Enlightened self-interest

Thanks to the voice vote that approved the revival of capital punishment, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is safe in his post… for now.

Next he will have to deliver a similar vote in the House of Representatives for Charter change so that President Duterte’s cure-all for security problems in Mindanao, federalism, can get off the ground.

The revival of capital punishment has a better chance than the shift to federalism, especially if the President uses unrest in Mindanao as his principal argument for changing the nation’s system of government.

Already opponents of federalism are pointing out that Muslim settlers were also driven out of Manila by the Spaniards, but no one is talking about creating an Islamic homeland anywhere in Metro Manila. Islam came to Southeast Asia from the Middle East and was brought to the Philippines by people from what are now Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The truly indigenous Filipinos are the Aetas, Agtas, Ibanags, Igorots and other tribal folk. They’re not kidnapping for ransom and slowly decapitating their hostages in the guise of pursuing aspirations for their own territory.

Opponents of capital punishment find it bizarre that drug law violators may face state execution (thousands have been killed) while Abu Sayyaf and other bandits who pillage, kidnap and saw off the heads of hostages who fail to pay ransom are promised territory and self-rule through federalism.

We can expect federalism to be harder to sell to the nation than the revival of capital punishment. Filipinos already looked the other way (with some even applauding) throughout much of Oplan Tokhang. Such people aren’t going to stand in the way of the revival of capital punishment, although they’re likely to lose patience over the long wait for a state execution if the death penalty is restored.

With another tough hurdle ahead, perhaps Alvarez can use for Cha-cha the same tack he used in getting his House colleagues to approve the bill restoring capital punishment.

Alvarez recognized congressmen’s need for self-preservation and agreed to delete plunder from the offenses that will warrant the death penalty. He also moved for a voice vote, which gave supporters of the revival some measure of anonymity so they wouldn’t antagonize the Church and other opponents of capital punishment.

House officials said yesterday plunder could still be included by the Senate and during bicameral deliberations on the measure. Du30, after all, claims corruption as Public Enemy No. 2, after the drug menace.

But with nearly 200 lawmakers past and present implicated by the Commission on Audit in the pork barrel scam, the classification of plunder – or corruption involving amounts of at least P50 million – as a capital offense sounds like nothing more than a best efforts pledge.

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Self-preservation is a basic instinct, but the typical Filipino lawmaker can take this to embarrassing depths.

In the Commission on Appointments, for example, members whose close links to the mining industry are well known don’t even have the delicadeza to inhibit themselves from deliberations on the nomination of Gina Lopez as environment secretary.

Self-preservation has to be the reason for the continuing exclusion of tax evasion among the predicate crimes covered by the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The exclusion of the offense as well as casinos (this one thanks largely to one former senator whose relatives are in the business) from AMLA coverage may put the country on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force by July this year.

Other exclusions from the AMLA that we can credit to the political establishment are illegal gambling (other than jueteng and masiao) as well as violations of banking and insurance laws. For a long time, even corruption-related offenses and terrorist financing (the latter affecting funding for communist fronts, among others) were excluded from the list of predicate crimes.

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In the case of federalism, critics point out that the shift is mainly about control over public funds and will encourage local governments to behave even more like independent republics, with local executives acting like warlords accountable mainly to themselves. Political dynasties will also be perpetuated.

Opposition to federalism has raised concern that among the casualties will be economic reforms through Charter change.

At a recent Senate hearing, former constitutional commissioner Adolf Azcuna proposed that the economic reforms be tackled through a constituent assembly, which is simpler and faster, while the political amendments are tossed to a convention or another con-com.

During that hearing, concerns over self-serving political reforms that might be introduced by lawmakers prompted Sen. Ralph Recto to again withdraw his Cha-cha measure.

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Can it be possible to appeal to lawmakers’ enlightened self-interest? That’s the concept of doing well by doing good, of promoting the interest of the group (or the nation) in the belief that this will redound to the interest of individual members including oneself.

This concept is pretty weak in our society where it’s every man for himself – the kanya-kanya mentality.

Enlightened self-interest can also entail deferring gratification – something that holds little appeal in our me-first society where instant gratification is manifested even in the support for summarily executing drug suspects.

Enlightened self-interest and deferred gratification are taught as virtues for success in business. If they’re good for private enterprise, they should be good for a nation’s progress.

Our more prosperous neighbors can grasp these concepts, and the results show.