Shift to federal-parliamentary-unicameral system

How many grand corruption scandals have occurred since the Philippines re-established the presidential–bicameral system almost five decades ago?

It is difficult to provide a number, as defining and counting them all is impossible and subjective. But naming only a few that were globally embarrassing should drive us to change our system of government from what it has been for over 48 years.

The presidential–bicameral system has been linked to high-profile corruption, to name a few cases, that were globally embarrassing, like the NBN-ZTE, the PDAF, and the Pharmally multi-participant schemes.

The NBN-ZTE mess involved allegations of corruption in the awarding of a US$329-million construction contract to Chinese telecommunication firm ZTE for the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN).

Illegal congressional insertions in the notorious “bicam” to fund the pork barrel involved the misuse and embezzlement of billions in public funds, primarily the Priority Development Assistance Fund, the DAP, and their many variants, in defiance by lawmakers of the Supreme Court prohibition.

The Pharmally contracts worth P10.85 billion came from three agencies, namely, the Procurement Service–Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), Department of Health (DoH), and Department of Transportation–Philippine National Railways (DoTr-PNR).

It would be best if President Bongbong Marcos shifted us from the unitary presidential to the federal-parliamentary system, thereby abolishing the bicameral committee and embracing the unicameral system to eventually stop the pork barrel, promote economic prosperity in the regions, and provide incentives for Filipinos to live and work outside Imperial Manila.

The federal-parliamentary system is key to achieving national peace and economic prosperity in a diverse society like the Philippines with 18 regions, 81 provinces, 144 cities, 1,490 municipalities, and 42,026 barangays.

Federalism is a system under which the powers and sovereignty are constitutionally divided between the national (federal) government and the constituent units (states). Under federalism, citizens are subject to federal, state, and local laws.

Federalism offers potential benefits like increased local autonomy, economic growth through regional competition, and improved governance through decentralization.

Shifting from unitary presidential to federal-parliamentary under the 1973 Constitution would be easy for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The 1973 fundamental law was promulgated by his late father.

A people’s initiative to form a new government can be facilitated by adapting the 1973 Constitution with some constitutional modifications.

Under the 1973 Constitution, the Prime Minister was elected by the Batasang Pambansa (the national legislature) upon nomination by the President. The President was elected by the people, served as head of state, and then nominated a candidate for Prime Minister to be chosen by the Batasang Pambansa.

The President is the Chief Executive of the Republic of the Philippines, elected by direct vote of the people for a term of six years. He has control of the ministries. He formulates the guidelines of national policy.

Will his anger over the P1-trillion flood control anomaly drive President Marcos to change the form of government that will enable him to accomplish his programs and fulfill his promises to the Filipino people? We will discuss this on Thursday, 28 August.

Email: arturobdesana2@gmail.com