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Martial
law in 1972 ended the two-party system where the
Nacionalistas and the Liberals dominated the Philippine
political system after the end of the Second World War.
Cynics
have argued there was no essential difference between
the two political parties because they were
elite-dominated and competed only for the spoils of
power, rather than representing well-defined political
ideologies and platforms. But it cannot be denied that
the Liberal and Nacionalista parties were the products
of unique historical circumstances and determined the
trajectory of our political development in the postwar
era. And the question now is: Are the two traditional
parties still relevant at this time?
The
Liberal Party (LP), for one, thinks so. The party
founded by Manuel Roxas, the first president of the
Third Philippine Republic, is in the process of
reinventing itself. But it faces a big problem: it is
divided into two factions at present, one led by Sen.
Mar Roxas II, and the other by former Manila Mayor and
now Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. And surmounting
this problem is what occupies party stalwarts at
present.
On
Saturday Atienza’s group commemorated the party’s 62nd
founding anniversary at the Manila Hotel. He said his
group is open to any discussions with Roxas’s faction:
“We really have to unite the Liberal Party because we
have proven that we are weaker whenever we are divided.”
Atienza
said, however, that unity in the party can only be
achieved if both sides agreed to follow the party rules
in electing a president.
Atienza
clarified he was never expelled by the Supreme Court as
a member of the party, that it only advised the party to
follow its constitution and hold the elections at the
proper time. “We waited for that, but what they did last
November was an election by themselves, and we were not
even consulted,” he said. He added that the election
that should have united the party only served to
exacerbate the situation: “Their refusal to uphold the
rule of law is the same issue that divides us now.”
The LP
stalwart revealed that the question of who will be the
presidential bet of the party under his leadership has
not yet been discussed by party members. “Let us not
talk about who will be the presidential candidate for
2010. That will only cause further division. At the
proper time, maybe by 2009, we may start to discuss
that. But, as of now, we must give the people the
service due them first,” he said, adding that in the
event the party chooses its official candidate for the
2010 presidential polls, it will be the decision of the
majority of party members.
Meantime, the Roxas faction plans to observe the LP
anniversary on Wednesday, January 30, with
community-based activities in a Quezon City barangay
that will culminate in a “mini-town hall meeting” where
party officials and members will discuss current issues
with local residents.
Will the
Liberal Party be able to unite and recover its postwar
glory? Abangan.
Rewarding the unfit
Take it
from no less than Civil Service Commission (CSC)
Chairman Karina Constantino-David: the Arroyo
administration has filled up many positions in
government with the unqualified and unfit and,
therefore, you have a bureaucracy that’s bloated and
inefficient.
The CSC
head observes that at present, there are so many
undersecretaries and assistant secretaries in various
government agencies who are not even career-service
officials. The President also has a penchant for
appointing retired military and police officials to
various government posts, she says. While these retired
officials may be career-service eligible, she adds, the
appointments are perceived to be due to their closeness
to the President.
“The
present law allows the President to appoint officials to
the bureaucracy, even if he or she is not career-service
eligible. While it is not entirely the President’s
fault, the situation allows people near him or her to
whisper their recommendations. So the bata-bata
system thrives,” David said.
She is,
therefore, urging Congress to pass a bill that would put
a stop to the palakasan system. The Career Executive
Service bill, if passed, would limit the President’s
powers to appoint officials to the bureaucracy by making
appointees to career executive positions pass through
the CSC.
We agree
completely. It is time to rid the bureaucracy of the
incompetents and the undesirables. You’ll find them in
every government office from the national down to the
local levels. Some of them are holdovers from past
administrations. Others are there precisely because they
know the levers of power in the current dispensation.
But all draw salaries and other perks from taxpayers’
money for very little work done, even as the CSC says
there are 4,000 eligibles in the civil service who are
not being appointed posts in the bureaucracy. So, are
you still wondering why the bureaucracy moves at the
proverbial turtle’s pace? |
