Babe's Eye View article

If there's any indication at all of what this year is going to be all about—the ouster of Joe de Venecia as Speaker, his exposé of corruption in government, the revelations of Jun Lozada, calls for the resignation of GMA—it looks like we're in for a lot of political instability.

Instead of doing the correct cha-cha, we're moving three steps backwards and one-half step forward. Even Confucius himself will be confused at the way we're moving. Let's look at what happened in the past to get a better perspective of things. We removed Joseph Estrada, a democratically elected president, when we aborted the impeachment process.

We put Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in power—which disrupted the cycle of a six-year term as specified by the Constitution. This kind of "quick fix" became the source of continuing political problems with questions about the legitimacy of GMA's bid for the 2004 presidential race. Then came the alleged fertilizer scam supposedly to raise money and ensure GMA's victory—with accusations that she cheated her way to victory.

In hindsight, the current political system really breeds corruption. In the first place, a presidential candidate needs P3 billion to mount a campaign. Where will that kind of money come from? Of course, there will be donations and all sorts of contributions asked from people—which in itself is already a form of corruption because the donors will be expecting a "return" on their money.

If you analyze the ZTE controversy, it would seem that it was conceived before the May 2007 elections, again allegedly to bankroll the war chest of administration candidates. Right there and then, you could see where the cycle was going.

I'm surprised that a shrewd political strategist like Ernie Maceda is advocating another "quick fix" solution by calling on GMA and Noli de Castro to resign. Ernie is dreaming if he thinks Noli will resign—he knows he's just one heartbeat away from the presidency. But for purposes of argument—if by some stroke of luck Noli de Castro assumes the presidency—it would be obvious the opposition will have absolutely no chance at all of winning in 2010 because he will have the power of the incumbent.

But in this country, no candidate ever loses—so the cycle of accusations of cheating and vote rigging will most likely start all over again. So then we're back to square one. Noli de Castro will be another long-serving president with eight years in his term. Right now as it is, by the time GMA finishes her term in 2010, she will have appointed virtually all the Supreme Court justices.

Perhaps it's about time we started looking forward and see how we can change this never-ending cycle of removing presidents through shortcuts. Instead of a "parliament of the streets," perhaps we should study a parliamentary system of government that incorporates features suitable to the unique cultural makeup of the Filipino.

That's why last Friday at the economic forum participated in by the MOPC, I asked GMA, why not initiate Charter Change since she will be stepping down by 2010? She would be the perfect person to start it because she will be out of the presidency by the time the whole thing gets rolling. But she skirted the issue, emphatically saying she would rather not be the one to initiate it. But I firmly believe this is one suggestion to help us develop a system that is unique to our way of life, which doesn't have to be a copy of the parliamentary system in other countries.

Just look at the Senate. Most senators spend time in inquiries instead of legislation. Apparently, they are doing a good job exposing corruption over nationwide television that many feel—and I'm not being sarcastic here—they should probably be converted into a "super body" that will focus on investigating corruption-related issues, and just let the Lower House stick to legislation.

Senators can concentrate and be given special powers to initiate impeachment proceedings against public officials, as well as prosecute, much like the District Attorneys in the United States who are also elected into office. Anyway, the Senate is where we have brilliant lawyers like Juan Ponce Enrile, Joker Arroyo, Miriam Santiago and others.

Let's face it, the current system has continued to breed corruption and has permeated all aspects of our lives including business, media—you name it. We have had a western-style democratic system that has not worked for the last 60 years, and just maybe, it's about time we started thinking out of the box and develop our own that doesn't have to be a mirror image of the American democratic system. We can literally call it the Filipino style of democracy and "only in the Philippines."

While I understand the anger and frustration we all feel, with all of us wanting to punish those who are guilty, what is important is to establish the truth first instead of resorting to another "People Power" that will only suck us back into a never-ending cycle that will put us 10 steps backward. Twenty two years ago, People Power was hailed all over the world, but it lost its flavor because we abused its concept, the last one even described by the international media as "mob rule."

Let's do it right this time. Let the rule of law take its due course. Patience is a virtue. If we keep making the same mistakes, we will have different players doing the same thing all over again. We have to think out of the box for us to finally change our way of life, and not be under a system of corruption that has become endemic.