Centrist Democracy Political Institute - Items filtered by date: February 2017
Friday, 03 February 2017 10:21

Speaker eyes con-ass by July

MANILA, Philippines - If he could have his way, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez wants senators and congressmen to convene as a constituent assembly (con-ass) in July to work on a new Constitution.

He said lawmakers would rewrite the Charter to shift the nation to a federal system, as advocated by President Duterte, and to relax its restrictive economic provisions.

Alvarez said he expected Duterte to soon appoint members of the consultative commission on Charter change, which the Chief Executive created in December.

Alvarez said the commission should submit its report to the President and Congress in six months.

The Speaker has a three-year timeline for shifting the nation to the federal system.

He wants the new Charter to be submitted to the people in a plebiscite that would be held together with the midterm elections in May 2019.

To prepare his colleagues for their con-ass work, the House and the ruling PDP-Laban party organized a seminar on federalism last Wednesday.

In a message to participants, Alvarez thanked them for their “show of support and enthusiasm” in joining the discussion on Cha-cha.

“When this event was proposed to the Speaker, he gave it his full support. The kind of structure we have will dictate the strategic trajectory of our country in terms not limited to peace and development. Strategy always follows structure. Let us remember this,” he said.

Alvarez noted that under the present Constitution, the President serves as both head of state and head of government.

“From our historical experience, this has been an overwhelming task. This kind of setup has failed to respond effectively and efficiently to the recurring issues that have continuously plagued our nation. It has also adversely affected the needs and collective aspirations of our people,” the Speaker said.

“We have to consider the possibility that the structure we have now is no longer fit for the pressing needs of today and it is not compatible with meeting the challenges that tomorrow will bring,” he said.

Duterte has expressed preference for a federal system with a strong president and a prime minister who assists the chief executive in running the government.

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez has proposed a mix of federal-presidential setup with a two-chamber Congress. On the other hand, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. wants a pure federal-parliamentary form with a unicameral or one-chamber parliament.

Benitez, Rodriguez, Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and several House members are pushing for the relaxation of the Constitution’s economic provisions to allow 100-percent foreign ownership of land and businesses.
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Part 2

PRESIDENT Deegong’s breakout from an image of a small-time but effective local city mayor to a national candidate of prominence and onto the presidency was single-handedly defined by the force of his personality. Looking back these past two years from his debut on the national stage, his image as a no-nonsense mayor was projected at first by the local media and captured by the national press but, as claimed by some locals, was distorted to some extent, such that at one point, the Deegong refused any further “press-cons”.

The original talking head, Secretary Pete Lavina, who was competent enough speaking for the Deegong locally was out of his element on the national stage. His demeanor and attempt at the “English language” was perceived to be a disaster; and he was unjustly disparaged for it. Blame too could be attributed to the Deegong who may not have understood the difficult role of his spokesperson. One cannot cage a whirlwind out to proclaim his message to the four corners.

Atty. Panelo’s stint was even more short-lived as the Deegong’s message was deflected by the flamboyant persona of the talking head himself; redirecting instead people’s attention to his sartorial tastes, a garish multi-hued combination and his forced attempt at explaining the presidency, also in colorful language uniquely the President’s. He was better off using his excellent legal mind in the service of the President away from the public glare.

The two that followed, Secretary Martin Andanar, the communications director, and Secretary Ernie Abella, the presidential spokesperson, have been recruited to do almost impossible jobs. Which brings us to the issue at hand.

These two Cabinet members who handle the Deegong’s image and disseminate his messages are his alter egos too, and aside from being his political heat shields and lightning rods, must understand the more specialized roles assigned to them. The current problem of “vigilantism and extra-judicial killing” has entered the lexicon of the political conversation. This issue needs to be expounded in a different light projecting a different image. Changing the face of the issue is one such tool in political management. The issue must emphasize the inevitable slow but deadly slide towards narco-political abyss. Why not capture a big fat drug lord and make an example of him? A Lim Seng of the Marcos regime but going through the justice system–-and doing it fast. Surely, the political capital of the Deegong can guarantee fast justice.

Or project real investigations of rogue policemen and generals whom the Deegong have already shamed, but not in the TV camera-centered congressional hearings that go nowhere. Why only poor dead addicts, why not dead rogue policemen and rich corrupt politicians? Why not sample congressmen in the presidential blue list (refer to the Manila Times, “Conversations with the Deegong” Dec 15, 22, 29 2016…www.cdpi.asia)

And this cannot be the job only of the “talking heads”. Make it an executive department-wide concern and expand the context by bringing it to the national consciousness. Field articulate Cabinet members to several national TV and radio networks where they can defend the government action on illegal drugs as a legitimate response to a threat, menace and danger. There are countless literature and horror stories in Columbia, Mexico and some other South American countries of drug cartels and narco-politicians capturing political and economic power and sipping the life-blood of the country dry. Bring these out as illustrations of weak states! This massive government response could succeed in changing the character of the debate from one focused on human rights violations to that of the legitimate right of the people with the help of government to defend themselves and their homes from the evils of illegal drugs. But this can’t be left alone for the President to champion. This requires a well-oiled team in the highest echelons of government. But do we have that team? (This will be discussed in the last part of this 3-part article).

Relating with external environment (Excerpts from the above-mentioned paper www.cdpi.asia) “A critical appreciation of a job of high officials in public service is the importance of relating with key elements of their external environment: interest groups and lobbyists who tend to see their issues as having preeminence over others (anti- and pro-capital punishment etc.); a majority of those who supported the winner’s candidacy may call upon the administration to extract their pound of political flesh for their perceived entitlements; the practitioners in the media who consider themselves the “fourth estate” and sometimes final arbiter of conflicts, and are prone to reporting controversial events and nothing else. The power of social media and the internet was also shown during the presidential campaign, which helped catapult the Deegong to the presidency, freeing him from dependence on the editorial boards. The political and legislative overseers who have a handle on the Cabinet departments’ resources (threat of budget cuts, tightening funds flow, restrictive laws and regulations); and the more important authorizing environment, Congress and more particularly the President, who, in the course of the transition from the PNoy regime also brought with him a new change in a set of dominant values

“It is in relation to the realities of this new seven-month old government, the dictates of the coalition of political parties that support it and the decisions dominated by political imperatives that will have to reshape the missions and goals of each department and of each Cabinet secretary. They who are themselves the President’s personal choices should be ready to accept Usecs and Asecs whose qualifications are offshoots of the politics of patronage and spoils system—not necessarily congruent with the demands and skills needed for the jobs.”

(Part 3 will appear on Feb 9.)

Published in LML Polettiques
The Department of Internal and Local Government (DILG) has come into full swing as they spearheaded campaigns, fora, symposiums, consultations and education drives on Federalism with various sectors and groups.

Today, the DILG Task Team is holding a consultative conference at the NAPOLCOM Center, Quezon Avenue with representatives from Federalism groups and stakeholders in crafting an inclusive roadmap to federalism. The CDPI has been invited to join in this consultative conference and share the centrist democrats’ position regarding the federalism roadmap.

We are glad to inform that the DILG Task Team on Federalism has adopted the Centrist Democrats' position in passing the salient pre-requisites in pursuing Federalism such as the passage of Political Party Development Act, passage of Freedom of Information Bill, passage of Anti-Dynasty Bill, and Electoral Reforms.

Dr. Enerico M. Sampang, Program Manager on Federalism, DILG Task Team on Federalism have shared a common position with CDPI.

"We have adopted the position of Mr. Lito Lorenzana and his group [the Centrist Democratic Party and the Centrist Democracy Political Institute] as pre-requisites in pursuing Federalism in the Philippines. We have presented this to the President already.", he said during the consultative conference.

For Federalism to succeed, the four preconditions must be put in place. First precondition is political party reform. Political parties must possess an ideological core, aggregating the needs and aspirations of a diverse segment of our society. Second precondition is to enact a law banning the Political Dynasties to diffuse concentration of powers by the dynastic families in the barangay, local, and national positions. The third precondition is the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) to enforce transparency in all transactions in government allowing public access to information pertaining to official acts. The fourth precondition is initiate electoral reforms that would put in place a system that will not pervert the will of the populace. Any system that adheres to the democratic principles should consider clean and fair elections as imperatives.

With the support from DILG, the following prerequisites will serve as basis for advocating the Federalism model and for the continuing conversations with other Federalism groups and stakeholders.
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Wednesday, 01 February 2017 10:58

Germany supports PH quest for federalism

GERMANY is willing to assist the Duterte administration in its move from a unitary to a federal form of government for the Philippines, German officials in Manila said on Tuesday.

President Rodrigo Duterte has been consistently pushing for the shift, saying it will facilitate better delivery of public funds and services to the areas outside the Philippine capital.“We support the discussion in the Philippines. We are also in dialogue with the Philippine government,” Michael Hasper, deputy head of mission of the German Embassy in Manila, told The Manila Times’ editors and reporters in a roundtable interview on Tuesday.

The move toward federalism has been gaining momentum in the country as some quarters see it as the best means to address the longstanding ethno-religious conflicts in Mindanao.

Hasper said the Philippines can use Germany’s experience as a guide that could help Manila address the specific needs of the country and its people, although he and the new German Ambassador Gordon Kricke stressed that the nation must fashion its own form of federalism according to the specific circumstances and needs of its people.

Germany is a democratic, federal parliamentary republic, with federal legislative power vested in the Bundestag (parliament) and the Bundesrat (representative body of Länder, or regional states).

The Federal Republic of Germany is divided into 16 regional states, each with its own constitution, legislative body and government that can pass all kinds of laws except in defense, foreign affairs and finance which concerns the federal government.

The federal government consists of the Chancellor and ministers who are drawn from the members of the constitutional and legislative body, called Bundestag.

Ambassador Kricke said federalism is an instrument to foster political participation and democracy.

“Federalism is not only about distributing financial resources and competencies but also about enabling the population to participate, to have a stake in the public debate or to be more involved,” he said.

“That is certainly one of the reasons why it works so well and why it is so important to the Germans because they feel that they have a stronger influence on decision-making,” he added.

Just recently, a delegation of Filipino politicians and scholars traveled to Berlin to meet with members of the federal government and familiarize themselves with the system.

Headed by former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., one of the prime proponents of federalism, the group consisted of Rommel Alonto of the Department of Justice, Clarisse Aquino, legislative staff officer of Sen.

Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, Caroline Lee, program officer of the Hans Seidel Foundation of the Philippines, Quezon Gov. David Suarez, Manuel Jaudian of the Phinma Educational Network and Development Academy of the Philippines President Antonio Kalaw Jr. among others.

Kricke said Philippine policymakers need not “copy and paste” Germany’s formula but must create a system that will perfectly fit the country.

“It is difficult to generalize the experience we have in Germany because we don’t have these scenarios [that you have]. Every country has to make its own decision – what it feels is best and what possible risks and advantages it might involve. But I would say, the feelings of people and citizens…is important,” he added.
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