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Cha-cha sa Bubog

July 28, 2005

I haven’t heard a solid argument for shifting to a unicameral parliamentary system. I remain unconvinced that economic growth is possible only with charter change.

I think the President contradicted herself in her SONA.  On the one hand she says that the political system is in the way of economic take-off but earlier she outlined the economic growth achieved during her term.  

But for me, the best argument against the shift is the seemingly overwhelming support for cha-cha in the lower chamber during the SONA.  Surveys have shown that majority of the people want President to resign but their representatives want her to stay.  There is a disconnect between public will and the will of Congress.  This problem is more fundamental: the people’s power to influence policy (through the electoral process) is hardly exercised in a system where voters do not consider their Congressman’s record in the legislature but the number of projects he funds through his pork barrel allocation.  This system insulates members of Congress from political retaliation for making unpopular decisions but it also gives him the opportunity to ignore the will of their constituency.  Unfortunately, this won’t be addressed by the shift of the parliamentary system. 

Going back to cha-cha. Here are some of the reasons brought forward so far:

(a)  Legislative Efficiency.
(b)  Reduction of Corruption.
(c)  Political Stability.
(d)  Quality Control. (more…)

Posted by disini at 6:39 am | permalink | comments[2]