We need to restore the dignity of Congress

After choosing the next president and vice president of the Philippines, we should begin to come up with our own list of candidates for the House of Representatives (Senate and Congress). We need to also check the background of these candidates. And before we do that, we need to review the roles and responsibilities they will be expected to do.

The law says that, “No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and on the day of the election, is at least thirty-five years of age, able to read and write, a registered voter, and a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the day of the election.”

According to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ’s) Guide to Government, the law of the land or the 1987 Constitution assigns Congress three main functions. First and foremost, is to make laws. The Senate and the House of Representatives can craft a new law, amend existing ones, or repeal old ones. The major pieces of legislation coming from Congress include the annual General Appropriations Act or the national budget, taxes, tariffs, and other revenue-generating measures, as well as franchises, certificates, or authorizations for operation of public utilities. Congress may also propose amendments to the Constitution by transforming itself into a Constituent Assembly.

Second, Congress may conduct investigations in aid of legislation. The findings and recommendations of these inquiries can help congressmen proposed laws or take certain actions that may be adopted by government agencies. Third, Congress is tasked to attend to its constituents or the people who voted the legislators into office. The national population represents the constituency of the senators. The House members, meanwhile, need to look after the people in the congressional districts they represent. The constituents of party-list representatives are the people who make up the sector on whose behalf they have been elected, e.g., labor sector, farmers, or women.

Congress also enjoys awesome powers. While the President has the authority to impose martial law, declare a state of emergency, or suspend the application of the writ of habeas corpus, Congress has the power to revoke or define the extent of these orders.

Congress also has the sole power to declare the existence of a state of war by a vote of two-thirds of both chambers assembled in joint session but voting separately.

Congress also has the power to impeach the President, the Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, members of the constitutional commissions, and the Ombudsman. The House of Representatives initiates all impeachment cases, which the Senate tries and decides.

In the past several years, our lawmakers have been at odds with each other as they tackle legal issues, making decisions without due consideration for the common good but for their parties, for themselves and the chosen few. Who among the senatorial candidates can bring back dignity and integrity to the House?

With the discovery of the Napoles PDAF scam, doubts still cloud the performance of existing and past legislators. Are they as clean as they appear to be or did a major cover up happen in both houses? Perhaps it is high time that we develop and introduce new faces but with outstanding credentials and scholastic achievements who can sit as new legislators. This is the only way we can address the deficiencies we have in government.

I hope that by this time, voters choose their candidates not based on popularity but rather on a responsible assessment as to who are truly qualified as legislators. We need men and women who will abide by the rule of law and uphold the Constitution no matter what happens. We need principled men and women who will fight for what is right and shun corruption in whatever form. We need men and women who will formulate laws that will protect the citizens and not protect their vested interests.

Therefore, it is important that the voting public should decipher really well each candidate’s working background and qualifications. But will the 80 percent of the voters who are impoverished make responsible selection of senators? Let us not make the mistake of choosing those currently being held in detention centers.

A president who will unite the people and the right legislators may be the right formula to churning our problems into solution – and for once achieving our endless and elusive dream of progress.

So, who are our bets? A friend of mine, Antonio Belzunce made a list of senatorial candidates to consider. It’s quite an interesting one with a fresh approach to choosing your candidates: Raffy Alunan, running under Bagumbayan, former tourism secretary and later DILG chief in the Ramos administration, has been vocal against China’s “bullying” of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, and of the leaders of the West Philippine Sea Coalition. Alunan said his job is to fix things, defend the country, protect the people and win the future; Levito Baligod, an independent candidate, acted as counsel for pork scam whistleblowers Benhur Luy and Merlina Sunas; Greco Beda Belgica, businessman, pastor and former councilor and youth adviser in the City of Manila; Walden Bello, a global activist, author, academic, political analyst, former Akbayan Representative, former ally of P-Noy who resigned from Congress after accusing Aquino of a brazen cover-up of the January 25 Mamasapano tragedy. He urged Aquino to fire Budget Secretary Florencio Abad over the “non-transparent, unaccountable, cavalier and reckless manipulation of public funds,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes and former police chief Alan Purisima.

Also on the list are Neri Colmenares, Bayan Muna Representative, human rights lawyer and activist. He opposed the request of board members and officials of the Social Security System to be granted performance-based bonus (PBB), saying it is “immoral and unjust” to pensioners; Dick Gordon, former senator, statesman, broadcaster and chairman of Philippine Red Cross; Risa Hontiveros, former Akbayan party-list representative and part of the “Daang Matuwid” coalition; Dante Liban, a three-termer Representative from Quezon City’s 2nd congressional district in Metro Manila, served with distinction as chairman of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education, chairman of the Special Committee on Overseas Filipino Workers, and chairman of the Committee on Justice from March 2001 to June 30, 2001; Susan Ople, a Filipino politician and advocate of Overseas Filipino Workers’ rights; Sergio Osmena III, elected as senator in 1995 and re-elected in 2001 and 2010. He currently chairs the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies and the Committee on Energy; Roman Romulo, Pasig Representative and has expressed support for Grace Poe; and Migz Zubiri, a Filipino businessman who served as a representative of the third district of Bukidnon for three consecutive terms. He became the Senate Majority Leader, replacing Senator Francis Pangilinan, on November 17, 2008 and the first senator to resign following allegations of poll fraud.

This is his list not mine.  I am not in a position to endorse any candidate. There are some people in the list who seem ‘iffy’ but I think if you get representatives from different corners of the country and different advocacies, we will achieve a balance group (right, left and center).

We need a good set of senators in the 17th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. We need a truly working Congress, worthy of respect of the Filipino people. We hope and pray that both the new and re-elected ones will restore the dignity and pride of Congress.