By: Joy Aceron
Corruption deprives us of basic services and the needed public infrastructures like flood control. People suffer when corruption happens. Imagine if billions that ended in the pockets of politicians and contractors are used for people’s healthcare, for our learners’ classrooms and textbooks, for social services? While the corrupt lavish in wealth, the people hardly make ends meet.
Corruption is an attack on us and a violation of our rights. We, the people, too are the ones that should and can stop it. This will require advancing reforms that democratize power, which in this country at this conjuncture, includes changing the Constitution.
Overconcentration of power deprives us, the people, access to decisions and services
Why are political dynasties detrimental to us? Yes, not all political families holding power in succession or at the same time are corrupt. But the design of our political system, democracy, works if there are checks and balances, meaning no one uses power without controls.
Democracy fails to work in delivering good governance if accountability doesn’t work. With the same families or affinity networks holding power, abuse is prone. Decisions are made behind closed doors. Their relationship is premised on protecting each other’s back. And in a country “dominated by political dynasties,” it partly explains scandalous corruption, such as the flood control plunder. This explains why public services in our country is determined by who you know and which is why it is never enough.
An anti-dynasty law regulates political families and kin networks from controlling power. When power is diffused, checks and balances can work better, decisions made openly can be accounted for and services are better distributed rationally according to need.
The other side of the equation: enabling political competition
It is not enough that we regulate political monopolies. We can only democratize power if we enable political competition in a way that delivers good governance.
Power is diffused in a way that delivers good governance if we elect the best leaders among us. Our electoral system can only deliver such a result if it has the needed mechanisms that will filter who are the most qualified candidates with the best programs. Two mechanisms can help achieve this: (1) functioning programmatic political parties and (2) effective campaign finance regulations.
Campaign finance regulations regulate the effects of money on elections. We cannot make money decide our elections because that will only make the rich win. We need to set a ceiling on campaign contribution and we should avoid those who have conflict of interests, such as those with businesses in government, to contribute to candidates’ campaign kitty.
For ordinary citizens to stand a chance in winning elections in a way that advance a solid platform of government, there needs to be a mechanism of support. Political parties are exactly invented to be that mechanism of support for citizens vying for power—to provide leadership training, for platform development and to comprehensively assist in accountable governance.
But political parties cannot be programmatic and pro-people if they are dependent on politicians. There needs to be accountable subsidy provided by the government so parties can prepare the people for leadership. This public financing of parties needs to be accounted for according to clear standards that are democratizing and democratic.
The current Constitution is not enough to deliver the needed political reforms
In the November 30 protest actions, one of the calls was to protect the 1987 Constitution. This position is valid. However, its validity is largely premised on fears: fear of military take-over, fear of losing the nationalist provisions, fear of the corrupt dynastic political establishment to capture the process and further perpetuate their interests.
There are valid fears regarding Constitutional change, but fears make a nation stuck, unable to see what it needs to dare and hope for. Fears are oblivious of the power of the people—what it can and will do when it is trusted and enabled. Dumulo na ang kayang abuting pagbabago ng 1987 Constitution. [We have reached the end-point of reforms that the 1987 Constitution can deliver.]
To achieve political reform that fights corruption for, by and of the people and that helps ensure public services and resources are accessible equitably according to need, we need to change the Constitution.
Here are some of the key Constitutional changes that are needed for democratic political reforms:
(1) Split the conflicting dual mandates of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to make electoral management more efficient and effective. All other political reforms will not work if the electoral manager is inept because it is battling with itself due to conflicting institutional mandates.
(2) Revise our flawed electoral-party systems combination or first-past-the-post or plurality electoral system in a multi-party system that elects minority leadership in a winner-take-all political process. This makes our elections prone to violence and instability. We are not distributing powers according to votes, only who out-best the many in a zero-sum game.
(3) Rationalize our elections. We cannot be electing 30 leaders (out of hundreds of candidates) in a single election. That makes it impossible for ordinary citizens to have well-informed choices. The three-year term limit for local government officials put elections at the center of governance, forcing politicians to rely on patronage-based politics as a quick-fix constituency-building strategy, instead of long-term platform-based organizing. We need to rethink term limits in a way that balances performance and accountability. The Constitution must be clear on the importance of enabling a functional programmatic political party system to accompany its anti-dynasty provision.
4) We must explore expanding the logic of decentralization. We are a very diverse country and we must harness our diverse resources, energies and talents, which Federalism can better support. This also helps ensure elective posts have clear constituencies that can hold them accountable, unlike the current structure of the Senate that’s been largely occupied by dynasts and/ or politicians facing allegations of corruption.
(5) Explore harnessing the cooperation between the executive and the legislature by shifting to a parliamentary form of government. If not, limit the powers of the presidency by cutting on its appointment powers and checking its control over the budget.
In everything, the people should be at the center
All the above reforms will aim to shift power towards the people. To ensure we achieve pro-people results, it has to be the people that will set the agenda and lead the process.
In changing the Constitution, only a democratically elected Constitutional Convention (ConCon) can be trusted. The ConCon election can be a process of political renewal itself if done with broad multi-level organizing and alliance-building among pro-accountability/ anti-corruption forces.
It is important to reiterate that the people must be involved in advancing these agenda. We have existing participatory mechanisms at the national level down to the barangays that can be activated. Citizens must be involved in the process of exacting accountability and justice on the flood control plunder, such in the conduct of monitoring.
Civil society must be supported to conduct educational campaigns and organizing. Progressive social forces must get their acts together to support broad, bottom-up processes of transformation.
For the country to stand a chance against corruption, our actions must be of, for and by the people.
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