IT’S TIME we do some house cleaning and throw out the garbage that has been stinking the House of Representatives and the country since the watch of that so-called saint and self-proclaimed “mother of democracy”, former President Cory Aquino.
But first, some thoughts to ponder upon while you waste your mundane life hopelessly hoping for Leni Robredo to become President:
“If a black cat crosses your path, it means the cat is going somewhere.”
“And if you can’t sleep at night, it means you’re awake.”
“Finally, left wing, right wing, it’s the same bird.”
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Don’t compare Trump to Duterte; he’s a wimp. I’d like to see Facebook or Twitter try to block Digong.
While Trump will be leaving the White House on Jan. 20, 2021 but not without all that noise and tantrums, you’ll wake up tomorrow morning and Duterte is still President.
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What’s really pathetic are these people posting edited pictures in social media of “I Am Iloilo City” all covered in snow. I can only conclude these folks have never experience what real cold feels like during winter.
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Before making any comments on the COVID-19 vaccine, make sure you know the difference between efficacy and effectivity.
By the way, the comment of a certain Jose Marie Viceral a.k.a. “Vice Ganda” on social media with regards the COVID-19 vaccine does not qualify and should be ignored as he is neither a scientist or a doctor, much less an epidemiologist.
I’m quite surprised that Leni Robredo has not yet come out with her signature comments on the efficacy and effectivity of the COVID-19 vaccines.
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One of the hottest topics these days aside from the Christine Dacera peep show is the Charter change or amendments to the current 1987 Cory Constitution. The focus of the House of Representatives, which I assume will become a Constitutional Assembly, is on the economic provisions that have been stifling our economy with their protectionist stance.
Aside from the much needed economic reforms in the Constitution, here’s something that really needs to be included while they’re at it (excerpts from a commentary on the Jan. 13, 2021 issue of https://tribune.net.ph/):
Partylist system should be scrapped
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is correct when he said the partylist system should be scrapped.
The partylist system is the means under the 1987 Constitution by which a voter can cast his ballot for a representative from a particular sector of his choice, in addition to the one he gets to vote for in his congressional district.
Section 5(2), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution is the basis for the partylist system — “(2) the partylist representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the partylist.”
This system was seen by the unelected 1986 Constitutional Commission, which drafted the 1987 Charter as a means by which marginalized sectors of society (such as laborers, peasants, the urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, etc.) can elect someone to champion their cause in the House of Representatives of Congress.
The system sounds good, but it turned out to be fraught with problems and defects.
Mainstream political parties used the partylist system to increase their seats in the House. Since every voter can vote for one political party registered in the partylist, the mainstream political parties created dummy organizations posing as political parties that represent marginalized sectors, and required their partisan allies and supporters to vote for those dummy organizations.
Eventually, the number of “marginalized sectors” mushroomed to include just about any sector that claims to be marginalized in the Philippines.
Many members of the House are women, or are very young politicians, so why are there partylist groups for women and the youth? How can one be among many similarly situated in the House and at the same time belong to a marginalized sector?
There was even a time when the son of an ex-president incredibly comported himself as the champion of security guards and got elected as their partylist representative.
Many political parties are registered under the partylist system but are organized solely for profit. Clandestinely, these political parties sell their nominations to politicians who have the money, but do not want to risk running and losing in a district-based election.
Countless big industries, factories, sugar centrals and landed estates require their employees and their employees’ families to vote for a particular party registered in the partylist system, under pain of unemployment. This is one way wealthy families obtain and retain political power.
Religious sects circumvent the constitutional ban against their involvement in partylist elections by creating a political party composed of selected brethren, usually from the family of the church leader, and require the brethren to vote for that political party.
Local communists have cleverly manipulated the partylist system to suit their political agenda. They created several parties bearing different nationalistic sounding names, registered them in the partylist and, during every election, required their cadres and supporters to distribute their votes evenly among those parties in order to maximize the number of House seats they can get.
Communist congressmen, who like to describe themselves as “militant” or “Makabayan,” use the discretionary funds allotted to each of them to agitate the people to go against the government.
And that is the garbage we want thrown out of the House of Representatives, the partylist system./PN
