1. To put in place, by law, a real political party system that can aggregate the hopes and aspirations of the diverse Filipino society, led by known moral leaders with values anchored on clear platform of governance, presenting the electorate with clear choices. We have this Political Party Bill pending in Congress for the past 15 years or so. The recent version was shot down by President Pnoy and the Liberal Party.
   
   
2. Enforcing the rule of law and re-examine and reform our justice and electoral systems.
   
   
3. Amend the 1987 Constitution and introduce a more responsive Government structure where powers are not centralized and where governance is brought closer to the governed diffusing authority and responsibility.
   
   
4. Introduce a market economy imbued with clear social underpinnings, dismantling monopolies and government disallowing non-competitive practices that distort markets.

I was asking our young staff and some Fellows of the political institute about how the young among them absorbs, understands and values the current issues they face; especially those that touch the body politic and how they impact on revered concepts of democracy, justice freedom – and all sorts of motherhood statements on poverty alleviation and “pagbabago” (change).

Surprisingly the answers run the whole gamut of emotions – from concern, anger, derision, guilt but mostly apathy. The last one interested me as this is contrary to what I thought the youth had in ample measures – idealism and passion.

In this country, election season rivals Christmas in heightened awareness, not necessarily in the creation of goodwill and joy of festivities. The 2016 election season started early with the emergence of moribund and dormant political parties, the demise of one (PDP-Laban) and the creation of another (UNA Party).

But what added to the bizarre revelries was the surge of VP Binay to the forefront of the 2016 Presidential hopefuls. This threatened the “majesty of the presidency” turning the hapless Malacanang occupant into a lame duck – as his own “heir-in-waiting” may have forever to wait. So PNoy had to tolerate his minions and allies unsheathing their daggers and broadswords earlier than usual and now we see shameless “wannabees” using their positions as ‘honorable senators’ of the land presiding over what they hope would be the quartering of the remains of the VP’s reputation.

But what we should be more interested in is the maneuverings of the other “dramatis personae” which may have a long term-impact on the political life of the people. I refer to these major actors in the theatre of political absurdities. Political parties are tied to the fortunes (or misfortunes)of personalities(like Binay) and patrons(like Villar, who may have a hidden hand in the Binay saga) and not on ideological moorings. They begin to appear from the woodwork around this time when personal interests and realignments are the names of the game.

Now let me cite them:

The ruling LIBERAL PARTY in power is now in the last two years of its dispensation, its ‘daang-matuwid’ straddled with pot-holes; with the uncovering of instances of massive plunder of the people’s money involving its own allies and political competitors; the accusations of bribery by the highest elective officials to impeach a Chief Justice; and the inability by its economic managers to translate economic gains into inclusive growth. Its leader who rode triumphant upon the passing of an iconic mother has no successor or at the very least a weak one in tow. It could go the way of the once formidable LAKAS-NUCD-CMD-KAMPI, after the 2016 election.

Moreover, Liberal party, with the inability of Roxas to become a viable presidential standard bearer has supported PNoy on his sudden declaration to an illegal 2nd term that raged his mother’s loyalists.

The LAKAS-NUCD-CMD-KAMPI whose remnants were absorbed by the LIBERALS is trying to stage a come-back but doesn’t know where to begin. Former President Arroyo, one of its titular heads is incapacitated and under ‘hospital arrest’, its two subalterns, former house speakers shelved (Nograles & de Venecia); and their 2010 standard bearer moping and licking his wounds (GiboTeodoro). The founder, President FVR is petitioning COMELEC to dissolve this merger; now forced to the periphery unable to group his once awesome ‘rainbow coalition’ – salivating perhaps for yet another go at the levers of power.

The only declared presidential candidate with street cred VP Binay has created his own vehicle United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), from the carcass of the PDP-Laban and a coalition of parties that supported him for his VP run in 2010 and whose leaders are now in jail. It is worthwhile to note that Senators Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada, top honchos of Binay’s coalition are all incarcerated for corrupt practices. The 3rd Senator in prison, Revilla, who threatens to run for the presidency too in 2016 is the President of the Lakas-Kampi.

The rest of the bit-players are milling around the fringes – mostly personalities attached to a semblance of ‘political parties’with unknown ideological leanings and platform of governance draped in motherhood statements and slogans of ‘anti-corruption’ and nebulous plans for ‘alleviation of poverty’.

The NATIONALISTA PARTY of billionaire Manny Villar, who for a brief moment in 2010 had the handle to the Presidency until the timely passing of Cory propelled the lackluster son Pnoy to power. The NP for a time coalesced with the Marcos martial law vehicle, KILUSAN NG BAGONG LIPUNAN (KBL) still headed by the Marcos son Bongbong – pining perhaps for the day that he be given the chance to exonerate the dictatorship of his father.

The NATIONALIST PEOPLES ALLIANCE (NPC) founded by a Marcos crony Danding Cojuangco, jr. as his vehicle for his 1992 run for the Presidency whose prominent ex-member, Senator Chiz Escudero, is rumored to be a viable presidential candidate with neophyte Senator Grace Poe, who was thrust to senatorial top-notcher in 2013 with the sympathy votes of her popular actor-father, the standard bearer of KNP (Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino) the late Fernando Poe, Jr.

We have some operating in the peripheries who with good intentions and ties to the religious right but bereft of political acuity jumped head-on with their own presidential slate (in 2013), the KAPATIRAN. We need not mention here the hundreds of Party List – single advocacy groups that mushroomed as a consequence of the ‘multi-party’ provision of the 1987 Cory Constitution.

The daunted COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PHILIPPINES (CPP) has been reduced to rabble rousing with its twin the BAYAN MUNA; its armed group the NPA relegated to banditry divested of its leftist ideological leanings.

The AKBAYAN, one that has allied with the ruling LIBERAL PARTY but whose Social Democrat leanings have been watered down once their leadership were enrolled into the power equation.

But this political topography could be altered with the entrance of the BANGSAMORO JUSTICE PARTY (BMJP) an outgrowth of the ongoing peace talks in Mindanao between the GRP and the MILF – whose continued existence is predicated on the success of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) now excruciatingly undergoing scrutiny in Congress.

The LABAN NG DEMOKRATIKONG PILIPINO (LDP) has also been trying to reinvent itself along the tenets of Centrist Democracy. This regional party, headed by a local political dynasty, the Angaras of Quezon & Baler, is one of the few that were born out of the turmoil of the post-EDSA PEOPLE POWER Regime of President Cory. This was the splinter group of Cory’s then powerful brother Peping Cojuangco from the PDP-Laban of Senator Nene Pimentel created as a vehicle of the then Speaker of the House Monching Mitra’s failed presidential attempt in 1992.

The last two would be the logical parties that could form a coalition with the CENTRIST DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE PHILIPPINES (CDP - a party owned solely by its dues-paying members and has no patron; it has crafted internal democratic structures spreading to the grassroots level where their leaders are chosen by their members; it has evolved a platform of government based on the ideological precepts of centrist democracy; and it operates within the communities in between election periods. They could goalong the Centrist Democratic mold under the aegis of CENTRIST DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE (CDA). Talks and negotiations are now being conducted with the leadership of these parties. Let’s just let our hopes raise high!

What do we have?

We have a political environment worthy of condemnation as it is not to the benefit of the common good. For this reason we cannot blame our neighbors in pointing out the downbeat implications of a faulty ‘democratic’ model of governance.

In this country, elections are seldom the expression of the people’s will. They bear the semblance of the monopoly of power by some families who have been controlling their respective turfs for decades. These dynasties stunt society’s development. As a corollary to this, the lack of civic and political education of a people exacerbates the situation resulting in an immature political culture.

Tragically, the ignorance of the masses is to their advantaged as in combination with patronage widely dispensed, it becomes the main tool for preventing the masses from making the right choices.

The antithesis to this is the creation of real political partieswhose roles are to aggregate the varied aspirations of the citizenry giving them options – including the decision to emerge from their ignorance – thus breaking out from the clutches of the dynasties.

The CDP is one such party.

Dualism or the state of having a dual nature pervades cultural practices and beliefs in the Philippines. In our dominant religion, Roman Catholicism, we mix our deep faith in a supreme being with reverence for nature and animistic religious practices that emphasizes supernatural beings inhabiting the forests, rivers and mountains.

In a report recent from Rappler, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) for the first time in 45 years burned Philippine flags.

Our flag is a symbol of the country. The colors and images of the stars and the sun’s rays are a depiction of a free and sovereign nation. The Blue shade on top signals that the country is at peace; inverted, with the Red on top says we are at war. We have inverted our flag twice in the short history of the flag – during the revolution against Spain and the 2nd World War.

As details in the story say, the flags were burned not out of disrespect but because they were already old, tattered, unusable and must be discarded. Furthermore, this is in compliance with Section 19 of Republic Act No. 8491 that “worn-out flags shall not be thrown away but shall be solemnly burned to avoid misuse or discretion.”

Philippines laws must also be like this. Like the worn-out flag, deemed useless, there are laws currently in our statutes that have outlived their usefulness. At the very least they need to be discarded or amended as they are no longer effective and helpful for the growth of our nation.

The analogy between old flags and old laws end here.

But the idea of discarding that which is no longer useful is very valid, especially when we refer to an outmoded set of laws – such is the status of our Constitution. The debate on whether it still embodies the aspiration of the Filipino has been raging as of late. Even the method of how it came about – fashioned by presidential appointeesas a reaction to the Martial Law years of a dictator – is now being challenged.

The decades of our Constitution’s ascendancy during the regime of unprecedented upheavals in world socio-economic-cultural realities; explosions in communications and the internet; elimination of borders between neighbors, beliefs and trade practices; virtually rendered this rigid set of basic lawsobsolete and no longer responsive.

Anecdotal evidence confirms our country being left behind in our economic status as next to Japan after the war to one among the lowest in Southeast Asia lagging behind our neighbors.

In no small measure is our reputation being helped by the World Corruption Index as the 94th corrupt country in the world (one of the lowest among the ASEAN countries). This is with no doubt attributable to the immoral leadership we have thriving in a politically perverted system.

We need not dwell on our frustrations on a leader who will hold on to protect a legacy of a mother who crafted the Constitution that has become antiquated and no longer work.

So we are reduced into simply coping, waiting for the day when an enlightened leadership will emerge to alter the political realities and spur the changesto a rotten system of governance.

Meantime we have initiatives by progressive lawmakers who still thrive to work decently within the system and try to deal with it - perhaps hoping against hope. But the ground has been strewn with discarded house bills, good potential laws meant to augment the Constitution, making it a little relevant: House Bill 1343 (Constitutional Amendments); House Bill 389 (The Political Party Reform Act; and House Bill 388 (The Anti-Trust Law & Anti-Monopoly).

Now comes another, House Bill 4732 which seeks to forfeit (when prima facie evidence is established) ill-gotten wealth that government officials and employees had obtained out of proportion to their incomes.

Filed by Cagayan Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez, the President of the Centrist Democratic Party (CDP), And Partido ng tunay na Demokrasya, this bill aims to replace the 59-year old Republic Act No. 1379.

According to Congressman Rodriguez, there is a need to update the State’s forfeiture powers considering the “modern methods and sophisticated means being employed by corrupt public officials and employees to spirit away unlawfully acquired properties within an increasingly short period of time, and out of the State’s reach.”

In reality, what these thieves really do is transfer names of properties to their sons, daughters, wives or “dummies” to avoid declaring these in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities & Networth (SALN). In Pinoy slang, “Lulusot kung lulusot.”

Another crucial bill of utmost importance is the FOI Bill (Senate Bill No. 1733), also known as the Freedom of Information Bill. It strengthens Article III Bill of Rights, Section 7 of the Constitution that says “The People has the right to public information”

Transparency and accountability are essential not only for the people but to our government as well. Although, PNoy says that this bill is his number one priority, his acts suggest otherwise. After five years in office, nothing has happened to its progress in the legislative mill.

Last is the Anti-Dynasty Bill (House Bill # 3587) which seeks to promote grassroots leadership. It is a fact that 80% percent of our lawmakers in office come from political dynasties. A study has shown that most breed in the country’s poorest cities and municipalities.

Whether a member of a dynastic family is a good official, political dynasties must be curtailed. Dynasties suggest select powerful families gaining complete control over a territory not to mention its people and resources.

These bills are an attempt by responsible lawmakers to try to pull the outmoded Philippine Constitution up to parity with the modern era. I’m afraid that with the insensitive political leadership we have, these will all go the way of the discarded Philippine flags – off to the incinerator.

Going back to our analogy, today, we are in a quandary as to the question of whether the Red hue should be on top of the Blue; as in this country, its long suffering people is at war with its political leadership.

The following is an excerpt on a talk to be delivered by the author to a group of “Integrity Facilitators” under The Integrity for Jobs (I4J) Project. This project focuses on the pilot development of integrity mechanisms and models of transparent and effective small business and investment registration and promotion procedures at selected local government units (LGUs), in cooperation with civil society, the business sector and decision makers at these LGUs.

We Filipinos love spectator sports. We love watching games, competitions and all sorts of diversion especially with a little blood mixed in them - just a little, not much. That’s why everything stops when our “pambansang kama-o” is on the rampage and slaughters his opponents in the ring; even if he is bloodied himself.

But the most popular is basketball. Many of us in our younger days – especially the boys – have played the game in schools or in the streets.

So many things have been happening lately. Social Media has contributed largely in spreading awareness and information to promote all sorts of causes in almost all parts of the world.

Two of recent news headlines crossed paths. First, the remarkable“6.4 per cent growth of the Philippine economy”during the second quarter boasting that the country is the second fastest growing economy in the Asian region after China; and second,Forbes Magazine’s annual list of Billionaires indicating that the “Richest Filipino got richer...”.

Today, August 25, is National Heroes’ Day. We honor and recognize the acts of courage of those who gave their lives for our country and our people. Some spilt their blood and others simply died for their beliefs. They have one precious thing in common. They love their country.