(Part 2)
Continued from Monday
How can Congress come up with landmark laws and policies when most of its members and their support staff are hardly knowledgeable about the workings of government and the people’s vital needs and interests?
There has been no refinement or improvement in the legislative process. Bills are filed from random sources and passed or archived without a thorough and thoughtful deliberations on their merits.
Congress has abandoned its responsibilities and neglected its duty to be the center of deliberative discussions of fundamental issues and concerns,
Instead of conducing hearings and investigations which are protracted, disjointed and unproductive, the Congressional committees should instead hold workshops where fundamental issues and subjects of legislation can be discussed thoroughly with the participation of the brightest minds from the private sector who are most knowledgeable or directly involved with the subject.
Instead of inquiring into scandals and shenanigans for which here are enough laws to address them, Congress should enlighten the people on the rapid and radical advances in science and technology. The implications of their applications could be terrifying.
Congress does not have to conduct hearings on misuse of government funds in pursuance of its oversight powers. It should simply ask the Commission on Audit to submit timely reports on the expenditures of all government agencies.
Congress cannot be equal, separate and independent from the executive because most of its members are beholden or subservient to, or afraid of the President.
It is extremely difficult to impeach the President. Two former presidents abandoned and left office on their own volition and under trying circumstances, not for being guilty of any impeachable offense.
Some senators in the past enjoyed tweaking the nose of presidents and making fun of their color, their predilections and hobbies. Recently, two senators made snide remarks about the incumbent president. He promptly belittled the solons instead of addressing the issues raised.
The funds for the pet projects of the senators and congressmen are released at the pleasure and leisure of the president.
Majority of the solons are dependent on the president for almost everything they need in serving their constituents. Those opposed to the siitting chief executive have to make do with their own personal efforts and resources. A few bravely come out as devil’s advocates. Others just whimper and bear their anger with silent outrage.
The President of the Republic of the Philippines is not simply the head of state or the top official of the executive department. He is the most powerful official in the government.
Every decision of the president affects every citizen. He is treated with the highest respect in all public and private functions; accorded the 21-gun salute, and made to ride in a bullet-proof limousine. The president is certainly far more important than all the members of Congress.
But some of those who were chosen to lead the nation enriched themselves in office and debased the presidency. Some left Malacañang in disgrace and shame.
The position is so prestigious and its power so awesome that some of those who experienced being president entertained the idea of becoming a dictator or even something as resplendent as a king.
President Ferdinand Marcos tinkered with the idea. He declared martial law, abolished Congress and ruled the country by his lonesome. The people could have allowed him to wear the trappings of royalty had he not squandered his opportunity to be a great president.
President Rodrigo Duterte has shown how powerful the man who sits in the highest office in government is.
He kicked out Vice President Leni Robredo from the Cabinet a few weeks after appointing her to a post. A senator and a former chief justice have been at the receiving end of the slings and arrows of presidential outrage
A number of former officials who were earlier dismissed or asked to resign for causing embarrassment to the President have been given new appointments.
Many are askance and wondering why President Duterte remains popular in spite of his numerous questionable and controversial decisions, his pomposity and his scurrilous statements.
Why indeed?
Because the principle of checks and balances fundamentally needed to check the abuses of the three branches of the government and to balance their powers has not been clearly defined and enshrined in the Constitution. Hence, they are often ignored and violated.
