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24 April 2006
Abueva Speaks Before SF Community On Charter Change
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(Photo L-R) shows Professor Abueva presenting his talk on “Consolidation of Philippine Democracy and Charter Change” at the Social Hall of the Philippine Center and the World Affairs Council.
Aside perhaps from a major miracle, changing the constitution
of the Philippines could be the country’s only hope to
break out of the cycle of “poverty, crime, corruption,
insurgency and twisted politics,” a leading proponent
of charter change said over the weekend.
Dr. Jose Abueva, chair of the Consultative Commission created
by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to draft a proposed revision
of the 1987 Philippine Constitution recently submitted to Congress,
told a group of Filipino-Americans that shifting to a parliamentary
and federal government could be key in addressing the perennial
gridlock that has hobbled the political system and prevented
sustained economic growth.
Speaking at the Philippine-American Town Hall (PATH) meeting
organized by the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco,
Abueva said aside from changing the basic structure of government,
the Philippines needs to reform its political parties and electoral
system and insert a “bill of duties” in its constitution
as part of a comprehensive solution to the country’s problems.
“The fact is that our democracy in its elitist dominance,
presidential form, and unitary structure has deteriorated. The
people are certainly not sovereign. Many of them are poor, neglected,
insecure, and powerless. This is why our kind of democracy is
prone to corruption, criminality, and insurgency,” Abueva
said.
Abueva, who is also former president of the University of the
Philippines (U.P.) and a member of the 1971 Constitutional Convention,
said since a parliament exercises both legislative and executive
power, law- and policy-making would be more coordinated, efficient
and effective in solving the country’s problems.
“Charter change to a unicameral parliamentary government,
along with decentralization and devolution of powers to the
regional and local governments in a federal structure, will
enable us to respond more efficiently and effectively to our
problems, meet our challenges, achieve our goals as a nation,
and compete in the global economy,” Abueva explained.
Abueva lamented that despite its adherence to democracy over
the last several decades, the Philippines has not progressed
as well as its neighbors because of the “failure of leadership
and political institutions.”
“The collective
failure of political leadership…and the failure of political
institutions have now degenerated to their lowest level…at
the expense of addressing our chronic problems and democratization.
They are also perpetuating our personalistic and patronage politics,
political instability and declining governance,” he said.
Abueva is in the United States for a series of dialogues on
charter change sponsored by the different chapters of the U.P.
alumni association. Before his speech at the San Francisco town
hall meeting, Abueva spoke at the World Affairs Council in San
Francisco last April 20.
Abueva is scheduled to meet with the Fil-Am communities of the
Los Angeles and Washington D.C. areas this week, before flying
home to Manila.
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