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The Philippine constitutional system includes a concept called
separation of powers. The three branches of government—the
legislative, the executive and the judicial—are supposed to share
power co-equally. To prevent abuse and to make sure that each branch
fulfills its duty to uphold the democratic and other, perhaps
unnamed, basic principles and values of our Republic, the powers of
one branch can be challenged by another branch. This is the system
of checks and balances.
The legislative branch—our two-chamber
Congress—makes the law and has oversight functions over the
executive. The executive branch executes the law and may veto laws
passed by Congress. The judicial branch interprets the law whenever
there is a difference in understanding what the law really means.
Each branch affects the work and even the life
of the other.
Impeachment
Congress has the power of impeachment and other
checks on the powers of the presidency.
The House of Representatives is the only
institution that can initiate the impeachment of a president, who is
the head of the executive branch. If the impeachment charges pass
the House –acting as prosecutors—the impeachment case is brought
to the Senate for trial and each senator functions as a justice. If
found guilty by the senator-justices (presided over by the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court) the president is dismissed
Cynics say impeachments are purely political
affairs and cannot be assailed as “unfair” or “unjust” when
pursued purely on political lines and as a numbers game. In a less
immoral political setting than ours, politicians also give weight to
ethical considerations and subordinate pure partisanship.
In the USA, for instance, impeachment fears
drove Richard Nixon to resign because many of his own fellow
Republicans would have surely voted to convict him. But Presidents
Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were acquitted.
Congress may also override presidential
vetoes. The Commission on Appointments approves the president’s
nominees for departmental secretaries. The Senate has the power to
approve treaties entered into by the president. It is Congress that
has the power to declare war. Congress enacts tax laws.
Congress checks on judiciary
Before Martial Law and the 1987 Constitution the
Commission on Appointments confirmed the appointment of Supreme
Court justices. Now there is no congressional check on the
presidential power to populate the High Court with his or her
choices.
The House, however, may impeach justices and the
senators, acting as justices, try the justices’ impeachment cases.
Congress can introduce and pass constitutional
amendments—subject to approval in referendums and plebiscites.
Executive checks on Congress
The president can veto laws. The president is
the commander in chief of the armed forces and the topmost police
official.
He or she can call Congress to an emergency
session but not dictate passage of laws.
Having the actual power over the budget, the
president can refuse to release money for the pork barrel (CDF) to
lawmakers he or she does not like. The president enjoys the
equivalent of CDF, but it’s called by another name.
Presidential checks on the judiciary are the
power to appoint justices and the power to pardon convicts.
The Judiciary checks on Congress by judicial
review of laws passed and of congressional actions.
The judiciary checks on the executive by
judicial review of the acts of the president and any executive
department. The Chief Justice sits as President of the Senate
constituted as a presidential impeachment court.
Overpowered by Malacañang
Both Congress and the judicial branch have
clearly been overpowered by Malacañang under President Arroyo and
earlier under President Marcos.
It is not only the overwhelming majority of
President Arroyo’s partymates in the House but also her unchecked
power over the treasury that make congressmen belonging to her
parties subservient.
As seen in the recent decision of the Supreme
Court—which favored Malacañang and granted Secretary Romulo
Neri’s petition to be allowed to refuse to answer three Senate
questions under the principle of “executive privilege”—a
president can also defeat the balance of political power vis-à-vis
the judiciary.
The American presidential system which we copied
was deliberately designed to weaken the American union’s federal
chief executive. The US founding fathers could see that a president
could undo US democracy and exercise authoritarian powers over
individual states—if not checked by Congress and the judicial
branch. In the Philippines, however, we created an imperial
presidency, with the Marcos executive orders and the 1987 Aquino
constitution.
We must restore the power balance between
the three branches by amending the Constitution. We must
professionalize the civil service. A president’s power to
“re-align” the budget must be curbed and the law must clearly
state that the pork barrel (the Community Development Fund) must be
released to legislators. Ensure through legislation that elective
officials get their CDF.
There are some other important amendments to the
1987 Constitution that a Constitutional Convention, and only a
Constitutional Convention, must make.
rq_bas@yahoo.com
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