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Knee-jerk oppositionists are whaling away at the proposed shift to a
federal system as Malacañang’s way of shifting attention away
from controversial issues. But wait! Wasn’t Senate Minority Leader
Nene Pimentel the initiator of this latest move to amend the
Constitution? By no stretch of the imagination can one—except the
unthinking inveterate critics—could say that Nene would do the
administration such a big favor. These knee-jerk oppositionists are
also questioning why the resolution for Charter change was filed
“so suddenly” amid the various controversies hounding the
administration. They may have forgotten that Nene has been clamoring
for a federal system for many decades. The only time he objected to
a Cha-cha was during the 13th Congress when he feared that the
House-initiated move would result in the extension of President
Arroyo’s term.
It is high time that we stop questioning motives
on the proposal to Cha-cha and start debating the issue based on its
merits. Please, do not say that debates are worthless because an
overwhelming majority of the people are against it. The same survey
outfits that reported the majority opposition to Cha-cha have also
reported findings that almost 90 percent of the people do not know
or have not read the Constitution. In other words, the people did
not even know what they are opposing. This being the case, I do not
consider valid that survey result on majority opposition to Cha-cha.
I find very stimulating comments like those of
Senate President Manuel Villar, who said that he had a lot of
questions about federalism but he added that these questions could
not be answered unless there are debates on the issue. Thus, he
supported Nene’s joint resolution urging a shift to federalism.
Sen. Noynoy Aquino also supported Nene’s moves but with
reservations. Most of the senators, however, are giving unqualified
support to federalism. Among them are Juan Ponce Enrile, Edgardo
Angara, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Lito Lapid. Nene said that 16
senators have supported his joint resolution but the 16th, Sen.
Loren Legarda, denied having signed or endorsed the measure. Loren
said she would make a stand only after the debates.
With the support of majority of the senators and
the promised parallel move in the House by Speaker Prospero Nograles,
the time may have come for an honest-to-goodness debate on
federalism not only in the halls of Congress but also in the
grassroots. It’s Dance Time with Nene! I hope the dance would not
shift to a “tinikling” where a misstep could lead to an injured
foot.
The Federal Senate
One of the proposed amendments is the voting of
the president and vice president in tandem (Yes, Nene is proposing a
presidential-federal, not a parliamentary-federal system). This
means that a vote for the president will automatically be a vote for
his running mate. The name of the vice presidential candidate need
not even be written on the ballot as long as that of the president
is given. But what if a voter votes for a vice president but not for
president? In the same vein, Nene proposes that that
vice-president’s standard bearer would similarly be credited with
a vote.
I am sure this proposal is non-debatable. It
assures the symbiotic relationship between the president and the
vice president. Come to think of it, this concept could also apply
to elections for governor and mayor. Aside from ensuring teamwork,
this concept would also simplify the election.
The Federal Congress will be bicameral. The
Federal Senate will have 75 senators, with each of the 11 states
having six seats. The remaining nine seats will come from overseas
Filipinos. The Federal Administrative Region of Metro Manila will
not be represented in the Senate under Nene’s proposal. This may
need some refining. I don’t agree that the country’s biggest and
most progressive region should be voiceless in the Federal Senate.
My reservations on Metro Manila aside, I support
the equal distribution of senators among the component states. When
was the last time Eastern Visayas had a senator? This region has not
had a senator since Sen. Jose Locsin finished his term in 1957 under
the Third Congress. Mindanao is the second biggest island in the
Philippines but it has only two incumbent senators—Nene and Migz
Zubiri. The last Muslim senator was Santanina Rasul who ended her
term in 1995. The Senate is heavily tilted in favor of vote-rich
Luzon. This bias for Luzon in the Senate may soon end once the
proposed federal system is in place.
The senators will serve for six years and for a
maximum of two consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of office
will not interrupt the continuity of the full term for which the
senator was elected.
More about this in my next column.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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