Calling for unity is in vain

Sharing power. At the heart of constitutional reform is the question of sharing power. Will politicians give up power and the largesse it brings voluntarily? I don’t think so. More especially after a hard won fight to win in the kind of elections we have just had. The real struggle is between the few stakeholders at the core of present system who want to continue with a system that benefits them and the larger citizenry on the periphery who are unaware of their power to effect change. When that citizenry awaken only then can we hope to make the the Philippines a more democratic and equitable society. I agree with call for massive education to make citizenry more politically aware.

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Call for unity. Ever the peacemaker, Joe De V has once again made the clarion call for peace and government unity. I understand his concern. If there is anyone who has used negotiation and compromise to get things done, he gets the medal. He has been able to marshal together a fractious assembly of more than two hundred individuals and their vested interests to pass much needed legislation. For this, he earned the monicker ‘Sunshine Joe’. His success in Congress has led him to believe the same could be achieved in the bigger political arena that is the country.

He proved his mettle for persuasion by getting differing parties behind Concurrent Resolution No. 16 calling for a constituent assembly. For this he has been vilified and used as a scapegoat by those threatened by constitutional reform. At the same time much needed economic bills among them the Special Purpose Asset Vehicle (which would have freed some P600 billion worth of assets in the banking system) its accompaniment the Securitization Act, the Government Procurement Reform Act, the Magna Carta for Home and Micro-Enterprises, the National Government Center and Housing and Land Utilization Act, the anti-Money Laundering Act, were not sacrificed. These and other bills, Farm Collateral Act, the National Railways Modernization Act, the One Billion Trees Act and hundreds of bills for local application, have been languishing in the Senate.

Fine. JDV may have succeeded in the art of compromise and negotiation as an outstanding speaker of the House but I beg to differ when he calls for government unity. That is not what the electorate voted for. Filipinos voted for President GMA and Lakas-CMD candidates because they want they promised done. It is a vastly different political perspective. The emphasis must be on what needs to be done, not on mollifying defeated opposition. Responsible politics require agreement when it is necessary and opposition when it is called for. That is what strengthens democracy. We are one nation (the basis of our unity) but we are also individuals and parties with our own interpretations of what is best for the country. This is what is settled by election. Candidates who have no hope of winning should concede now — that is love of country on which we can be united. In India where the election was just as bitterly fought, the losers immediately conceded.

The majority party will have to find the way to implement its platform. This is easier said than done but it is the correct perspective for good governance.The elected Government should proceed with the program it promised, force the issue, if necessary; having received the mandate from the people. It was not voted in to wish for the moon by insisting on unity. This is the time to strengthen political parties with different party programs. We cannot achieve that with the present opposition. We need a party with a different perspective that the KNP cannot provide. We need a party with a platform that offers an alternative. It cannot be led by popular actors and broadcasters. Only then can we have real political contests. It may take time to evolve such politics but this can be accelerated in a parliamentary system where the development of party politics is essential.

In this connection the words of Hermann Hesse, the German writer, are relevant. He believes war is inherent in man. He says it is the ‘primordial and natural state’of man "Insofar as man is an animal, he lives by struggle, he lives at the expense of others, whom he fears and hates. Life then is war. Peace is much harder to define. Peace is neither an original paradisiacal state nor a form of coexistence by mutual consent. Peace is something we do not know; we can only sense it and search for it. Peace is an ideal. It is infinitely complex, unstable and fragile — a breath can destroy it. True peace is more difficult and unusual than any other ethical or intellectual achievement."

The question of unity is better addressed with that philosphical underpinning in mind. Paradoxically that is how we will get things done. We are on the wrong track if we insist that peace and unity is attainable. What is attainable is a structure through which difference and dissent is not only possible but necessary. A lasting peace with MILF and the CPP-NPA does not depend on a signed agreement but on addressing the differences and how these are tackled within the framework of justice and the rule of law.

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A federalist set-up? Negros Oriental Rep. Herminio Teves has suggested that LGUs be given 20 percent of road user fees. Unwittingly he has shown the need for a federal set-up. In principle, local government units should really be in charge of raising and spending funds for their operations rather than depending on the national government which is a tedious and sometimes unfair process. Under Teves’ proposal, LGUs shall use their share of road user charge and car registration fee collections "exclusively for the maintenance of national roads and vehicular traffic management" in their respective localities."This will ensure the more efficient upkeep of the national road system in the provinces, give LGUs flexibility in developing their own traffic control systems, and at the same time allow LGUs to get their equitable share of the national government’s non-tax revenue collections," Teves pointed out. The LTO collects some P6 billion in road user charges and car registration fees each year of which LGUs stand to get a total of P1.2 billion as their annual share. But so what if the bill is passed.The problem has always been implementation. That is what happened to the LGU share of educational funds that former Gov. H. Mandanas of Batangas (elected congressman in the last elections) complained about. Batangas is still waiting what is due to them. That will also be the way of the Teves’ proposal. We’re back to the problem of government structure when LGUs are at the mercy of national government.

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