“The Senate President did his job and pulled his Senate through. That has to be a most constructive balancing act.”
by Ducky Paredes
The Christmas break has just begun and some Senators are again about to commit the Senate to actions that can only diminish that chamber in the eyes of the people.
A handful of Senators mostly from the opposition side of the aisle is looking for a change in the Senate’s leadership just when the Senate under President Manny Villar has moved the chamber at an unprecedented pace in the numbers of bills passed (which is the only criteria by which a legislative chamber can be viewed). Why rock the boat when what the country is looking for is a unity of purpose and some sort of vision to get us all moving forward?
Why change the Senate President? Is Villar incompetent and/or inefficient?
One thinks not. In the brief period that Villar has assumed the leadership the Senate he has successfully shepherded the passage of a record number of important pieces of legislation.
Under his watch, the Senate has upheld its institutional independence and integrity against moves for its abolition by Con-Ass advocates in the House of Representatives.
And the Senate asserted its right and power to conduct its own investigation, in aid of legislation, and brought to light some perceived anomalies in government.
In spite of all public inquiries into big corruption issues, the Senate under Villar has not been remiss in its mandate to pass vital legislations. The Senate President did his job and pulled his Senate through. That has to be a most constructive balancing act.
Villar’s style of seeking consensus on the approval of certain bills through the caucus mechanism is practical and efficient. It overcomes so much delay in protracted floor debates when one encourages Senators to be more adversarial. The caucus mode that Villar uses and which some senators dislike is more focused and productive. It is not less democratic than having a senate where members tear at each other’s throats. The views of senators in a caucus are well recognized.
Unfortunately, with Villar at the helm, there are fewer chances for grandstanding and some senators are just not comfortable with the peaceful atmosphere that Senate President Manny Villar prefers. They hanker for a more cantankerous and confrontational Senate that produces headlines by the minute. These are the ones who want Villar replaced. At the same time, they plan to deny Villar the platform from which he can mount a campaign for the presidency in 2010.
Sure, the Senate presidency gives its occupant, whoever he may be, a slight comparative advantage in aspiring for the highest post in the land. But if this is the motive of those behind the move to topple Villar, they exhibit shortsightedness and immaturity and would thus sacrifice our political stability for their personal selfish partisan ambition. Does the Senate Presidency assure anyone, Villar included, of the Presidency of the country in 2010? Of course not. There are still a lot of “ifs” that can be answered only during the campaign period. In fact, there is also no surety that the next President will even come from the Senate!
Senators as national legislators are supposed to be a cut above the representatives of local congressional districts, who comprise the other legislative house. Senators are supposed to be imbued with statesmanship.
What could be at stake here is not the leadership of one man – Manny Villar — but the credibility of the present Senate.
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Of course, it would be foolish to expect that Gloria Arroyo, after giving in to the Sumilao Marchers would turn around and change her mind again. Yet this is exactly what former Masbate vice governor Antonio Ag. Medina is advising her to do:
“It opens the floodgates of protest-marches to pressure Malacañang into bowing to unreasonable and illegal demands of farmers to own private lands which owners long labored to acquire and developed with huge financial infusion.
“The property is the only Supreme Court converted land in the country. The latest presidential act to revert back the Sumilao land to agricultural is not only a direct affront and contravention of the Supreme Court decision, which was long final and executory. It also violated the principle of genuine local autonomy granted to Sumilao town when it enacted a municipal law classifying the land to agro-industrial uses. The ordinance was also ratified and affirmed by the provincial government of Bukidnon.”
Medina suggests that Gloria Arroyo offer an alternative land for the farmer activists: “This should forestall confrontation with another co-equal branch of government whose decision was final and already an enshrined jurisprudence. Overruling the Supreme Court by the executive branch is not good for the country and sets a bad precedent. Withdrawing and recalling the Sumilao presidential order is abiding by the rule of law and the constitution.”
No, I do not expect Gloria Arroyo to change her mind on this!
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The Sixth and Final Leg of 2007 San Mig Coffee Sugar Free Senior Golf Series for the Federation of Philippine Amateur Senior Golfers, Inc. (FPASGI) will tee off at Villamor beginning at 6:30 a.m. on December 28.
As with all of the legs of the San Mig Senior Golf Series, there will be raffle prizes for all participants as well as give-aways of various San Miguel products as well as trophies for age group Champions and runners-up and for the winner of the team competition between competing member-clubs of the FPASGI. Scoring is by the Stableford system.
All FPASGI members are invited to join this tournament, which traditionally is the biggest and the most fun of all FPASGI tournaments with the best entertainment and the best raffle prizes. We always hold this one between Christmas and New Year to give our members time to attend other Christmas tournaments and the many holiday parties to which we seniors are invited.
The FPASGI has just acquired a machine that can create your improved, full-color credit card type plastic ID for 2008 right there at the tournament. We can also create personalized bag tags for you at minimal cost. So, if you are an FPASGI member, do join us and play in this Christmas tournament.
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“The NPA does commit extrajudicial executions, sometimes dressing them up as ‘revolutionary justice’, but the evidence that it is currently engaged in a large-scale purge is strikingly unconvincing.” – Philip Alston
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hvp (12.26.07)
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