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BY JOHNNY NOVERA
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TO CONTINUE with our column series on the Parliamentary System, we now cite below its advantages when compared to the Presidential set up:
1) It is easier to pass legislation under the parliamentary system of government. This is because the executive branch is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of the legislative branch and that includes members of the legislature;
2) In a presidential system, the executive is often chosen independently from the legislature. If the executive and the legislature in such a system include members entirely or predominantly
from different political parties, then a stalemate can occur;
3) In addition to faster legislative action, parliamentarianism has attractive features for nations that are ethnically, racially or ideologically divided. In a uni-personal presidential system, all executive powers are concentrated in the president. On the other hand, in a parliamentary system with a collegial executive, power is more divided;
4) In the English constitution, parliamentarianism is praised for producing serious debates, and for allowing the change of power without election, or for election at anytime;
5) Parliamentarianism is less prone to authoritarian collapse. Since World War II, two-thirds of Third World countries establishing parliamentary government successfully transitioned to democracy. In contrast, no Third World presidential system has transitioned to democracy without experiencing coups and other constitutional breakdowns; and
6) A World Bank study found that parliamentary systems are associated with lesser corruption.
We came out with six issues of our column including this page that discussed the parliamentary form of government like the one set up by the late President Ferdinand Marcos during the martial law years. He dissolved our bicameral Congress, conducted elections for a new unicameral body, the Batasan Pambansa, and designated Cesar Virata as Prime Minister but with him retaining initially the position of President. Our government during Marcos’ time is similar to that of Great Britain.
On the other hand, we just realized that President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s baby is called Federalism, not Parliamentarianism. The proposed government setup would be following that of the US, not the British. Sorry, but we hope you found it educational.
Going to Federalism, there will be a re-grouping of our local political units or provinces and cities to form a new body called a state under one strong central government that would regulate common state affairs, but the local state will remain in control of its own internal affairs. To simplify the new groupings and save time and money, maybe we can just adopt the old geographical regions of the country to form one state per region, thus make big savings on setting up new offices and for the new state to function immediately.
By coincidence, our provinces have formed regional councils throughout the country and, to start with, the regional council heads may be appointed as acting state governors until new elections are held. This could mean millions of pesos of savings in the budget, and the transition to the new Federal form of government can be effected immediately.
We are glad that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) under Secretary Ismael Sueno has started a campaign among local government executives in the country to prepare for this transition to Federalism. In a speech at the Local Government Congress in Manila in October 2016, Sueno explained that local government units (LGUs) will have expanded powers which can lead to further devolution and decentralization of government.
The federal system can create a more responsive and representative government to improve the delivery of services to constituents especially for a country like ours which is an archipelago of 7,507 islands.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! (For comments or reactions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com/PN)
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