Should the Philippine Senate be abolished?

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile

The recent scandal involving the “cash gifts” – or, bonuses – given by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to 18 senators has brought to the forefront of debate the very existence of the Philippine Senate as a productive legislative body.  Has it outlived its usefulness?  But even its “usefulness” in the past is now being questioned!

Yes, it has gotten that bad, folks… very bad.  Yet… yet, most of the senators – if not all of them – seem to be unperturbed by the scandal.  It’s like water off a duck’s back; it doesn’t bother them at all.  They just shake it off.  Unremorseful, they pocketed their hefty bonuses… and no apologies.  Indeed, the more I think about it, the more they’re beginning to look like ducks.  Didn’t someone once say, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck”?  Hmm…

Sen. Chiz Escudero and Sen. Loren Legarda

But for sure, theseprima donnas in the Senate know how to duck criticisms hurled at them.  As a matter of fact, some of them are so good at ducking – a form of grandstanding — that the people love them for it.   They have a knack for evading criticism and turn it around to make themselves look good.   It’s called a “pogi” act; that is, how to look good, talk glibly, and smile from ear to ear in front of television cameras.  Yes, ducks can look “pogi” if they know how to do their routine.

Now, here’s the proof.  Look at the top three senatorial candidates, Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, and Alan Peter Cayetano.  During the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona last year, these three senators used their two-minute “pogi” talk countless times in front of television… and smiling all the time.   And look at the other reelectionists, Koko Pimentel, Gringo Honasan, and Sonny Trillanes.  They didn’t talk much during the impeachment trial and when they did, they weren’t smiling.  So, they didn’t earn as many“pogi” points as the top three.  Okay, enough of “pogi” talk.

Appendix

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano

The real issue is that the Senate is simply, unproductively inutile.  It’s like the appendix of the human anatomy.  According towiki.answers.com, “The appendix has no known physiological function but probably represents a degenerated portion of thececum that, in ancestral forms, aided in cellulose digestion.  It is believed that the appendix will gradually disappear in human beings as our diet no longer utilizes cellulose.”

Many experts believe the “appendix is just a useless remnant from our evolutionary past. Surgical removal of the appendix causes no observable health problems.” There is also a theory that the appendix “acts as a storehouse for good bacteria, ‘rebooting’ the digestive system after diarrheal illnesses.”

When I was reading it, I had goose bumps because that is exactly what the Senate is today.  It might have had some political use when the 1935 Constitution — which originally had a unicameral National Assembly — was amended in 1940 to have a bicameral Congress composed of a Senate and House of Representatives.  But today, the Senate – like the human appendix – has lost any purpose to exist.  The people would be better off if the Senate was surgically removed from the anatomy of our government.

(Credit: www.indybay.org)

Dynasticracy

First of all, the Philippine Senate is not truly “representative.”  It consists of 24 senators elected at-large and each senator is not representative of a district, province or region.  More than one senator can be from the same region or same province or same city… or same family, just like the Cayetano siblings, Alan Peter and Pia.  If Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito were elected in the upcoming elections in May, he would join his half-brother Jose “Jinggoy” Ejercito Estrada in the Senate.  And if Juan Ponce “Jack” Enrile Jr. were elected, he too would join his father Juan Ponce Enrile in the Senate.  Now, do you call that “representative” of the people?  I don’t’ think so.  On the contrary, that would be representative of their family dynasty’s political and economic interests.

In addition to these dynastic candidates (Alan Peter Cayetano, JV Ejercito, and Jack Enrile), there are seven more running in May: Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara (son of termed out Sen. Edgardo Angara); Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV (nephew of President Benigno Aquino); Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco (aunt-in-law of President Aquino); Nancy Binay-Angeles (daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay); Cynthia Villar (wife of termed out Sen. Manny Villar); and Milagros “Mitos” Habana-Magsaysay and Ramon Magsaysay Jr. (related by affinity).

If all 10 dynastic candidates win in the May elections and you add the three incumbent dynastic senators (Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Pia Cayetano), there would be a total of 13 dynastic senators in the new Senate.  That’s more than 50% of the entire Upper House of the new Congress!  That’s not “representative” of the people.  That makes the eight family dynasties collectively in control of the majority of the Senate.   That’s called dynasticracy.

Save the republic

What’s going on with the Senate is like a human being having appendicitis, an inflammation of the appendix.  Although appendectomy is a routine surgical procedure, failure to do so would cause the inflamed appendix to burst and could lead to death.

Likewise, the Senate is now functionally inflamed and inutile.  It is in the throes of death.  The people have to deliver the coup de grâce to the moribund Senate; thus, saving the republic from self-destruction.

The Constitution needs to be amended to restore a unicameral legislative body just like it was in 1935 when the Philippines tasted democratic self-rule for the first time in her history.

A unicameral Congress would consist of representatives from districts created based on the population distributed equally among congressional districts, just like how the current House of Representatives works today.

Equal representation

Needless to say, it would still be possible for a powerful family dynasty to field their own candidates for more than one congressional seat in their province.  However, they would be unable to control Congress unless they form alliances with other families or political parties.  But that’s politics, which cannot be avoided.  But regardless of such eventuality, equal representation of the people would be maintained and preserved in Congress.  Besides, it would be a lot easier – and faster – to pass laws in a unicameral legislative body.

At the end of the day, abolition of the Senate would remove an unwanted appendage in our legislative system that has stymied progress and development in the sixth fastest growing economy in the world today.  It is just right that we streamline our government to be more representative – and responsive to the needs – of the people.  That is democracy.

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)