried to be, but they were all defeated.) But it looks like the prime ministership is being snatched away from him. JDV has long been the Sancho Panza to FVR's Don Quixote, but now it also looks like he is the patsy.

With a new Constitution and a parliamentary government, FVR is no longer barred from running for reelection, which the present Constitution prohibits. He can always run for the Parliament and easily win in his district and, once there, persuade a majority of the MPs to elect him prime minister. The new government may have a ceremonial president as consuelo de bobo, but the real power will be held by the prime minister.

Because of the present crisis in our presidential system, we may be stampeded into accepting a parliamentary system as the answer to our woes. But this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease. To use another metaphor, it is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

In a parliamentary system, the whole government is run by the party in power. The executive, legislative and judicial departments are all occupied by party members. The chief executive and Cabinet ministers are all members of Parliament, who also will dictate appointees to the Supreme Court. There is no system of checks and balances as in a presidential system.

When you think that the future MPs will be the present congressmen or their relatives, you can see how much more terrible, things would be. We would all be at their mercy.

If you think that the incidence of graft and corruption will diminish, you are wrong. On the contrary, it will become worse. Vote-buying will be in the millions of pesos per vote. Instead of buying the votes of voters at P50 (US$1)per, the candidate for prime minister will buy the votes of elected MPs. You can imagine the price per vote if the contest is close.

Where will the prime minister get the money to buy the expensive MP votes? Where else but from us, the taxpayers. At least in a presidential system, some of that money goes back to the people when their votes are bought. But in a parliamentary system, only the MPs benefit.

Corruption is also rampant in parliamentary systems. Prime ministers of Japan and South Korea were convicted of stealing billions of their nations' money.

Parliamentary systems are successful in some countries because these countries have strong party systems. Their political parties stand for definite ideologies and policies, and politicians don't change parties. Not in the Philippines, where every other politician is a political butterfly flitting from party to party.

If we have a parliamentary government, most politicians will jump to the party in power, and there will be few or no opposition politicians to fiscalise the administration. There will be no checks and balances. The party in power will be one very big syndicate, similar to the Mafia, with no Untouchables to stop them. Heaven help us.

Our Constitution and system of government are not perfect (as other systems are also imperfect) but they are still good. Some of our best achievements in history and leaders were children of a presidential system. There is nothing wrong with the system. What is wrong is with the politicians we elect into office.

Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmena Sr., Jose P. Laurel, Manuel Roxas Sr., Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Tanada, Jose W. Diokno, Lorenzo Sumulong, Jovito Salonga, Benigno Aquino Jr. and many other leaders were all bred under the present system. But so were Joseph Estrada, GMA and you-know-who, you say. Well, you can't win them all. You win some, you lose some.