What is Gloria’s game plan?

PerryScope
By Perry Diaz

After a  controversial presidential term that lasted almost 10 years, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decided to run for Congress in 2010 as soon as she stepped down from the presidency. She was elected to three terms representing her congressional district. And just like the coup in 2001 where she ousted then president Joseph Estrada, she staged a coup that ousted Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez last July. She was installed Speaker, which would end when she is termed out in June 2019. She’s not running for a Senate seat in 2019. And I doubt if she’s going to retire yet. So, what’s in her mind?

In my column, “Philippine politics at a crossroads” (August 10, 2018), I said: “A few months ago, Duterte appointed a Consultative Committee to draft a new federal constitution. While it is not yet in final form, it will divide the country into 18 federated regions. However, the national government, except for some changes, will remain in its present structure, which is somewhat similar to that of the United States. Region is to the Philippines what State is to the U.S.

The Executive Department will have a president and vice-president elected as a team. The Legislative Department will retain the current structure with a Senate and House of Representatives. Senators will be elected per region, two from each region; a throwback to the 1935 Constitution in which 24 senators are elected at large.”

Further, I said: “If federalism fails to win in the referendum, then it’s back to status quo. However, if federalism were approved, it would kick in a new ‘political game.’ It is not surprising then why Gloria wanted the speakership. With the support of Duterte’s PDP, Gloria’s Lakas-CMD, and all the balimbings who are waiting in the wings ready to jump ship, Gloria could wield immense power, which she could use to further her personal agenda.”

But the problem is the federal system proposed by Duterte’s Consultative Committee (Con-Com) doesn’t have a place for a Prime Minister, which many political pundits have been speculating is what Gloria wanted. She doesn’t want to run for President, she’d only have to make sure that a Parliament would elect her as Prime Minister, which she can have for a long time provided she gets the majority vote of the members of Parliament. With her Machiavellian way of using “politics of patronage,” which she perfected during her presidency, she should be able to do it again and be back in power for a long time.

But what Congress approved was a presidential-bicameral-federal system, exactly what the Con-Com recommended. Known as Resolution of Both Houses (RBH 15), it was approved last December 11, 2018. But there are several inclusions and changes that could have far-reaching effect. Most notable are the removal of term limits for lawmakers and return to the two-party system. However, the President will have a term of four years and entitled to one-reelection just like the U.S. It also did not include an anti-political dynasty provision.

It’s interesting to note that Gloria tried to remove the position of Vice-President and make the Senate President next in the presidential succession. It did not pass.

But here’s the rub: The Con-Com’s recommendation to create 18 federated regions was removed from Arroyo’s draft. RBH 15 instead would not impose the divisions of the country into a specific number of federal states, which was the centerpiece of Duterte’s federal system. RBH 15 stipulates that a federal state may be created in any part of the country “upon a petition addressed to Congress” by any contiguous, compact, and adjacent provinces, highly urbanized and component cities, and cities and municipalities in metropolitan areas.

In other words, structurally there would be no federated states when the new constitution takes effect in 2022. They’ll be created one at a time. They might not even be created at all if no region wants to be federated.

Meanwhile, RBH 15 is on its way to the Senate where some senators have been critical of the way it was “railroaded” in the House. Sen. Lacson said “senators were not keen on passing any measure shifting to federalism, especially now that the House of Representatives is led by Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.” “There’s nothing personal in this, but this is the sentiment of the Senate. When they changed the leader of the House, the majority, minority groups closed ranks. It’s dead in the water,” he said. Evidently, some senators have bad vibes against Gloria’s “coup” that brought her to the Speakership in the House, a position that gave her the power that she craved for.

“Most corrupt”

Speaker Arroyo leads members of Congress.

But regardless of her grip on power under the Duterte administration, Gloria carries a heavy load of excess baggage. In an article published by Reuters, Gloria is considered the most corrupt Philippine leader in history, more than Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, who were ousted from office, according to a survey Pulse of Asia conducted last October. The poll showed that Arroyo was considered the most corrupt Philippine president by 42% of the 1,200 respondents. Thirty-five percent of respondents considered Marcos the most corrupt and 16% Estrada.

During Gloria’s presidency, Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel became the biggest source of corruption among the legislators. Kickbacks were common. “President Arroyo could choose who and how much to give to each congressman or senator which explains why some have more than others in the COA (Commission on Audit) report. But under this administration, everybody gets the P70 million or P200 million every year,” then Rep. Rolando Andaya said.

During her first term as a congresswoman, Gloria received a P2-billion pork barrel allocation for her district. How she pulled it remains vague to this day. Shall we say through some form of sleigh of the hand?

But this year she did it again. Speaker Arroyo’s district gets P2.4 billion House-approved budget for the 2019 budget. Another recipient of a huge pork barrel fund is House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, who allegedly received a P1.9-billion allocation. This is in stark contrast to what the other 295 received, which is P60 million each.

On December 10, 2018, President Duterte reportedly wants Speaker Arroyo to explain the billions of pesos of alleged pork barrel insertions in the proposed 2019 budget. He said that “there must be some explanation on the part of Speaker Arroyo and the others, let’s hear them.”

Arroyo’s second-in-command House Majority Leader Andaya said that Arroyo promised a P60 million allotment for each lawmaker. However, he said these were not pork barrel, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 2013. Andaya said that Arroyo was not responsible for the P4.3 billion alleged “pork barrel,” it was the House Appropriations Committee. Huh? Who are they trying to fool?

Parked pork

Recently, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson exposed a new pork barrel scam where lawmakers supposedly earned “commissions” from parked “pork” in a legislative district of a “well-connected” member of the House of Representatives.

Lacson revealed that a staffer of a certain senator allegedly offered portions of the senator’s “parked pork” to a certain congressman who has very little or no pork barrel allocations, with the understanding that the senator will choose the contractor to be hired to do the congressman’s projects. Needless to say, as has been the norm, the contractor would kickback the senator. In this case everybody wins except the taxpayers.

Clearly, Gloria is honing the use of the “politics of patronage,” a tool that she used in the past to achieve what she had wanted… quite successfully. But now that the Prime Minister position that she craved for is gone with the wind, what’s her next move? What’s her game plan?

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)